Editor's Pick
This past year saw the troubling expansion of robotaxis and the eye-wateringly rapid AI development. We saw the opening of the world’s largest spherical building, and the rebranding of social media giant Twitter to X. As we enter 2024, amid the backdrop of climate crisis, conflict and technological uncertainties, what role can and should design play in building a better future? From tech and graphics to architecture and interiors, we spoke to high-profile designers around the world about what’s on their wish list for the year ahead.
Explore: 8 big ideas designers should embrace in 2024 (fastcompany.com)
“While the theoretical link between a belief in God and risk taking has been around for a while, the methods previous studies employed to test this weren’t the strongest, based on current best practices,” says lead author Cindel White, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. “Our carefully designed study confirmed that those who believe God will protect them from negative consequences will feel more confident in pursuing potentially dangerous or uncertain activities because of a perceived safety net.”
As 2023 draws to a close, global trade remains in the grip of persistent challenges. Yet collaborative industry efforts and transformative initiatives hint at more positive shifts for the coming year.
Explore: From the editor | Global Trade Review (GTR) (gtreview.com)
A large body of research backs up the idea that people get happier as they age. Some of that has to do with emotional wisdom, according to Laura Carstensen, professor of psychology and director of the Stanford Center on Longevity.
“As we age, our time horizons grow shorter and our goals change. When we recognize that we don’t have all the time in the world, we see our priorities most clearly. We take less notice of trivial matters. We savor life. We’re more appreciative, more open to reconciliation. We invest in more emotionally important parts of life, and life gets better, so we’re happier day-to-day,”
Explore: Habits that can help boost your happiness as you age | Fortune Well
Acclaimed psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, has studied trauma for 50 years. Though we once considered trauma to be exclusive to veterans and people growing up in extreme circumstances, we now know it is widespread. And not only is it all over our society, it’s all over our bodies. Van der Kolk discusses the physiology of trauma and the pathway to healing.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝗮 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱? [ investopedia.com ]
To marketing professionals, a brand is a product or a business that has a distinct identity in the perception of consumers. The brand is created through elements of design, packaging, and advertising that, as a whole, distinguish the product from its competitors.
The product contributes to the brand equity of the company that produces it. A successfully-executed brand provides enormous value to a company, giving it a competitive edge over others in the same industry.
As such, many companies seek legal protection for their brands by obtaining trademarks.
Governments must sustainably raise sufficient resources to pay for their employees and policies, such as providing infrastructure and public services. They usually do so by collecting taxes.
The map, drawing on data from the UN, shows that countries differ greatly in how much taxes they collect. Here, this is expressed as government tax revenues as a share of gross domestic product (GDP).
Elements of culture include our norms, languages, rituals, holidays, food and diet, art, and architecture.
It’s often hard to picture what a culture will look like. There are so many subtle things that inform our cultural identities. But the above elements can help us visualize some key building blocks of any culture.
The Stable Core: Purpose, stewardship, openness. The Centennials start by stabilizing their core, to safeguard what they stand for and stay on track.
Most businesses focus on serving customers, owning resources, being efficient and growing — but the Centennials don’t. Instead, they try to shape society, share experts, create accidents, and focus on getting better not bigger. They’re radically traditional — with a stable core, but a disruptive edge. And that’s what keeps them ahead.
DOSSIER | https://qubit.mwfbiz.com/?qbid=ZW5kYjFqZ2o=&bizk=cGF0aEBzdHJhdGVneQ==&no=yes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #QuBit
Researchers conducted a series of studies to understand when curiosity may lead to different reactions in the workplace. They found that curious employees were often seen by their leaders as insubordinate and, in turn, less likable. However, curious employees who were politically skilled were not seen this way. They distinguished between constructive curiosity, which involved seeking information, knowledge, or learning by asking many provocative questions that don’t have easy answers, and unconstructive curiosity, which involved seeking information, knowledge, or learning by asking too many questions and questions with easy answers. Their findings have implications for both managers, who should ensure they’re not dismissing employees expressing constructive curiosity, and employees, who should ensure they’re not engaging in unconstructive curiosity.
Explore: https://hbr.org/2023/11/research-when-and-why-employee-curiosity-annoys-managers
“AI can help transmit information that is already known, but it is not an innovator,” Yiu (a co-author of the article) said. “These models can summarize conventional wisdom but they cannot expand, create, change, abandon, evaluate, and improve on conventional wisdom in the way a young human can.” The development of AI is still in its early days, though, and much remains to be learned about how to expand the learning capacity of AI. Taking inspiration from children’s curious, active, and intrinsically motivated approach to learning could help researchers design new AI systems that are better prepared to explore the real world.
Climate finance helps countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as by funding renewable power like wind or solar. It also helps communities adapt to climate change impacts. Introducing climate resilient seeds, for instance, means farmers, despite droughts and other extreme weather, keep producing food and earning income.
Public finance provided through governments (and by taxpayers) is essential to finance action where private finance is not yet available or that would not normally attract private finance. Public finance is often used for investments that contribute to a public good, such as by reinforcing the banks of a river so it does not flood neighbouring communities. Sometimes, public finance encourages private finance from businesses by “nudging” firms to enter and create markets for new products, like building supplies made of recycled materials.
Explore: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/why-finance-climate-action
"Think like a proton, always positive."