You might soon be travelling without a passport – this is how
Fingerprinting and facial recognition may lead the way in air travel.
18 July, 2019
The future of air travel is… paperless. Or will be, under an initiative introduced by the World Economic Forum.
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The market for wellness is more about capitalism than prolonging life
In Natural Causes, journalist Barbara Ehrenreich questions our obsession with wellness.
08 July, 2019
Photo by Darren Gerrish/WireImage
- Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich writes that a for-profit medical system needs healthy patients — hence, the demand for yearly examinations and constant screenings.
- Certain human cells are not in favor of our continued existence, making the concept of "wholeness" questionable.
- Ehrenreich concludes that the market for wellness is more a function of capitalism than health.
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What’s wrong with the internet? We’d rather “display” than communicate.
Jonathan Rauch explains why the internet is so hostile to the truth, and what we can do to change that.
12 June, 2019
- Disruptive technologies tend to regress humanity back to our default mode: deeply ingrained tribalism.
- Rather than using the internet to communicate, many people use it to display their colors or group affinity, like tribespeople wearing face paint. Fake news spreads faster than truth in these tribal environments.
- How can we solve this problem without censorship? Platforms like Facebook and Google are tilting the playing field to be more pro-truth by asking people to stop, think, and take responsibility.
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- Nationalism isn't always a bad thing. When a country doesn't have self-confidence, and a collective sense of identity, that is also a problem.
- The optimal situation, in the case of nationalism, is that a nation's citizens have a healthy amount of it. For instance, as Jared Diamond points out in this video, Finland seems to have a nationalism based in reality — and largely founded on their unique language. It imbues them with an innate pride but doesn't compel them to conquer the world.
- Also, nationalism that is used to be inclusive, rather than exclusive, can help a nation transcend its darkest moments.
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Coming out trans: How social narratives can stop us from being happy
Many of us don't fit perfectly into existing social narratives. But we can still find our own way.
27 May, 2019
- Many of us are trying to fit into existing roles that aren't specially crafted for us, and, as a result, we don't fit perfectly in them. This causes us a lot of stress and anxiety.
- Though many people aren't transgender, they can still relate to the feeling of not completely fitting in, and having to figure out their own path. Often finding out own way directly overlaps with figuring out what makes us happy.
- When someone is trans, it is possible for them to feel attracted to either gender. For example, Breanna wishes she could tell her teenage self that it is possible to "be a girl and like girls."
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