What happens when you die (to your social media)?

Do you want Facebook or Google to control your legacy?

Photo by Josh Marshall on Unsplash

  • ASU Clinical Assistant Professor, Faheem Hussain, says we need to discuss our digital afterlife.
  • One major problem, Hussain says, is that we generally avoid talking about death in the first place.
  • Where and how "you" (and your data) will be used after you die remains a mystery.
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Creation Crate
Creation Crate

This tech subscription box can rewire your brain for the better

Ready to become a tech wizard? Creation Crate's electronic projects are delivered to your door with everything you need to start building and learning.

Photo: Creation Crate
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  • Creation Crate is a tech subscription box that sends monthly projects, with all the components, right to your door.
  • Each project in the curriculum teaches new lessons in electronics and C++ programming. The projects get more challenging as you learn.
  • Working with your hands changes your brain's neurochemistry to reduce stress and increase learning. It's also a great way to prepare kids for a STEM future.
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What is classical liberalism? | Classical Liberalism

As a moral and political philosophy, classical liberalism lays a framework for the good society.

  • The moral and political philosophy known as classical liberalism is built around a number of core concepts, including, perhaps most importantly, human dignity and individual liberty.
  • Emily Chamlee-Wright, president of the Institute for Humane Studies, introduces these two principles as forces that shape the liberal notion of justice. This applies to both individuals' treatment of others, as well as the government's treatment of individuals.
  • This just conduct contributes to the liberal ideal: the good society. By emphasizing the individual, liberalism encourages collaboration and cooperation while also offering the freedom to make choices and learn from failure.
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The next pandemic is inevitable. Are we prepared?

Budget cuts to pandemic preparedness put us all at risk.

The next pandemic is inevitable. Are we prepared? | Larry Brilliant
  • There is no way to completely stop a pandemic from coming, says former United Nations medical officer and a key player in the World Health Organization's (WHO) smallpox eradication program in South Asia, Larry Brilliant. Being prepared and having a good public health infrastructure are necessary to reduce impact.
  • Pandemics like ebola are more likely to start at the edges of poor countries, away from the main hub and away from major cities, but without isolation and containment protocols they can and will grow.
  • According to Brilliant, budget cuts and poor decision making by government in the past has crippled pandemic prevention efforts in time of crisis. That's something that we can not let happen again.
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7 powerful books that bring the UN's sustainable development goals to life

Can reading increase empathy and charitable thinking?

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Politics & Current Affairs

Reading, studies show, increases empathy and charitable thinking. Fiction has even been credited with helping readers improve their understanding of others and make changes in their own lives.

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economics global issues sustainability education global development books

We can improve politics in America. Here’s how.

Here's how to have a healthier relationship with politics.

We can improve politics in America. Here’s how. | Ezra Klein
Videos
  • "[T]he single healthiest thing most of us can do for our relationship with politics and for politics would be to deemphasize our connection to national politics and reemphasize our connection to state and local politics," says Ezra Klein.
  • The media has become overwhelmingly nationalized. To improve your relationship with politics, and to improve politics in general, be intentional about your informational ecosystem.
  • Klein recommends reconstructing your news diet so it doesn't overwhelmingly feature national politics, rather sign up for local newsletters, subscribe to your local paper, and get involved in community politics rather than yelling at cable TV or lashing out on Twitter.
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Law vs. justice: What is our duty in society?

Laws can't stand by themselves. Professor James Stoner explains why.

Law vs. justice: What is our duty in society? | James Stoner
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  • Can you divorce the rule of law from the virtue of justice? Immanuel Kant said the perfect constitution would work even among a nation of devils, provided they were intelligent devils.
  • Professor James Stoner thinks the opposite is true. The right punishments don't lead people to behave well, we are also guided to make morally good decisions by our conscience—by our internal sense of justice.
  • The ability of all people to pursue their own good is itself a kind of common good of a liberal society.
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