3 good reads

“This is Why the World Needs War Photographers,” a blog post from Peta Pixel promoting a short video by Reporters Without Borders on the role photographers play in conflict zones. The number of conflict photographers covering wars has dwindled 40% over the past 15 years, the organization says, but without them, we would never know the realities of war. Governments paint a heroic and rosy picture of war through their official photos and videos, but it’s the front-line photographers that show us the realities of violence, injustice, and suffering. Renowned war photographer James Nachtwey says: “I have been a witness, […]

Continue Reading

3 Good Reads

Study Hacks blog. “Seneca on Social Media.” About 2000 years ago, the stoic philosopher Seneca observed that many people do not understand that “free” gifts often come with strings attached, such as what they cost us in time: “Our stupidity may be clearly proved by the fact that we hold that ‘buying’ refers only to the objects for which we pay cahs, and we regard as free gifts the thigns for which we spend our very selves.” Blogger and author Cal Newport asks us to look at our use of social media services like Facebook in terms of the cost […]

Continue Reading

3 good reads

New York Review of Books. “We Are Hopelessly Hooked,” by Jacob Weisberg. Review of four books on the impact of digital devices are having on how we think and behave. Favorite lines are from a section on trolls: “We can’t just deal with the emotional toll of brutality on the Web by toughening up. We need a Web that is less corrosive to our humanity.” Mind Hacks blog. “A quartet of complementary brain books.” Four must-read books on neuroscience for the lay person. On Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience: It tackles several areas as examples of where these fallacies […]

Continue Reading