Americans consume twice as many material goods today as they did 50 years ago. As a result, most homes are full of junk. This has started to raise questions in the mind of the average consumer. How often do I actually use the arc welder I bought five years ago to do one job? Do I really need seven sets of wine glasses? Why is my shed full of plant pots when I haven’t planted anything for years?
The most popular course ever at Yale? Surely Political Science, CompSci, Global Affairs, one of those? They are the courses that young, ambitious ivy leaguers need to launch their professional careers, right?
Each religion’s followers tend to believe that their religion is true and others are fake. There is a reluctance to explore other religions for fear of being ‘led astray’, and this reluctance is born of and reinforced by peer pressure, conformity and groupthink. This is why some people find objects of suspicion in things as superficial as other religions’ followers’ clothing, rituals, food, and even hairstyles.
In Copenhagen there is a two-Michelin-star restaurant called Noma which has been ranked Best Restaurant in the World by Restaurant Magazine four times. It was co-founded by René Redzepi, a Dane who had previously worked at world-famous restaurants El Bulli, The French Laundry and Le Jardin des Sens. Redzepi is a pretty serious foodie. Noma has been central in the development of a cuisine known as the New Nordic Diet.
Elite athletes are special people who exist on a different plane from the average person. They are driven to succeed at all costs. But sporting authorities have drawn a line in the sand that can bring famous careers to an end if crossed: no performance-enhancing drugs. The world of doping in sport is therefore a delicately-poised knife edge of conflict, deception, and brinkmanship.
Smart cities aim to provide their residents with improved public services and better quality of life by investing in digital technologies. They also emphasize community involvement in the running of the city. With the key stakeholders (citizens) participating more directly in matters of infrastructure, mobility, environment, sustainability and economy, their city functions better and serves their needs and desires more efficiently. Digital technology aids citizens by providing real-time monitoring of services and utilities, and the ability to respond to changing needs in real time.
What is the real value of an MBA? The skills developed, or the prestige of the issuing institution? For those seeking to add an MBA to their resume, their answer to that question will make the difference between spending thousands of dollars and spending no dollars at all.
Drones are filling our skies. If companies like Amazon manage to negotiate their way past aviation restrictions, drones will soon be delivering our shopping to our homes and workplaces. No longer just toys and aerial photography tools, drones are here to stay. They are used in search and rescue, disaster relief, bomb disposal, military and civilian reconnaissance, archaeology, infrastructure inspection, anti-poaching, conservation, construction and law enforcement.
In 1233 a papal bull decreed that anyone admitted to the mastership at the University of Toulouse should be allowed to teach freely in any other university. Ever since then it has been set in stone that the rite of passage into a master’s degree is a three or four-year undergraduate degree. Pretty much by definition, a master’s is a follow-on from a bachelor’s degree.
Sometimes the Earth bites. Some would say ‘sometimes the Earth bites back,’ with climate change and rising incidents of flooding in mind. But most natural disasters are not man-made. There’s very little we can do at the moment about earthquakes and volcanoes, for example. And hurricanes and typhoons were around long before we started filling the atmosphere with CO2. So studying natural disasters and preparing for them shouldn’t be undertaken with a sense of guilt about self-inflicted damage. It should be done with a simple sense of self-preservation.
Those involved in decision-making in business and law might have heard of the OODA loop. Standing for Observe-Orient-Decide-Act, it is a methodology for treading carefully, avoiding unnecessary conflict, and winning in challenging situations by performing actions based on rational decisions. To make those decisions, one must first fully understand the situation by observation, and get to know one’s opponents’ intentions and likely actions by orientation. The four steps in the loop are:
