life is about change
/Life is about change, whether good or bad, and being able to adjust accordingly. - Okechukwu Keke
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Style is not Ability
/People and institutions tend to value other people and institutions like themselves. The result is that we tend to see as higher in ability those who are like us. As a result, many children as well as adults are never appreciated for what they are, but rather for how they fit into the stylistic pattern of the evaluator.
There are those who look for and appreciate only others like themselves, and there are those who look for quality, whether or not it is the same kind of quality they have to offer. We will better utilize other people’s talents, and better help them develop, if we recognize people for their own stylistic strengths, rather than for what we might ideally like them to be.
Robert Sternberg, Thinking Styles
laughter
/Laughter is like an instant vacation.
articles of interest - March 27
/***TECHNOLOGY
Elon Musk’s next company wants to put tiny electrodes in our brains so we can survive the age of AI Quartz
Scientists Hack a Human Cell and Reprogram It Like a Computer Wired
Mapping platforms like Google Earth have the legacies of colonialism programmed into them Real Life
***BIG DATA & STATISTICS
A 'Black box' technique may lead to more powerful AI: it could make neural network’s faster/leaner Engadget
Some tips and tricks for solid deep learning neural networks KD Nuggets
The 8,700 docs made public by WikiLeaks in early March offer a wealth of info on the CIA’s cyber-subcontractors Intelligence Online
Using Big Data to analyze images and video better than the human brain Phys.org
The skills set needed when switching careers from Java to Big Data Hadoop 360
***SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram Has Two-Factor Authentication Now, So Turn It On Wired
A tool that can archive a Twitter hashtag even if you've forgotten to set one up Chronicle of Higher Ed
Facebook Messenger Finally Makes Group Chat Not a Total Hassle Wired
***PERSONAL GROWTH
One Creative Thing Every Day Becoming (my site)
***GRAMMAR
The $10 Million Lawsuit That Hinges On An Oxford Comma NPR
***WRITING& READING
***LANGUAGE
Teaching Language With Culture In California NPR
San Diego’s Bilingual Paradox Voice of San Diego
The most useful language for English speakers to learn, according to an economist Quartz
***LITERATURE
If you break literature down by the numbers Minnesota Public Radio
***GENDER
Gender Pay Gap Persists Across Faculty Ranks Chronicle of Higher Ed
A Short Video Introduction to Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), the First Female Film Director & Studio Mogul Open Culture
Men and the Manufacturing Decline The Atlantic
Gender bias distorts peer review across fields Nature News
The Increasing Significance of the Decline of Men The New York Times
Female brokers punished more harshly for misconduct than males Financial Times
***RACIAL ISSUES
Out Of Bounds: New Research On Race And Paying College Athletes NPR
***FREE SPEECH
Academic Ethics: Defending Faculty Speech Chronicle of Higher Ed
Free Speech Is Not an Academic Value premium By Stanley FishYou don’t have the right to say whatever you want on a college campus (Opinion) Chronicle of Higher Ed
How the First Amendment Applies to Trump’s Presidency New Yorker
In a Polarized Climate, Free-Speech Warriors Seize the Spotlight (sub. req.’d) Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LEGAL ISSUES
How U.S. Law Inspired the Nazis Chronicle of Higher Ed
We’re suing the federal government to be free to do our research The Conversation
Defamation in a Forwarded Email Technology & Marketing Blog
When Your Scholarship Goes to Court Chronicle of Higher Ed
***ART & DESIGN
Art as a Weapon: The inventor of auto-destructive art was 90 Economist
***MUSIC
Sensational music from Syria: How the civil war is helping to spread Syrian music across the globe Economist
***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA
Mobile-focused Quartz manages to turn a profit on digital journalism Crains
***JOURNALISM
I studied how journalists used Twitter for two years. Here’s what I learned Poynter
FAA clarifies rules for drone use in education and journalism Student Press Law Center
AP style change: Singular they is acceptable ‘in limited cases’ Poynter
