Words of Wisdom — December 10, 2013

Henry Miller on How to Live

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." - Henry Miller (born on this date in 1891)

bigthinkeditor

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” – Henry Miller (born on this date in 1891)

a painting of a buddha surrounded by other figures.

Thinking

The Axial Age: When the greatest minds walked the Earth

Plato, Sun Tzu, and Buddha all lived in a “golden age” of philosophy that laid the foundation of modern thought.

A digital art image of a human made of small white blocks.

Health

Reading the mind with machines

Brain-computer interfaces could enable people with locked-in syndrome and other conditions to “speak.”

a poster of a man and a woman holding a knife and a book.

Leadership

Why great managers don’t spend equal time on criticism and praise

Our brains are hardwired to find fault. The best managers don’t let this steer how they interact with their team.

a painting of a group of people riding horses.

The Past

Humanity solved the “trust paradox” by going tribal — and paid a horrific price

Evolutionary pressures drove the formation of tribes who encoded their values in myths and symbols. Was this cooperation cursed?

a man sitting in a wheel chair next to a laptop.

High Culture

This MIT scientist gave Stephen Hawking his voice — then lost his own

Remember Stephen Hawking’s robotic voice? It wasn’t a robot.

Up Next

Words of Wisdom

Matthew Arnold on Common Sense

“The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.” – Matthew Arnold (born on this date in 1822)