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This is why you shouldn’t believe that exciting new medical study – Vox
“In 2003, researchers writing in the American Journal of Medicine discovered something that should change how you think about medical news. They looked at 101 studies published in top scientific journals between 1979 and 1983 that claimed a new therapy or medical technology was very promising. Only five, they found out, made it to market within a decade. Only one (ACE inhibitors, a pharmaceutical drug) was still extensively used at the time of their publication.
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It’s Okay To Be Smart • Science and art share a common mandate—to find…
“Science and art share a common mandate—to find surprise in the ordinary by seeing it from an unexpected point of view.” Bloom
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New Tropes for Old – Futility ClosetFutility Closet
“The steps below will, “like machinery in factories,” convert a Gothic romance into a sentimental novel:”
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What it’s like to teach evolution at the University of Kentucky – Boing Boing
““If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” My response was and is always the same: We didn’t evolve from monkeys. Humans and monkeys evolved from a common ancestor. One ancestral population evolved in one direction toward modern-day monkeys, while another evolved toward humans. The explanation clicked for most students, but not all, so I tried another. I asked the students to consider this: Catholics are the oldest Christian denomination, so if Protestants evolved from Catholics, why are there still Catholics? “
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McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: An Honest College Rejection Letter.
“However, you will be pleased to know that you have contributed to our declining admissions rate, which has helped our university appear exclusive. This allows us to attract our real candidates: upper-class kids and certified geniuses who will glean no new information from our courses or faculty, whose parents can incentivize us with a new swimming pool or lacrosse stadium.
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Seeking Genius in Negative Space — 7 Days of Genius — Medium
“Be deeply curious about the world around you.
Become aware of your thoughts and learn to think about thinking. Practicing metacognition will help develop a sense for the tricks your mind plays, and how to overcome them.
With this awareness, learn to overcome automatic processing. When confronted with something new or unfamiliar, withhold judgment; if you see something you don’t understand in the negative space, go with it and see where it leads. Remember that impossible geometry exists, and your mind is constantly trying to force you to see things that you already know how to see. It’s learning to see the unseen that makes this practice valuable!
Be aware of the limitations of the labels that have been applied to the world. Keep in mind how small the grid of words is compared to the wordless plane. Opportunity exists where words don’t exist, yet.
Learn to sit with Keats in uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts without grasping for conventional explanations. Allow time to visit the fantastic and the unconventional, and become aware of the moments when you’re avoiding staying in these contexts. Meditation can be essential here.”