Why being busy is a modern sickness

We have to practice doing nothing more often.

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  • Constantly being busy is neurologically taxing and emotionally draining.
  • In his new book, Jon Kabat-Zinn writes that you're doing a disservice to others by always being busy.
  • Busyness is often an excuse for the discomfort of being alone with your own thoughts.
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There are two kinds of identity politics. One is good. The other, very bad.

Why free thought has died on university campuses.

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  • Freedom is speech is being eradicated on college campuses in favor of identity politics and "snowflake" culture.
  • Rather than be open to new ideas, differing opinions that might make students "feel bad" are shut out.
  • This creates a cycle of negativity between not only the colleges and the students but also the very idea of college being a place of higher learning.
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Why the language of fear won’t help us stop climate change

Using terrifying language when talking about climate change may be scaring people into inaction.

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  • Climate change is a linguistic challenge, as well as a technical one. Rather than fearmongering, talking about saving the environment like it is a series of achievable goals is something that people tend to respond to better.
  • What's the biggest contributor to climate change? If you guess car exhaust, you're wrong. It's cooling chemicals, like the ones found in air conditioners and refrigerators.
  • Cheryl Heller also supports the techniques outlined in the new book Drawdown, which bills itself as "the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming."
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Have Americans become too fragile for their own good?

Beyond trigger warnings and safe spaces lies an entire population that espouses victimhood in all walks of life.

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  • Depression and anxiety rates are through the roof amongst young Americans, with the left and the right sides of the political spectrum blaming each other. Neither has an answer, and it goes beyond buzzwords like "safe spaces" and "triggered".
  • When everyone feels like a victim, are the mediums of communication themselves—social media and search engines—at fault?
  • There is no one right answer, but Jonathan Haidt makes a case for more open talk about our insecurities. Transparent communication with others, and perhaps learning some self-therapy, can help assuage a potential generation of failure.
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Burger King designs meaty-cheesy horror burger to induce nightmares

It's "clinically proven" to induce nightmares, says Burger King, which ran a pretty weird study.

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  • Burger King has released a Halloween burger called the 'Nightmare King' it claims is "clinically proven to induce nightmares."
  • It ran a study in which 100 people ate a beef-chicken-bacon-cheese burger for 10 nights and had their REM monitored.
  • It's an obvious PR gimmick, but it highlights how little we know about the exact link between food and dreams.
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