“Severance” and the Philosophy of Separating Work-Me from Home-Me

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If you could take work-life balance to its most literal extreme, what would it look like? That’s the central theme of Severance, the sci-fi series that has just finished airing on Apple TV.

Why Public Discourse Has Become So Stupid

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In this episode of The Good Fight, host Yascha Mounk speaks with Jonathan Haidt about how we can make social media less toxic, what political and technological reforms might help fix the problem, and how we can empower the moderate majority to fight for its values.

Promoting the Truth About Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

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Social media companies cannot prevent Putin from blocking their platforms, but there are workarounds. The first casualty of war is truth. Variations of that famous aphorism are attributed to California Senator Hiram Johnson at the turn of…

In Confronting a Polarized Workforce, Persuasion Is Not the Goal. Learning Is!

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"Persuasion is a zero-sum game," says Harvard psychologist Julia Minson. "Whereas learning can be a massive win-win." In her new book I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times,…

Director J.J. Abrams Read “Think Again” and Interviews Adam Grant About the Book

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pzAMoHt1ss In this episode of Worklife with Adam Grant, from TED, the director J.J. Abrams takes Adam's job and interviews the author and psychologist about the ideas behind the book, and shares the points…

How to Short-Circuit Short-Term Thinking

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Human behavior is fueling major social dilemmas—from climate change to the Covid pandemic to the spread of misinformation. But that means it’s also the solution, if only we can harness psychology for the common good. The world is facing…

The Status Game Doesn’t Have to Be Zero-Sum

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“Prestige,” Will Storr writes in The Status Game, “is our most marvelous craving.” Do you ever get a niggling feeling that other people are doing better than you? Don’t worry, we all do. And rest assured, social comparison isn’t…

Are You a More Holistic or Analytic Thinker? Take This Quiz to Find Out

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There now tends to be more cultural diversity within societies than between them—including in thinking styles. Left-brain or right-brain? Creative or critical? Analytic or holistic? We love to divide the world into simple dichotomies.…

Elizabeth Holmes Is a Scapegoat—Even If She’s Guilty

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Reprinted with permission from Luke Burgis' Substack, Anti-Mimetic. Our desire for quick justice can make us pounce on the most visible actors. The criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of the blood-testing startup Theranos,…

The Two Sides of Envy at Work

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Studies of workplace envy have surged in recent years as researchers look for ways to harness its power to inspire workers to aim higher, and to minimize its negative effects on office social dynamics. Back when she was in college, Alaina…