Still Bill Trailer

Gilles Peterson w/ Kon & Amir

Brilliant Worldwide Show this week: GP hosting Kon & Amir.
Listen to it online...

Family Guy Explaining Monism

First it was "The Humanities" and "The Sciences", then it became "Brain and Mind Sciences" and "Brain & Mind Sciences" and now it's "Brain/Mind Sciences". I'm waiting for "Brind Sciences" or "Main Sciences".

Family Guy beautifully illustrates this:

Tapping the Digital Collective Pool of Ideas

As a viral promo-slash-summary-slash-introduction to his book Where Good Ideas Come From (published today), Steven Berlin Johnson produced this neat video (via Neuron Culture).

The take home message is that half ideas or hunches of different people connect ("have sex") to create great ideas in certain environments but also at unexpected moments (see also his TED talk).

According to this new Science Express paper collective intelligence is influenced by the social sensitivity rather than the general intelligence of individual group members.

Remembering Durkheim's, Jung's, and Halbwachs'/Assmann's conceptualizations of Collective Consciousness, Unconscious, and Memory, respectively, one may integrate these claims into the following conclusion:

In order to fruitfully complement one's individual thoughts utilizing increased (weak or strong) connectivity in the age of social media, one should develop a sort of virtual social sensitivity to maneuver and tap into the digital collective pool of ideas.

Fallon, Timberlake, & The Roots - 30 Years Rap History

Blu's Berlin Wall and 20 Years of German Reunification

Magnificent Italian street artist Blu (already mentioned twice) struck again (via my sis and unurth). Just in time for the German national holiday celebrating 20 years of reunification and fall of the Berlin Wall. Happy Anniversary!

Emerging Adulthood and Gradschool

But also:

The 20s are like the stem cell of human development, the pluripotent moment when any of several outcomes is possible. Decisions and actions during this time have lasting ramifications.
[...]
"In emerging adulthood, if you spend this time exploring and you get yourself on a pathway that really fits you, then there’s going to be this snowball effect of finding the right fit, the right partner, the right job, the right place to live. The less you have at first, the less you’re going to get this positive effect compounded over time. You’re not going to have the same acceleration". (from: What Is It About 20-Somethings?, NY Times, August 18, 2010)