What the Surgeon General Misses about Loneliness

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US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote a New York Times opinion piece two weeks ago about loneliness. He called it a “public health” problem and suggested the cause is isolation.  

The Washington Post published a follow-up article based on the significant response it got to the advisory, noting: 

Some (readers) pushed back on the notion that isolation was bad for them, describing themselves as introverts who prefer solitude or distrust others in their community.

So, on the one hand, you have people being told they are lonely, and they must be fixed, who do not see a problem themselves and aren't asking to be fixed. On the other hand, as noted by a sociologist in a Psychology Today article, the surgeon general's advisory reduces loneliness to "something people often bring on themselves." The fix for this lack of social interaction is, therefore, more social interaction. But there are "many outgoing people with active social lives (who) are lonely."  

Symptoms interpreted as caused by a lack of interaction may actually be caused by estrangement. This alienation would not be solved by additional interaction but by more meaningful connections. That is, quality instead of quantity. 

Stephen Goforth

 

 

Six Free Webinars this Week about Media

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Mon, May 15 - The Adaptation of International Graduates in the Journalism Industry in the U.S.A.: Natural and Legal Challenges

What: Panelists in this webinar will discuss the challenges international students face after graduation in journalism for getting jobs in the media industry in the United States.

Who: Bey-Ling Sha, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, Dean of College of Communications, California State University, Fullerton; Steve Urbanski, Associate Professor of Director, Graduate Studies, Reed College of Media at West Virginia University; Katerina Spasovska, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Western Carolina University; Fisayo Okare, Journalist and Newsletter Writer, Documented, New York;  Ershad Komal Khan (Moderator), Ph.D. student, University of Colorado-Boulder

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Professional Journalists

More Info

 

Mon, May 15 -Teen Girls’ Mental Health: Strategies for Coping with the Challenges of Social Media

What: Explore the latest research findings from the report, Teens and Mental Health: How Girls Really Feel About Social Media. In this edWebinar, you will gain valuable insights into the impact of social media on the mental health of teenage girls,

Who: Supreet Mann, Director of Research, Common Sense Media; and Daniel Vargas Campos, Program Manager, Common Sense Education.

When: 3pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Common Sense Education

More Info

 

Tue, May 16 - Mobile Marketing Tips for Every Generation

What: Mobile marketing and generational marketing, with an emphasis on: 4 reasons why your website needs to look great on a smartphone. How each generation responds to marketing (and how to optimize your efforts). 5 tips for planning your mobile marketing strategy.

Who: Molly Coke, chief client fulfillment officer, Firespring, which provides software and websites for nonprofits  

When: 1 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Firespring

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Wed, May 17 - Telling the story of your journalism and media work

What: How to showcase your work and create a compelling personal narrative that showcases your unique skills and experiences.

Who: Emma Carew Grovum, is the founder of Kimbap Media and The Marshall Project's Director of Careers and Culture.

When: 12 noon, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Center for Cooperative Media

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Thu, May 18 - Resilience in Combating Misinformation

What: Journalists today face disinformation and misinformation challenges as well as the simultaneous eroding of public trust in institutions. They are combating overt tactics to share incorrect information and deploying strategies to prevent the spread of misinformation. As journalists’ efforts continue, we’ll discuss how to be resilient in the face of these challenges. ONA’s goal is to bring a fresh perspective to a daunting challenge: for news to continue serving as a place to find clear and straightforward information in a tumultuous online environment saturated with misinformation and disinformation.

Who: Meena Thiruvengadam, Digital Strategy Consultant and journalist; Joy Mayer, Director of Trusting News; Norbert Schwarz, Provost Professor, Department of Psychology & Marshall School of Business and Co-Director; Gabriella Stern, Director of Media Relations at the World Health Organization.

When: 2pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Online News Association

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Thu, May 18 - How to Report on Health in Any Beat

What: The first of a series of panels from AAJA-LA's health equity program. Panelists will share their own experiences reporting about health and why it’s important. They will also discuss how to pursue health equity stories that will in turn help communities achieve health equity.

