Contents contributed and discussions participated by Lawrence Hrubes - TOK@ISPrague

Michael Pollan: How Smart Are Plants? : The New Yorker - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...131223fa_fact_pollan

TOK science nature plants cognition neuroscience neurobiology

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 23 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 23 Dec 13

"Plants are able to sense and optimally respond to so many environmental variables-light, water, gravity, temperature, soil structure, nutrients, toxins, microbes, herbivores, chemical signals from other plants-that there may exist some brainlike information-processing system to integrate the data and coördinate a plant's behavioral response. The authors pointed out that electrical and chemical signalling systems have been identified in plants which are homologous to those found in the nervous systems of animals."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Plants are able to sense and optimally respond to so many environmental variables-light, water, gravity, temperature, soil structure, nutrients, toxins, microbes, herbivores, chemical signals from other plants-that there may exist some brainlike information-processing system to integrate the data and coördinate a plant's behavioral response. The authors pointed out that electrical and chemical signalling systems have been identified in plants which are homologous to those found in the nervous systems of animals."</div>

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Pulchrinomics: Handsome C.E.O.s, Handsome Returns : The New Yorker - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...ome-ceos-handsome-returns.html

TOK economics human sciences SocialScience beauty perception

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 21 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 21 Dec 13

"Researchers today are no less interested in how physical appearance shapes political and economic outcomes. Half a century after Kennedy debated Nixon, the economist Daniel Hamermesh, from the University of Texas, coined the portmanteau pulchrinomics, the economic study of beauty. Hamermesh and his colleagues have produced a large body of research that is fascinating, if disconcerting: the basic principle of pulchrinomics is that beauty drives economic success."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Researchers today are no less interested in how physical appearance shapes political and economic outcomes. Half a century after Kennedy debated Nixon, the economist Daniel Hamermesh, from the University of Texas, coined the portmanteau pulchrinomics, the economic study of beauty. Hamermesh and his colleagues have produced a large body of research that is fascinating, if disconcerting: the basic principle of pulchrinomics is that beauty drives economic success."</div>

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Why Your Name Matters : The New Yorker - 1 views

www.newyorker.com/...why-your-name-matters.html

TOK language names psychology human sciences

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 21 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 21 Dec 13

"We see a name, implicitly associate different characteristics with it, and use that association, however unknowingly, to make unrelated judgments about the competence and suitability of its bearer. The relevant question may not be "What's in a name?" but, rather, "What signals does my name send-and what does it imply?""

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"We see a name, implicitly associate different characteristics with it, and use that association, however unknowingly, to make unrelated judgments about the competence and suitability of its bearer. The relevant question may not be "What's in a name?" but, rather, "What signals does my name send-and what does it imply?""</div>

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BBC - Future - Science & Environment - What is one degree? - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...17-what-exactly-is-temperature

TOK science heat temperature measurement

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 19 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 19 Dec 13

"Temperature matters, but what is it? And what is one degree? These may seem like simple questions, but the reality is anything but clear-cut."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Temperature matters, but what is it? And what is one degree? These may seem like simple questions, but the reality is anything but clear-cut."</div>

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In The Beginning There Was ... Nothing? : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture : NPR - 0 views

www.npr.org/...e-capable-of-explaining-itself

TOK science cosmology universe

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 18 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 18 Dec 13

"If the origin of life is mysterious, the origin of the universe is much more. After all, the universe, by definition, includes all there is. How can everything come from nothing?"

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"If the origin of life is mysterious, the origin of the universe is much more. After all, the universe, by definition, includes all there is. How can everything come from nothing?"</div>

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Michael Specter: Exploring the Human Microbiome : The New Yorker - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...121022fa_fact_specter

TOK science biology germs

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 16 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 16 Dec 13

""Germs make us sick," he said. "But everyone focusses on the harm. And it's not that simple, because without most of these organisms we could never survive.''"