University fires reporter over “bathroom bill” stories after local lawmaker complaints Times Free Press
The ‘Live Blog’ quickly becoming the default way for newspaper websites to handle breaking news Talking New Media
***FAKE NEWS
Fake news successfully mitigated in social media study The Stack
Why Fact Checking Matters & How to Do It Video Strategist
***STUDENT LIFE
Three Millennial Tech Myths Busted Techpinions
Study: 60 percent of rural millennials lack access to a political life The Conversation
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
Jury hands out one of the most serious criminal conviction of a college leader in American history Chronicle of Higher Ed
***SCIENCE
The Famous Schrodinger’s Cat Thought Experiment Gets Brought to Life in an Off-Kilter Animation Open Culture
***HEALTH
The findings of medical research are disseminated too slowly: That is about to change Economist
Cancer Is Partly Caused By Random Mutations, Study Finds : Shots - Health News NPR
Medical research: The shackles of scientific journals Economist
Patients Lose Sight After Stem Cells Are Injected Into Their Eyes New York Times
Understanding The Role Of Compounding Pharmacies After Dozens Of Deaths NPR
Social Media Influencers Finally Come to … Medicine Wired
***PSYCHOLOGY
The psychology behind and economics of hits in pop culture: Publicity over Talent Economist
***PHILOSOPHY
The Philosophy Of 2017's 'Ghost In The Shell' Explained Movie Pilot
Introduction to Philosophy: A Free Online Course Open Culture
This college student teaches philosophy to homeless women to help them ponder life’s great questions Washington Post
Albert Camus Explains Why Happiness Is Like Committing a Crime—”You Should Never Admit to it” (1959) Open Culture
Ayn Rand’s “objectivist” philosophy is now required reading for British teens Quartz
***RELIGION
Princeton Theological Seminary reverses decision to honor Redeemer’s Tim Keller Religious News Service
This West Virginia school district has weekly Bible classes. A kindergartner is suing Washington Post
A Christian Conservative Professor Accuses Colleges of Indoctrinating Students (sub. req.’ed) Chronicle of Higher Ed
Katy Perry Nearer to Closing $15M Deal to buy Convent in LA Courthouse News
Focus on the Family turns 40 Colorado Gazette
Are You Descended From (Alleged) Witches? NPR
'In God We Trust' license plate bill constitutionally suspect, attorney general says The Tennessean
How did celibacy become mandatory for priests? The Conversation
***RELIGION & POLITICS
Trump returning to Liberty University as commencement speaker Baptist News
Majority of states have all-Christian congressional delegations Pew Research Center
Mike Pence, finding God, and the shifting agenda of Christian music festivals The Guardian
***HIGHER ED
College Classes In Maximum Security: 'It Gives You Meaning' NPR
Georgetown University plans a religious ceremony as an apology for its historical ties to slavery Washington Post
Liberty University Students Divided Over President Trump as Commencement Speaker TIME
Hookup Culture Varies at 3 Types of Catholic Colleges: A professor of theology delves into how the cultural pressure to engage in casual sex affects students at different religious institutions Chronicle of Higher Ed
***TEACHING
Do Their Stereotypes Affect Your Teaching? Chronicle of Higher Ed
You Probably Believe Some Learning Myths: Take Our Quiz To Find Out NPR
Why I Teach Online Chronicle of Higher Ed
***RESEARCH
Dozens of Predatory journals offered a sham scientist a place on their editorial board Nature
Academic Journals Plagued by Bogus Impact Factors SpringerLink
Gates Foundation announces open-access publishing venture Nature News
Why are citations important in research writing? Medium
the rule book
/The last act of a dying organization is to get out a new rule and enlarged edition of the rule book.
One Creative Thing Every Day
/A study found participants who engaged in creative pursuits one day significantly boosted their mood for the following day. Overall, they reported feeling more energetic, enthusiastic, and excited.
These findings might not seem too surprising, but here’s the kicker: it didn’t take much creative activity for participants to reap the benefits. Just one, small creative activity a day helped. And you don’t have to be a skilled artist either. Something as simple as mindless doodling, making a joke, or even daydreaming will do.
