What forgiveness Does
/Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. -Paul Boese
ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire
Think of AI as a tool
/The most pragmatic position is to think of A.I. as a tool, not a creature.
Mythologizing the technology only makes it more likely that we’ll fail to operate it well—and this kind of thinking limits our imaginations, tying them to yesterday’s dreams.
If the new tech isn’t true artificial intelligence, then what is it? In my view, the most accurate way to understand what we are building today is as an innovative form of social collaboration.
A program like OpenAI’s GPT-4, which can write sentences to order, is something like a version of Wikipedia that includes much more data, mashed together using statistics. Programs that create images to order are something like a version of online image search, but with a system for combining the pictures.
Jaron Lanier writing in The New Yorker
My Life with One Arm
/Two months to the day after my accident, I went to see a therapist for the first time in my life. I didn’t know where to begin. We discussed loss and resilience and the will to live and adapt. But when I started talking about the outpouring of love and support that I had received since my accident, I began weeping uncontrollably. I realized that for the first time in my life, I was truly letting love into my heart. Losing an arm has connected me to others in a way I have never felt. Yes, I have suffered a tremendous loss, but in a way, I feel as if I have gained much more.
Miles O’Brian, Writing in New York Magazine
The Vacuum Cleaner Method
/I know a man who is a tremendous asset to his organization, not because of any extraordinary ability, but because he invariably demonstrates a triumphant thought pattern. Perhaps his associates view a proposition pessimistically, so he employs what he calls the “vacuum cleaner method.” That is, by a series of questions he “sucks the dust” out of his associates’ minds; he draws out their negative attitudes. Then quietly he suggests positive ideas concerning the proposition until a new set of attitudes gives them a new concept of the facts.
They often comment upon how different facts appear when this man “goes to work on them.” It’s the confidence attitude that makes the difference. This doesn’t rule out objectively appraising of facts. The inferiority complex victim sees all facts through discolored attitudes. The secret of correction is simply to gain a normal view, and that is always slanted on the positive side.
Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking
The Power of Lonely
/The nice thing about medicine is it comes with instructions. Not so with solitude, which may be tremendously good for one’s health when taken in the right doses, but is about as user-friendly as an unmarked white pill. Too much solitude is unequivocally harmful and broadly debilitating, decades of research show. But one person’s “too much” might be someone else’s “just enough,” and eyeballing the difference with any precision is next to impossible.
People should be mindfully setting aside chunks of every day when they are not engaged in so-called social snacking activities like texting, g-chatting, and talking on the phone. For teenagers, it may help to understand that feeling a little lonely at times may simply be the price of forging a clearer identity.
“People make this error, thinking that being alone means being lonely, and not being alone means being with other people,” John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago, said. “You need to be able to recharge on your own sometimes. Part of being able to connect is being available to other people, and no one can do that without a break.”
Leon Neyfakh, writing in the Boston Globe
When to Ignore The Customers
/In 2009, Walmart lost a tremendous amount of money after having launched “an uncluttering project” and asking their customers whether they’d like “Walmart aisles to be less cluttered?”. An obvious “yes” costed the corporation a billion dollars: sure, customers were happy to see clean isles, but the sales quickly went down.
There are good examples when listening to what the customer wants leads to wrong conclusions: take a New Coke or a 1992 Shevy Caprice for example. Sometimes, running focus groups, testing in the usability lab, facilitating interviews may yield misleading results. Sometimes, ignoring what your customers say is the best course of action.
Kristian Mikhel writing in the UX Collective
Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common
/When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%.
Jeffrey Barinard writing in Science Magazine
What the Surgeon General Misses about Loneliness
/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
/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
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
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
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
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
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)
Students’ Views on Chatbots and Cheating
/A new study finds more than a third of the students surveyed regularly use AI tools like ChatGPT. Read more here or watch the video below.
You can’t Rush it
/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
The only real mistake
/The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. -John Powell
How Emotionally intelligent leaders deal with failure and setbacks
/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
Growing yourself
/If you want to grow your business, you have to grow yourself. -John Maxwell
8 Free Webinars this week about mobile journalism, reporting on addiction and science, TikTok, disinformation, and more.
/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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Imagining the Future
/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
/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 . . .
It takes courage
/It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. - e.e. cummings
The Secrets to Success
/There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure. - Colin Powell.
Courage
/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