IdeaFestival

The Forgiveness Instinct

According to mounting data, the religiously faithful take more satisfaction from marriage and life in general.

To that list of community benefits, one might add self-control, according to New York Times science reporter John Tierney, who references research by University of Miami psychology professor Michael McCullough. In his column, Tierney also distinguishes between religious belief and loosely held ideas about spirituality.

The key is not certitude but practice:

'Brain-scan studies have shown that when people pray or meditate, there’s a lot of activity in two parts of brain that are important for self-regulation and control of attention and emotion,' he said. 'The rituals that religions have been encouraging for thousands of years seem to be a kind of anaerobic workout for self-control.'

McCullough is the author of a new book, Beyond Revenge, the Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, another popular entry into the growing body of work on the biology of altruism, justice and well being.

Happy New Year everybody!

Wayne

Nassim Nicholas Taleb featured on latest IF podcast

Featuring "Black Swan" author Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the most recent podcast from the IdeaFestival is available.

As always, you may find the latest podcasts on the IdeaFestival web site or take them as they are released on iTunes.

Wayne

Doing law: "Finding what's right"

Addressing a December audience of attorneys gathered in San Diego, professor Stephen Burbank of the University of Pennsylvania Law School used a Thomas Friedman column to make a point about innovation. "Whatever can be done, will be done,” Friedman said.

But will it be done to you or by you?

Burbank suggested that, like the auto industry, innovation could overtake business as usual in the practice of law. And at least one other attendee, American Lawyer reported, agreed.

'Lawyers are harder to change than car executives. They’re trained to find things wrong with a new system....' Fred Bartlit, who left Kirkland & Ellis 16 years ago to found a nontraditional firm, stressed that lawyers' behavior can only be understood by examining the science of paradigm shifts. 'The last to change are the ones who were best at the old system.'

Having been in quite a few business meetings, Bartlit's quote reminded me of the person who has five reasons why an idea will never work, and, miraculously, none for why it might. It also brought to mind the an old IF post drawn from the Rotman School of Management's outstanding magazine, Rotman.

Any competent analyst can identify constraints, but what about the possibilities? Can he find what's right?

Wayne

Gladwell to discuss "Outliers" in Louisville

Transforming Lexington: Malcolm Gladwell will be in Louisville on January 22 discussing his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.

Wayne

Malcolm Gladwell

Brian Greene video ties up String Theory in 19 minutes

Giving a 19 minute Cliffs Notes version of his book, "Fabric of the Cosmos," theorist Brian Greene explains in this Ted Talk the the basic ideas and history behind string theory, which could at long last unite relativity and particle physics in one comprehensive description of the world. Of interest to the amateur and science enthusiast like me, he uses one particularly effective illustration to answer the obvious question: "If there are more than three dimensions of space, why don't we see them?"

I have one small quibble though. A truly complete theory of the physical world will also incorporate the human analog to the "fundamental, uncuttable constituents of the matter" Greene and other string theorists pursue: the first-person experience. The relentless scrub-scrubbing of hydrogen atoms over 13.6 billion years or so has produced a being capable of pondering its own existence. Sentience, so far, has resisted division and the question "what's it like to be you?", full disclosure.

Wayne

Potlatch: Give and regift again

Covering the holiday classics like re-gifting - it's accepted, but the giver will need to add the appropriate interest - John Tierney consults an expert on the recession-proof gift economy of the potlatch.

And since I have my own exchange to attend to, Happy Holidays everyone!

IFblog is taking a short break and will be back next week.

Wayne

Before the Big Bang, there was

It's long been assumed that "what happened before the Big Bang?" was a meaningless question. Time itself began with a boom. But based on clues teased from the background radiation left from the massively large and microscopically brief period of inflation following the birth of (our?) universe, Paul Gilster at Centauri Dreams points to some suggestive evidence that implies that this universe is but one act of a very long cosmic production. I'm sure "Quantum Loop Cosmology for Dummies" won't be published anytime soon, but any serious answer to "and before the Big Bang?" is an incredible answer indeed.

The image above is an image of the nearly uniform radiation that can be measured in any direction you choose. The key for our purposes is nearly.

Wayne

"Missionary, not manufacturer"

Referencing this BBC piece describing Nicholas Negroponte as a "missionary," NextBillion.net takes another look at the visionary One Laptop Per Child project and what it means to succeed.

Wayne

Want to succeed? Be empathetic

Being smart enough to handle the cognitive tasks in any professional field - be it engineering, architecture or medicine - is a non-negotiable requirement for success. But it's only a start. Discussing Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers: The Story of Success," Daniel Goleman says that social and emotional intelligence is a potent indicator of success. And moreover, it can be taught:

This is good news for anyone who would like to see success in life shared widely, rather than given to a lucky few who happen to be born into a fortunate, charmed set of circumstances. One way to give every child a greater chance for career success – and a good life in general – would be to have curricula in social and emotional learning (see www.casel.org) a standard part of schooling. Data shows that children who are systematically taught social and emotional skills like how to manage their distressing emotions better, empathize and collaborate do better: have fewer problems like substance abuse and violence, like school more and pay more attention in class – and score significantly better (11%, on average) on academic achievement test scores.

Wayne

Exoplanet observed with telescope?

Though it will require much more observation to determine whether the "planet" is moving through space along with its sun, scientists have released a picture of what may be the third exoplanet to be imaged directly, according to New York Times science editor Dennis Overbye. Until now, astronomers have relied on a number of techniques to indirectly detect the over 300 exoplanets that have been discovered in the past 10 years or so. Better optics may now make direct observation more feasible.

And in the not-too-distant future, a space-borne telescope like Kepler may detect Earth-sized rocky planets in the habitable zone of stars.

Wayne

Exoplanetology