Patrick Allan writing for LifeHacker
one's attitude
/The last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.
- Victor Frankle
Just because
/Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. -Thomas Edison
this thing I must do
/Instead of asking, "How do I get out of this thing I must do?" ask, "How do I become fully present in it?"
Fixed Intelligence
/We’ve long assumed that positive feedback always has desirable results. But some recent research has painted a more complex picture. Melissa Kamins discovered that children who receive primarily person-praise (“how smart you are”) rather than good words about their efforts will usually develop fixed views of intelligence. When children are young and family members consistently tell them how brilliant they are (or how dumb), they get the message: life depends on your level of intelligence, not on how you work at something. You’ve got it or you don’t. Nothing can change that reality, they think. In short, fixed views of intelligence or growth mindsets stem from conditioning, not from some inborn character trait. They too can change.
Ken Bain, What The Best College Students Do
Hit me the ball!
/Instead of wishing the ball would be hit to someone else, yearn for the ball to be hit your way. -Stephen Goforth
Social Media is no Panacea for Loneliness
/A new study finds that spending more time on social media platforms is actually linked to a higher likelihood of feeling socially isolated. Although it's possible that increased social media use could help alleviate feelings of social isolation, increased social media use could also have the opposite effect in young adults, by limiting in-person interactions, the researchers wrote in the study. In addition, social media can give people the impression that others are leading happier lives, because people sometimes portray themselves unrealistically online, the researchers wrote.
"It's possible that young adults who initially felt socially isolated turned to social media. Or, it could be that their increased use of social media somehow led to feeling isolated from the real world. It could also be a combination of both," said senior study author Dr. Elizabeth Miller. "But even if the social isolation came first, it did not seem to be alleviated by spending time online, even in purportedly social situations.”
Sara G. Miller, Live Science
articles of interest - March 20
/***SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media is no Panacea for Loneliness LiveScience
Facebook Is Trying Too Hard Techpinions
***TECHNOLOGY
Head in the cloud: Microsoft Transforms its Culture The Economist
Facebook's secret team is working on hardware that can scan your brain and read your mind Tech Republic
Google Maps will soon be able to find your parked car Mashable
***BIG DATA & STATISTICS
The skills set needed when switching careers from Java to Big Data Hadoop 360
Hadoop: “It’s free like a puppy, not free like a beer” Datanami
A basic overview of machine learning for the novice The Monkey Learn Blog
The Hadoop dream has all but failed in a smoking heap of cost and complexity Datanami
***GRAMMAR
A court’s decision in a Maine labor dispute hinged on the absence of an Oxford comma Quartz
***WRITING& READING
Literature by Degree: Teaching Creative Writing New York Times
***LANGUAGE
It Begins: Bots Are Learning to Chat in Their Own Language Wired
When Language Can Cure What Ails You Daily Jstor
***GENDER
Women's International Film Festival at Liberty Station March 24-26 SD News
'BBC dad' parody imagines how a mom would handle the situation Mashable
Only 4.2% of Fortune 500 companies are run by women Quartz
Despite gains, women remain underrepresented among U.S. political and business leaders Pew Research
***RACIAL ISSUES
New Interactive Map Visualizes the Chilling History of Lynching in the U.S. (1835-1964) Open Culture
***FREE SPEECH
Talking Past Each Other on Free Speech (sub. req.’ed) Chronicle of Higher Ed
***LEGAL ISSUES
Google thaws (a little) on defamation cases Search Engine Land
Supreme Court of Georgia Issues iHeart Radio Ruling Coosa Valley News
California Today: A Journalism Scandal Roils the Central Coast New York Times
***MUSIC
Why The Music Industry Is Finally Taking Podcasts Seriously Forbes