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">""Germs make us sick," he said. "But everyone focusses on the harm. And it's not that simple, because without most of these organisms we could never survive.''"</div>

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What You Look Like to a Social Network - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...api

TOK technology social network media

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 16 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 16 Dec 13

"This infographic allows you to explore the categories of information that various social networks make available to other applications."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"This infographic allows you to explore the categories of information that various social networks make available to other applications."</div>

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The Trouble with Snooze Buttons (and with Modern Sleep) : The New Yorker - 1 views

www.newyorker.com/...ouble-with-snooze-buttons.html

TOK science neuroscience psychology sleep biology

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 13 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 13 Dec 13

Research into sleep patterns, wake times, the effects of light and dark, and how these affect cognitive abilities

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Research into sleep patterns, wake times, the effects of light and dark, and how these affect cognitive abilities</div>

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If This Doesn't Terrify You … Google's Computers OUTWIT Their Humans | Fluenc... - 0 views

fluency21.com/...-computers-outwit-their-humans

TOK technology computers intelligence AI Google classification learning

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 11 Dec 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 11 Dec 13

"Google reached a milestone in artificial intelligence recently. Its deep learning image recognition system has evolved so far that it's own creators can't explain its capabilities."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Google reached a milestone in artificial intelligence recently. Its deep learning image recognition system has evolved so far that it's own creators can't explain its capabilities."</div>

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Malcolm Gladwell - Zeitgeist Americas 2013 - YouTube - 1 views

www.youtube.com/watch

TOK SocialScience education assumptions psychology

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 29 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 29 Nov 13

Using statistics from high and low ranked universities, Gladwell argues that what really matters is how well we do relative to our peer group, not how elite our school is globally. Better to be a top student in a mediocre school than an average student in Harvard.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Using statistics from high and low ranked universities, Gladwell argues that what really matters is how well we do relative to our peer group, not how elite our school is globally. Better to be a top student in a mediocre school than an average student in Harvard. </div>

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BBC - Future - Science & Environment - Why science needs imagination and beauty - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...cret-to-thinking-like-a-genius

TOK science physics imagination beauty

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 29 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 29 Nov 13

"Albert Einstein famously said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." They're both important, says physicist and Nobel Prize recipient Frank Wilczek, but knowledge without imagination is barren. Take his subject of theoretical physics. As Wilczek says a lot of what you do is to try to understand Mother Nature's mind and her sense of beauty to see how the laws of physics could be more beautiful."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Albert Einstein famously said: "Imagination is more important than knowledge." They're both important, says physicist and Nobel Prize recipient Frank Wilczek, but knowledge without imagination is barren. Take his subject of theoretical physics. As Wilczek says a lot of what you do is to try to understand Mother Nature's mind and her sense of beauty to see how the laws of physics could be more beautiful."</div>

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BBC News - French veil law: Muslim woman's challenge in Strasbourg - 2 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...world-europe-25118160

TOK ethics religion culture rights law Islam gender

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 27 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 27 Nov 13

""Wearing the full veil not only makes it difficult to identify a person, it makes her indistinguishable from other full veil wearers and effectively erases the woman who wears it," she told the court. Ramby de Mello, a British lawyer representing the unnamed woman, said the law violated his client's religious, free speech and privacy rights and made her feel "like a prisoner in her own country"."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">""Wearing the full veil not only makes it difficult to identify a person, it makes her indistinguishable from other full veil wearers and effectively erases the woman who wears it," she told the court. Ramby de Mello, a British lawyer representing the unnamed woman, said the law violated his client's religious, free speech and privacy rights and made her feel "like a prisoner in her own country"."</div>

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Karen Thompson Walker: What fear can teach us | Video on TED.com - 0 views

www.ted.com/...er_what_fear_can_teach_us.html

TOK emotion fear imagination

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 26 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 26 Nov 13

"Imagine you're a shipwrecked sailor adrift in the enormous Pacific. You can choose one of three directions and save yourself and your shipmates -- but each choice comes with a fearful consequence too. How do you choose?"

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Imagine you're a shipwrecked sailor adrift in the enormous Pacific. You can choose one of three directions and save yourself and your shipmates -- but each choice comes with a fearful consequence too. How do you choose?"</div>

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Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics - About Us - 0 views

www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/about_us

TOK ethics

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 25 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 25 Nov 13

"Practical ethics should not only advance knowledge by deeper, rational ethical reflection and dialogue, it should change people's hearts and so better their own lives and the lives of others."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Practical ethics should not only advance knowledge by deeper, rational ethical reflection and dialogue, it should change people's hearts and so better their own lives and the lives of others."</div>

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BBC World Service - Hardtalk, Medical Ethicist - Julian Savulescu - 1 views

www.bbc.co.uk/p01lqqv5

TOK ethics science medicine

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 25 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 25 Nov 13

"From genetic engineering to bioscience, human beings are close to acquiring the ability not just to combat disease, but to enhance and perfect our species. But should we seek to do it, or should we shy away from a path that led to Nazi eugenics? Hardtalk speaks to the Australian born, Oxford based medical ethicist Julian Savulescu. Can we trust ourselves to be wise masters of our own biology?"

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"From genetic engineering to bioscience, human beings are close to acquiring the ability not just to combat disease, but to enhance and perfect our species. But should we seek to do it, or should we shy away from a path that led to Nazi eugenics? Hardtalk speaks to the Australian born, Oxford based medical ethicist Julian Savulescu. Can we trust ourselves to be wise masters of our own biology?"</div>

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BBC News - The unwinnable game - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...magazine-25032298

TOK reason technology games chess intelligence

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 24 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 24 Nov 13

"A commentator in the current Carlsen-Anand series used the phrase: "A very human move." The point is that humans make mistakes. The subtlest of mistakes, the "sub-optimal" moves, can create beautifully poised situations."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"A commentator in the current Carlsen-Anand series used the phrase: "A very human move." The point is that humans make mistakes. The subtlest of mistakes, the "sub-optimal" moves, can create beautifully poised situations."</div>

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Burkhard Bilger: Inside Google's Driverless Car : The New Yorker - 1 views

www.newyorker.com/...131125fa_fact_bilger

TOK technology car Google

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 23 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 23 Nov 13

"Levandowski understands the sentiment. He just has more faith in robots than most of us do. "People think that we're going to pry the steering wheel from their cold, dead hands," he told me, but they have it exactly wrong. Someday soon, he believes, a self-driving car will save your life."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Levandowski understands the sentiment. He just has more faith in robots than most of us do. "People think that we're going to pry the steering wheel from their cold, dead hands," he told me, but they have it exactly wrong. Someday soon, he believes, a self-driving car will save your life."</div>

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BBC News - Word-taste synaesthesia: Tasting names, places and Anne Boleyn - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...health-21060207

TOK perception senses taste synesthesia brain

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 20 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 20 Nov 13

"As a young man James's girlfriends were flavoured of rhubarb and melted wine gums. And his schoolmates had a strong essence of sliced potatoes and strawberry jam. He chose his companions not based on their personality or looks, but because of how their names tickled his taste buds. James Wannerton has synaesthesia - a condition in which the senses mix together so that sensations we normally consider separate start to intermingle."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"As a young man James's girlfriends were flavoured of rhubarb and melted wine gums. And his schoolmates had a strong essence of sliced potatoes and strawberry jam. He chose his companions not based on their personality or looks, but because of how their names tickled his taste buds. James Wannerton has synaesthesia - a condition in which the senses mix together so that sensations we normally consider separate start to intermingle."</div>

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BBC News - Study links synaesthesia to autism - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...health-24995232

TOK perception senses synesthesia brain

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 20 Nov 13 - No Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 20 Nov 13

"Synaesthesia is a condition where one sense automatically triggers another. Some people experience tastes when they read or hear words, some perceive numbers as shapes, others see colours when they hear music."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Synaesthesia is a condition where one sense automatically triggers another. Some people experience tastes when they read or hear words, some perceive numbers as shapes, others see colours when they hear music."</div>

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Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation | Video on TED.com - 0 views

www.ted.com/...dan_pink_on_motivation.html

TOK emotion SocialScience science motivation

shared by Lawrence Hrubes on 18 Nov 13 - Cached

Lawrence Hrubes on 18 Nov 13

"Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think."

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">"Career analyst Dan Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think."</div>

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