Words of Wisdom — November 30, 2013

Jonathan Swift on How to Spot Genius

“When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.” -Jonathan Swift (born on this day in 1667)

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“When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.”

-Jonathan Swift (born on this day in 1667)

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Starts With A Bang

Einstein: The lone genius is pure mythology

Many mavericks look to Einstein as a unique figure, whose lone genius revolutionized the Universe. The big problem? It isn’t true.

A creative spark ignites amidst darkness.

The Learning Curve

“The Onion” founder explains his strategy for sparking creativity

Scott Dikkers discusses comedy, the creative process, and life lessons learned playing peekaboo.

A man sits on a stool in front of a white backdrop with a black circle behind his head, surrounded by colorful, nebula-like clouds.

Are black holes the key to unlocking a quantum theory of gravity?

“Could black holes be the key to a quantum theory of gravity, a deeper theory of how reality, of how space and time works?”

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01:18:29 min

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with

Brian Cox

Three different 3D protein structures are displayed on a light grid-patterned background, each occupying a separate quadrant in the image.

Health

Gaming cancer: How video games and citizen science could help cure disease

By inviting players to tackle real scientific problems, games can offer a hand in solving medicine’s toughest challenges.

A visual simulation of two objects orbiting and merging, distorting a red-orange grid representing spacetime—illustrating gravitational waves once thought to be the worst prediction in science.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Can we fix the worst prediction in all of science?

The measured value of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude smaller than what’s predicted. How can this paradox be resolved?

Up Next

Meet R2-D2’s ‘Evil Twin’ Security Guard

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