A Crash Course in Contemporary Christian Music OC Weekly
U2 On 'The Joshua Tree,' A Lasting Ode To A Divided America NPR
***JOURNALISM
Researchers Examine Breitbart's Influence On Election Information NPR
UT-owned Del Mar Times has a typo-filled job post San Diego Reader
Drones in Visual Journalism New York Times
WATCH: Journalism used to fight for the working man, now it’s a bastion of “trust fund kids” Salon
Ten insights, three actions toward community-driven storymaking AIR
Why Journalism, Education Could Benefit From a Mixed-Methods Approach Media Shift
***FAKE NEWS
Why Piling On Facts May Not Help In The Battle Against Fake News NPR
Watch Celebs Try (and Fail) to Tell Fake News From Real News Wired
Video: Top 5 ways to get trustworthy news Tech Republic
***ADVERTISING
Brands Are Digging Into GIF Data to Understand Consumer Behavior Ad Week
Guardian Pulls Ads from Google After They Were Placed Next to Extremist The Guardian
The fine line between sponsored content and advertising Talking New Media
***STUDENT MEDIA
The role of a college newspaper on campus The Vantage (student newspaper at Newman University is a private Catholic college)
Administration refuses to provide public documents The Nichollsworth (student newspaper for Nicholls State University)
Which College Degrees Produce the Most (and Least) Financially Responsible Students? Priceonomics
Private California university requests takedown of student news article Student Press Law Center
***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT
U of California strengthens faculty policies against sexual harassment and assault Inside Higher Ed
Suit Alleges Ohio U sat on Complaints of Professor’s Sexual Misconduct for a Decade Inside Higher Ed
***HEALTH
An Alarming Number of Kids Are Getting Their Hands on Opioids Gizmodo
***PSYCHOLOGY
***SOCIOLOGY
What if Sociologists Had as Much Influence as Economists? New York Times
***PHILOSOPHY
An Animated Introduction to Arthur Schopenhauer Open Culture
***PERSONAL GROWTH
Feel like you’re not the person you used to be? You’re probably right Becoming (my site)
***RELIGION
Fast-Growing, Entrepreneurial Christianity Is About A Lot More Than Church Attendance Fast Company
Conservatives Question choice of churches by Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee CNN
The Rise Of Secularism And The Alt-Right NPR
MormonLeaks website squares off with Mormon Church, posts leaked ‘Enemies List’ Washington Post
Twila Paris Defends Brother Indicted for Bribery at Christian College Christianity Today
***HIGHER ED
Sharp growth of California's free community college programs Inside Higher Ed
Trump Seeks Deep Cuts in Education and Science Inside Higher Ed
Investigation found that staff members improperly handled financial aid funds and changed student grades Inside Higher Ed
This little circle in SoCal became the intellectual hub of Trumpism Chronicle of Higher Ed
***TEACHING
Communication professor establishes ground rules for political conversations with his students in class Inside Higher Ed
Can a Failing Grade Motivate a Student? Chronicle of Higher Ed
***STUDENT LIFE
How Millennials Lose And Win Under The GOP Health Bill NPR
Out Of Bounds: Competitive Video Gaming And Scholarships NPR
A wider partisan and ideological gap between younger, older generations Pew Research
The disturbing trend of homeless community college students Washington Post
***ACADEMIC LIFE
Don’t allow yourself to be treated as a checked box on someone else’s to-do list Chronicle of Higher Ed
Impact of Social Sciences – Google Scholar is a serious alternative to Web of Science London School of Economics and Political Science
How can we tackle the thorny problem of fraudulent research? The Guardian
Predatory publishers and events The Research Whisperer
Honest mistakes by young scientists shouldn't doom their careers Stat News
Bad incentives push universities to protect rogue scientists Slate
I'm not who I used to Be
/Feel like you’re not the person you used to be? You’re probably right. The longest-running personality study ever conducted reveals that people change so dramatically as the years go by that they often bear little resemblance to their younger selves.
