Category: Viewing

Robinson discusses what it means for a person to be “in their element.” It is, as most of Robinson’s lectures are, a discussion that includes educational ideas.

The Element (RSA)

We usually think of the internet as an amazing information source, and it is, but at the same time it is a huge filtering system. At the same time that information is being stored, companies filter our content based on our personal preferences. This creates three issues: we have a distorted perspective of what is happening (less sensational informational falls by the wayside), we tend to more informational junk instead of being balanced (we become informationally “obese”) and we lose control over what information we can get (operative word is “can,” as in it is hard to find information that the companies do not think you want).

The Filter Bubble: How the hidden web is shaping lives (RSA)

Bottom line: we need to apply skill when making morally based decisions; rigid rules cannot capture all possible scenarios and exceptions. Practical wisdom, the power and skill to know when and how to bend the rules, can improve society and our moral standards.

Barry Schwartz: Using our practical wisdom (TED)

We tend to track, as Shermer points out, the hits and forget the misses. However, one must take the hits and misses together to determine if something is actually substantial. Shermer runs through a series of scenarios to demonstrate that people want to believe in extraordinary things, regardless of whether they are true or not.

Michael Shermer: Why people believe strange things (TED)

In short, chronic diseases have a strong, detrimental effect on our economy mostly because when people get sick with these nasties they are not able to be productive and cost lots of insurance money.

Are Chronic Diseases Killing our Competitiveness? (RSA)