Who: Usha McFarling, National Science Correspondent, STAT; Lexis Olivier-Ray, Housing, Justice and Culture Reporter, L.A. TACO; Diya Chacko, Science Editor, UCLA Health; Emily Alpert Reyes, Public Health Reporter, Los Angeles Times; Moderator Gita Amar, Senior Vice President, GCI Health

When: 7 pm, Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Asian American Journalists Assn. (LA Chapter)

More Info

You can’t Rush it

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When something changes in your life—you leave a job, end a relationship, or lose someone you love—recognize that you’re now in a transition. Transitions take time to move through, and they can’t be rushed. Your identity (as an employee, partner, or friend, perhaps) will have to shift and change, as well. Be kind and accepting, and don’t expect too much of yourself as you struggle through this time.

Kira Newman writing in Greater Good

How Emotionally intelligent leaders deal with failure and setbacks

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Emotionally intelligent leaders expect there to be roadblocks and emotionally prepare for them. They look for the lesson learned and don’t take setbacks personally.   To emotionally intelligent leaders, disappointments are part of their learning and development journey. They understand that these moments will ultimately help them to reach their goals.

Harvey Deutschendorf writing in Fast Company

8 Free Webinars this week about mobile journalism, reporting on addiction and science, TikTok, disinformation, and more.

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8 Free Webinars this week about mobile journalism, reporting on addiction and science, TikTok, disinformation, and more

Tue, May 9 – The Path Forward: Artificial Intelligence

What: The promise, risks and future of AI.

Who: Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and  Christina Passariello, tech investor

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Washington Post

More Info

 

Tue, May 9 - Disinformation and Deepfakes: Countering Gender-Based Online Harassment

What: A conversation on how governments, technology platforms, civil society, and individuals can address the spread of online gender-based disinformation and harassment.

Who: Asha Allen, Advocacy Director for Europe, Online Expression & Civic Space at the Centre for Democracy and Technology; Alejandra Caraballo, Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic; Moira Whelan, Director for Democracy and Technology at the National Democratic Institute; Kristina Wilfore, Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University and Co-Founder of #ShePersisted.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Center for Democracy & Technology

More Info

 

Tue, May 9 - How To Build An Effective Data Dashboard

What: Not all dashboards are effective. This webinar will discuss the key elements of powerful data dashboards.

Who: Amelia Kohm, Data Viz for Nonprofits

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The Nonprofit Learning Lab

More Info

 

Wed, May 10 - Solutions Journalism

What: The Solutions Journalism Network is leading a global shift in journalism, focused on what the news misses most often: how people are trying to solve problems and what we can learn from their successes or failures.

Who: Keith Hammonds, Solutions Journalism Network’s Conservative and Faith-Based Media Manager

When: 2 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Catholic Media Association

More Info

 

Wed, May 10 - Top five takes from the Washington Post's TikTok experiment

What: The Washington Post's TikTok channel has 1.6 million followers and 74 million likes, and has recently won three Webby Awards. With the threat of a TikTok ban looming in the United States and beyond, what lessons can be learnt from this team? And can they be applied to other platforms?

Who: Carmella Boykin, The Washington Post

When: 8 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Reuters Institute

More Info

 

Wed, May 10 - Crash Course: Science Essentials for Local Reporters

What: The key do’s, don’ts, and pitfalls to watch for when including science in your news reporting. Among the topics covered:  Knowing whether and how science can enhance your story; Different kinds of studies and what each can—and cannot—reveal; Practical tips for identifying credible scientist-sources and interviewing them; and How to get the essentials from scientific reports, studies, and press releases.

Who: Former longtime Washington Post science reporter Rick Weiss and Ph.D. neuroscientist Dr. Tori Fosheim

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Environmental Journalists

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Thu, May 11 - How to Accurately and Ethically Report on Addiction

What: Reporting on Addiction will help reporters and editors build their knowledge of the science of addiction, its medical definition and how the brain disease works. Then, we take a deeper look at how addiction stigma manifests in news publications, and translate the science into tips for better reporting – from pitch to publication – that you can use today.

Who: Jonathan JK Stoltman, co-director of Reporting on Addiction and Director of the Opioid Policy Institute;Ashton Marra, the co-director of Reporting on Addiction

When: 1 pm, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Wisconsin Newspaper Association

More Info

 

Thu, May 11 - Mobile Journalism: How to tell big stories with small cameras

What: The latest technology, tools, apps, and techniques for field reporting with mobile gear, including  fresh case studies and best practices from mobile journalism news reports and documentaries from around the globe.  

Who: Robb Montgomery is an American mobile journalism expert based in Berlin. He is the author of Smartphone Video Storytelling and Mobile Journalism textbooks and the chair of the Mobile Journalism Awards competition.

When: 11:30 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Press Club

More Info

Imagining the Future

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I often ask people to tell me how they think they would feel two years after the sudden death of an eldest child. As you can probably guess, this makes me quite popular at parties. I know, I know—this is a gruesome exercise and I’m not asking you to do it. But the fact is that if you did it, you would probably give me the answer that almost everyone gives me, which is some variation on "Are you out of your damned mind? I’d be devastated—totally devastated. I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. I might even kill myself. So who invited you to this party anyway?"

If at this point I’m not actually wearing the person’s cocktail, I usually probe a bit further and ask how he came to his conclusion. What thoughts or images came to mind, what information did he consider? People typically tell me that they imagined hearing the news, or they imagined opening the door to an empty bedroom.

But in my long history of asking this question and thereby excluding myself from every social circle to which I formerly belonged, I have yet to hear a single person tell me that in addition to these heartbreaking, morbid images, they also imagined the other things that would inevitably happen in the two years following the death of their child.

Indeed, not one person has ever mentioned attending another child’s school play, or making love with his spouse, or eating a taffy apple on a warm summer evening, or reading a book, or writing a book, or riding a bicycle, or any of the many activities that we—and that they—would expect to happen in those two years.

Now, I am in no way, shape, or form suggesting that a bite of gooey candy compensates for the loss of a child. That isn’t the point. What I am suggesting is that the two-year period following a tragic event has to contain something—that is, it must be filled with episodes and occurrences of some kind—and these episodes and occurrences must have some emotional consequences.

Regardless of whether those consequences are large or small, negative or positive, one cannot answer my question accurately without considering them. And yet, not one person I know has ever imagined anything other than the single, awful event suggested by my question. When they imagine the future, there is a whole lot missing, and the things that are missing matter.

Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness

If I Really Cared

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If I really cared . . .
I’d look you in the eyes when you talk to me;
I’d think about what you’re saying rather than what I’m going to say next;
I’d hear your feelings as well as your words.

If I really cared . . .
I’d listen without defending;
I’d hear without deciding whether you’re right or wrong;
I’d ask you why, not just how and when and where.

If I really cared . . .

More of Ruth Senter’s poem

Courage

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Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement, 2005

Little Negatives

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I began to analyze my own conversational habits and was shocked by what I found. I discovered that I was making such statements as “I am afraid I'll be late” or “I wonder if I'll have a flat tire” or “I don't think I can do that” or “I'll never get through this job. There's so much to do.” If something turned out badly, I might say “Oh, that's just what I expected.” Or, again, I might observe a few clouds in the sky and gloomily state, “I know was going to rain.” These are ‘little negatives” to be sure, and a big thought is of course more powerful than a little one, but it must never be forgotten that “mighty oaks from little acorns grow,” and if a mass of “little negatives” clutter up your conversation, they are bound to seep into your mind. It is surprising how they accumulate in force, and presently, before you know it, they will grow into “big negatives.”

Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

Seven Free Webinars This Week on media law, AI literacy, reporting & numbers, quantum computing, exiled journalists, & press freedom

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Mon, May 1 - Media Law Office Hours

What: Allows journalists with legal questions to help find answers.  

Who: Attorney Matthew Leish

When: 5 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members

Sponsor: Deadline Club of New York

More Info 

Wed, May 3 – World Press Freedom Index

What: An early look at this year’s findings from the annual assessment of Reporters Without Borders about the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, conversations with top journalists and an exclusive interview with the secretary of state about the state of global press freedom.  

Who: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Jason Rezaian Global Opinions Writer, The Washington Post; Yeganeh Rezaian Senior Researcher, The Committee to Protect Journalists; Paul Beckett Washington Bureau Chief, The Wall Street Journal; Clayton Weimers Executive Director, U.S. Bureau, Reporters Without Borders; Adefemi Akinsanya International Correspondent & Anchor, Arise News; Hanna Liubakova Nonresident Fellow, Atlantic Council; Danny Fenster Editor-at-Large, Frontier Myanmar

When: 9 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members

Sponsor: The Washington Post & Reporters Without Borders

More Info 

Wed, May 3 - Making numbers count

What: PBS has put together a guidebook for journalists on best practices for reporting with numbers--in headlines, stories, or graphics.

Who: Jena Barchas-Lichtenstein, who directs the media research and partnerships at Knology; Travis Daub is the PBS NewsHour’s Director of Digital; Erica Hendry is the PBS NewsHour’s Managing Editor for Digital;

Patti Parson is Managing Producer PBS NewsHour and the PI for “Meaningful Math”; Laura Santhanam, who leads the NewsHour’s reporting on the Marist Poll; John Voiklis, who directs behavioral research at Knology; Miles O’Brien is PBS NewsHour’s lead science correspondent. 

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: PBS Newshour

More Info

 

Thu, May 4 - Quantum Computing and Machine Learning 

What: In this seminar, we will cover the current state and future prospects of machine learning with quantum computers. This includes algorithms and models such as quantum kernel estimation, variational quantum classifiers, quantum neural networks, and quantum generative-adversarial networks  

Who: Sean Wagner is a Research Scientist and a Quantum Technical Ambassador at IBM;

When: 2:30, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Big Data University

More Info


Thu, May 4 - Journalists in Exile: How foreign reporters are coping after their work pushed them from home

What: This online panel discussion will highlight just a few of the cases of exiled journalists from around the world and hear what life has been like since they made the decision to pursue life and freedom abroad. 

Who: María Lilly Delgado Co-founder, Traces of Impunity, Muhamadjon Kabirov EIC, Azda TV; Sonny Swe Co-founder, Frontier Myanmar; Masrat Zahra Photojournalist; Preethi Nallu (moderator) Global director, Report for the World

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Press Club

More Info

 

Thu, May 4 – Artificial Intelligence Literacy

What: We will explore some of the AI impacts and issues relating to media literacy. Many of us are educators who strive to inform others about the aspects of media literacy. In this session we will explore together what it means to be literate about AI and what should be a part of a media literacy curriculum to build this literacy.

Who: Pamela Morris is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Indiana University who specializes in media studies and new media; Scott Moss is a doctoral candidate in UCLA’s Educational Leadership Program who works as an Instructional Technology Outreach Coordinator at the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Media Education Lab

More Info

 

Fri, May 5 - Arrested on the Job: Press freedom trends & advice for journalists working in the field

What: A discussion about concerns for journalists working in the U.S, featuring firsthand accounts from journalists who have been arrested or mistreated for simply doing their jobs. Participants will gain an understanding of their legal rights when faced with threats and advice on preparing for work in the field.

Who: Matilda Bliss and Veronica Coit, two journalists with the citizen journalism publication Asheville Blade who were arrested on trespassing charges while documenting a sweep of a homeless camp in 2021; Dion Rabouin, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was detained while doing a routine person-on-the-street interview outside of a bank in Phoenix; Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, which oversees the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker; Steve Reilly, a Washington, D.C.-based investigative reporter for The Messenger, will moderate the discussion.  