In 1950, researchers asked teachers to assess specific personality traits of 1,208 14-year-old students, including their self-confidence, originality, perseverance, conscientiousness, stability of moods, and desire to excel. In 2012, 174 of the original students agreed to participate in a second evaluation. Now in their 70s, they completed cognitive tests and answered detailed questionnaires, rating themselves on the same characteristics. They also had a close friend or relative evaluate their personality.
After comparing the results, the researchers found no correlation between the participants’ current personality and who they were as teenagers, HuffingtonPost.com reports. “Personality changes only gradually throughout life, but by older age it may be quite different from personality in childhood,” the authors say, noting that genetic and environmental factors likely influence how personalities evolve over time.
You have to be bored
/You have to be bored. If you're not bored, your mind is never gonna wander, and if your mind never wanders, you're never gonna get lost in thought, and you're never gonna find yourself thinking things you wouldn't have otherwise thought. - Dan Deacon speaking to NPR
May you live
/May you live all the days of your life. - Jonathan Swift
pick a side
/"There’s nothing I can do." (Let’s look at our alternatives.)
"That’s just the way I am." (I can choose a different approach)
"He makes me so mad." (I control my own feelings)
"They won’t allow that." (I can create an effective presentation)
"I have to do that." (I will choose an appropriate response)
"I can’t." (I choose)
"I must." (I prefer)
"If only." (I will)
A serious problem with reactive language is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. People become reinforced in the paradigm that they are determined, and they produce evidence to support the belief. They feel out of control, not in charge of their life or their destiny. They blame outside forces--other people, circumstances, even the stars--for their own situation.
Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
a mental short-cut that can lead us away from truth
/Imagine I tell you that a group of 30 engineers and 70 lawyers have applied for a job. I show you a single application that reveals a person who is great at math and bad with people, a person who loves Star Wars and hates public speaking, and then I ask whether it is more likely that this person is an engineer or a lawyer. What is your initial, gut reaction? What seems like the right answer?
Statistically speaking, it is more likely the applicant is a lawyer. But if you are like most people in their research, you ignored the odds when checking your gut. You tossed the numbers out the window. So what if there is a 70 percent chance this person is a lawyer? That doesn’t feel like the right answer.
That’s what a heuristic is, a simple rule that in the currency of mental processes trades accuracy for speed. A heuristic can lead to a bias, and your biases, though often correct and harmless, can be dangerous when in error, resulting in a wide variety of bad outcomes from foggy morning car crashes to unconscious prejudices in job interviews.
David McRaney writing in BoingBoing
wealth
/A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone. Henry David Thoreau
Getting closer to the truth
/Most of us view the world as more benign than it really is, our own attributes as more favorable than they truly are, and the goals we adopt as more achievable than they are likely to be. We also tend to exaggerate our ability to forecast the future, which fosters optimistic overconfidence. In terms of its consequences for decisions, the optimistic bias may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases. Because optimistic bias can be both a blessing and a risk, you should be both happy and wary if you are temperamentally optimistic.
Optimism is normal, but some fortunate people are more optimistic than the rest of us. If you are genetically endowed with an optimistic bias, you hardly need to be told that you are a lucky person -- you already feel fortunate.
An optimistic attitude is largely inherited, and it is part of a general disposition for well-being, which may also include a preference for seeing the bright side of everything. If you were allowed one wish for your child, seriously consider wishing him or her optimism. Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting to failures and hardships, their chances of clinical depression are reduced, their immune system is stronger, they take better care of their health, they feel healthier than others and are in fact likely to live longer.
Of course, the blessings of optimism are offered only to individuals who are only mildly biased and who are able to “accentuate the positive” without losing track of reality.
Optimistic people play a disproportionate role in shaping our lives. Their decisions make a difference; they are inventors, entrepreneurs, political and military leaders -- not average people. They got to where they are by seeking challenges and taking risks. They are talented and they have been lucky, almost certainly luckier than they acknowledge. Their self-confidence is reinforced by the admiration of others. This reasoning leads to a hypothesis: the people who have the greatest influence on the lives of others are likely to be optimistic and overconfident, and to take more risks than they realize.
Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow