Fulcra

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→ Kepler’s astronomers decided to found Planet Hunters, a program that asked “citizen scientists” to examine light patterns emitted by the stars, from the comfort of their own homes. Oct 22, 2015 science & highlights

Kepler’s astronomers decided to found Planet Hunters, a program that asked “citizen scientists” to examine light patterns emitted by the stars, from the comfort of their own homes.

In 2011, several citizen scientists flagged one particular star as “interesting” and “bizarre.” The star was emitting a light pattern that looked stranger than any of the others Kepler was watching.

— Citizen scientists provide the backbone for the latest viral astronomical headline.

Second Policy Switch: From Predetermined to Curiosity-Led Learning Oct 22, 2015 education

→ Acquiescence is a good word for this. Oct 21, 2015 education & highlights Success is measured by children's acquiescence in first 'swallowing' and then 'bringing up' facts and skills when probed with tests. —

Acquiescence is a good word for this.

From http://blindspot.org.uk/second-policy-switch/

→ Habits of creative thought cannot be cultivated by assuming that inquisitive young minds must be moulded into established patterns of thinking Oct 21, 2015 education & systems & highlights Habits of creative thought cannot be cultivated by assuming that inquisitive young minds must be moulded into established patterns of thinking. — James Greyson calling for a new emphasis on creating curiousity in education.

Four Solutions We Believe In Oct 21, 2015 education

On Full Horizon Planning and the Under-Appreciated Power of Workflow Systems - Study Hacks - Cal Newport Oct 20, 2015 education

Social experiments to fight poverty Oct 20, 2015

→ When the evidence is powerful, it can prompt action Oct 20, 2015 highlights When the evidence is powerful, it can prompt action. — Economist Esther Duflo in her 2010 TED Talk on evidence-based policies to fight global poverty.

→ [T]he anthropologist characteristically approaches such broader interpretations and more abstract analyses from the direction of exceedingly extended acquaintances with extremely small matters Oct 19, 2015 design & highlights [T]he anthropologist characteristically approaches such broader interpretations and more abstract analyses from the direction of exceedingly extended acquaintances with extremely small matters. They confront the same grand realities that others – historians, economists, political scientists, sociologists – confront in more fateful settings: Power, Change, Faith, Oppression, Work, Passion, Authority, Beauty, Violence, Love, Prestige; but they confront them in contexts obscure enough to take the capital letters off them. — Clifford Geertz on the microscopic perspective of ethnography.

→ [I]t is not necessary to know everything in order to understand something Oct 19, 2015 design & highlights [I]t is not necessary to know everything in order to understand something. — Clifford Geertz on the utility of ethnography.

→ Understanding a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity Oct 19, 2015 design & highlights Understanding a people’s culture exposes their normalness without reducing their particularity. … It renders them accessible: setting them in the frame of their own banalities, it dissolves their opacity. — Clifford Geertz on ethnography and thick description.

→ We are not, or at least I am not, seeking either to become natives (a compromised word in any case) or to mimic them Oct 18, 2015 highlights We are not, or at least I am not, seeking either to become natives (a compromised word in any case) or to mimic them. Only romantics or spies would seem to find point in that. We are seeking, in the widened sense of the term in which it encompasses very much more than talk, to converse with them, a matter a great deal more difficult, and not only with strangers, than is commonly recognized. — Clifford Geertz on ethnography.

→ Eclecticism is self-defeating not because there is only one direction in which it is useful to move, but because there are so many: it is necessary to choose Oct 18, 2015 highlights Eclecticism is self-defeating not because there is only one direction in which it is useful to move, but because there are so many: it is necessary to choose. — Clifford Geertz, Thick Description.

Syringe-injectable electronics Oct 18, 2015 futures

DuPont Plans Gene Editing in Plants with CRISPR | MIT Technology Review Oct 17, 2015

The Prize in Economic Sciences 2015 - Press Release Oct 17, 2015

→ The money that has poured into the system has not made the startups any better Oct 17, 2015 highlights The money that has poured into the system has not made the startups any better. — Sam Altman on unicorn valuations.

→ Life is not a zero-sum game Oct 16, 2015 highlights Life is not a zero-sum game. — John Scalzi’s “best piece of advice” for Lifehacker’s How I Work series.

→ John Scalzi. Oct 16, 2015 highlights I have writer friends who swear by Scrivener but honestly I don't understand it; it's overly complicated for my own writing process. —

John Scalzi.

This makes me feel better. I’ve always thought I had to use Scrivener to be a serious writer. Phew.

→ Laszlo Bock, Google’s Head of People Operations, on how to manage Google’s talent. Oct 16, 2015 people & highlights The keys are to hire amazing people, give them more freedom than you're comfortable with, provide targeted real-time coaching, and forgive failure as long as people learn. —

Laszlo Bock, Google’s Head of People Operations, on how to manage Google’s talent.

Laszlo seems like a really really nice fella.