When: 10:30 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: National Press Club

More Info

Fame: The Social Currency

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Merit doesn’t drive celebrity. A good story does. It gives us a common topic to feed our hunger for connection. That’s why, according to a couple of studies, some people are famous for just being famous.   

Researchers at Stanford University compared baseball players (since there are clear measures of their abilities). Even if players were well past their prime, fame drove conversations, not achievement. 

There are applications here to business and other corners of society. One of the researchers says, “It is critical to remember that the most prominent people in your organization are not always the ones producing the highest-quality work; they might just be better at selling themselves."

Read more about the study here. 

Stephen Goforth

33 Data Science & AI articles from April 2023

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Drones equipped with liquid neural networks edged out other AI systems when navigating unknown territory

A pitch for using cultural consensus theory to mitigate large language model bias  

An inside look at geospatial intelligence with the CEO of the US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation

The base rate fallacy and its impact on data science

Some examples of how AI is advancing current space efforts

China is building sophisticated cyber-weapons to "seize control" of enemy satellites (FT subscription)

We might see as many as 65,000 satellites in orbit by 2030

“The disruptive nature of the 4IR, which brings both complex risks and unprecedented opportunities”

"The Chinese military could soon deploy a high-altitude spy drone that travels at least three times the speed of sound” 

How many satellites are orbiting around earth?

The core topics you need to focus on to become an AI Data Scientist

China is trying to get around export restrictions to acquire military-relevant technology, such as "launchers with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and communication satellites”

Launch providers must make tricky decisions on how to ramp up capacity as the space economy expands

An overview of some the most influential Deep Learning papers of the last decade

AutoGPT basics

KD Nuggets offers predictions for AI in the next decade 

The 10 most innovative space companies of 2023

An advanced satellite surveillance imagery system—the LAPIS time-series video

60 ChatGPT prompts for data science with ratings

“Claims the NGA unlawfully bypassed their commercial product to sink funds into a $376 million project”

“The new DoD satellite acquisition model favors a spiral development timeline” 

When data scientists are working with sparse data, there are several machine learning models to help

“A national scarcity of geodesists could threaten critical intelligence community missions”

“Geodesy is an essentially nonexistent expertise in the US”

China’s military aims to launch 13K satellites in the race for low-earth orbit dominance

Why you don’t need big data to train machine learning

The Top 19 skills you need to know in 2023 to be a data scientist 

Why the chances of being able to fully explain AI may become impossible for humans to comprehend

Activation functions can be used to design neural networks that achieve better performance on any dataset 

Can neural networks be optimized for certain tasks? MIT researchers think so

How rapid growth in drone use and EU Regulations will accelerate demand for satellite connectivity 

How to Use ChatGPT to Improve Your Data Science Skills

A short video explanation of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in simple terms

Managing Yourself

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If you understand how you think and work, you have more control over who you will become. Abilities can improve as you understand how your mind works.

Creative and critically thinking people open a conversation with themselves that allows them to understand, control, and improve their own minds and work.

Ken Bain, What the Best College Students Do

The Potential of AI using Liquid Neural Networks

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Large language models like ChatGPT and Dall-E have billions of parameters, and each improved model increases in size and complexity. Researchers at an MIT lab believe artificial intelligence can make a leap forward by going smaller. Their experiments show liquid neural networks beat other systems when navigating in unknown environments. “Liquid neural networks could generalize to scenarios that they had never seen, without any fine-tuning, and could perform this task seamlessly and reliably.” They also open the proverbial black box of the system’s decision-making process, which could help to root out bias and other undesirable elements in an AI model. The results have immediate implications for robotics, navigation systems, smart mobility, and beyond toward predicting financial and medical events. Read more here.

When resting means death

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Two climbers died in a weekend snowstorm on Mount Rainier. The men carried warm clothes, sleeping bags, tents, and other items. They had everything they needed to save their lives. But instead of using what they had brought with them to survive, they first sat down to rest—where they died of exposure.

The climb can be tough. In those desperate moments when exhaustion overwhelms us, we have to use the tools at our disposal so our rest will not be in vain.

Stephen Goforth