Why you should tolerate intolerable ideas

Just because you disagree with something doesn't mean that it isn't true for someone else.

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  • Former ACLU president Nadine Strossen argues that without freedom of expression we don't have freedom of speech.
  • With some major college campuses disavowing "dangerous ideas" from certain speakers on campus, this can lead to a slippery slope wherein ideas—and even ways of life—can be marginalized entirely.
  • The Charles Koch Foundation is committed to understanding what drives intolerance and the best ways to cure it. The foundation supports interdisciplinary research to overcome intolerance, new models for peaceful interactions, and experiments that can heal fractured communities. For more information, visit charleskochfoundation.org/courageous-collaborations.
  • The opinions expressed in this video do not necessarily reflect the views of the Charles Koch Foundation, which encourages the expression of diverse viewpoints within a culture of civil discourse and mutual respect.
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How hands-on learning fires up your brain

To strengthen your mind, work with your hands, says former astronaut Leland Melvin.

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  • Learning is a mental and physical pursuit, says retired astronaut Leland Melvin.
  • Recalling his childhood, Melvin explains how working with his dad to turn a $500 bread truck into a family RV camper ultimately made him a better astronaut, able to maneuver the $2-billion dollar Columbus Laboratory out of the payload bay of a shuttle and attach it to the International Space Station.
  • Experiential learning — like hands-on DIY, engineering kits, and Duplo games — wires your brain for problem solving from a young age. It's a leg-up we can all give to the children in our lives.
  • "[W]hen we let [kids] build and create and it's meaningful and it helps them solve a problem, that gets them thinking about how they can be change makers themselves and how they can be scientists and engineers," says Melvin.
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The original marshmallow test was flawed, researchers now say

One of the most famous experiments in psychology might be completely wrong.

Photo by Graham Padmore on Unsplash
  • A team of psychologists have repeated the famous marshmallow experiment and found the original test to be flawed.
  • It joins the ranks of many psychology experiments that cannot be repeated, which presents a considerable problem for its findings.
  • The finding that children with similar demographics had similar success as teenagers no matter what they did as toddlers raises questions about how flexible self-control is as a trait and how much it actually helps us get ahead.
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If you have this condition, you’re more likely to believe “pseudo-profound bullsh*t"

Researchers find out why some people believe utter BS.

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  • Scientists discover that people who have high apophenia are more likely to believe "pseudo-profound bullshit".
  • Apophenia is a tendency to see patterns and connections that aren't really there.
  • The condition could be a precursor to more serious mental illness.
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How your brain can predict the future

New research suggests brains anticipate future events through a process called anticipatory timing.

  • Two systems work together to predict the future based on past actions or events stored in the brain.
  • Researchers worked with people with Parkinson's disease or cerebellar degeneration to test their hypothesis.
  • Researchers compared how people with these conditions used temporal clues respond to specific tests.
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