Words of Wisdom — December 10, 2013

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)

bigthinkeditor

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

Hard Science

Plants perform quantum mechanics feats that scientists can only do at ultra-cold temperatures

Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.

The Past

The 1920s plan to make criminals confess to a terrifying skeleton

Would you confess your crimes to a skeleton with “an unnatural ghastly glow”? One inventor thought you would.

Smart Skills

Swamped by too much info? Here’s how to beat the “noise bottleneck”

It’s the paradoxical observation that the more we try to process, the less we actually can.

a painting of a woman shaking hands with a man.

Thinking

Philosophy obsesses about death. Instead, we need “natality” — a focus on birth

A philosophy of birth can offset the prevailing narrative around extinction and mortality.

a flock of pink birds flying through a cloudy sky.

The Well

Groupthink is for mindless pawns, but group thinking will push humanity further

“Groupthink” gets a bad rap. In reality, we need groups to focus our thinking and to build on the ideas of others.

Up Next

Words of Wisdom

Bob Kahn on Innovation

“New capabilities emerge just by virtue of having smart people with access to state-of-the-art technology.” – Internet pioneer Robert Kahn (born on this date in 1938)