Category: Society
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Money and civilization decay
Once upon a time there were people who were wise. And they ruled the world. And then civilization progressed. And we learnt how to do things. And people got skills. And people created new things. And they traded them. So there came people with money. People who did not spend time seeking wisdom. But focusing…
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Improved engagement. With no engagement.
A Danish university lecturer experiments with banning screens in discussion lessons. A new study looks at the results, which include greater student presence, improved engagement and deeper learning. (1) Improved engagement somewhere entails reduced engagement somewhere else. Isn’t this obvious? Less engagement to a mobile phone means more engagement to the classroom. More engagement to…
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Aging…
Zachariah Reagh, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis found that brain activity in older adults isn't necessarily quieter when it comes to memory. "It's just different," he said. What he found out is that while a 20-year-old notes all details in a movie, an…
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Predictions. Talking. The vanity of knowing.
UNIGE scientists developed a neuro-computer model which helps explain how the brain identifies syllables in natural speech. The model uses the equivalent of neuronal oscillations produced by brain activity to process the continuous sound flow of connected speech. The model functions according to a theory known as predictive coding, whereby the brain optimizes perception by…
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Dying languages…
Over 6,000 languages are currently spoken worldwide, but a substantial minority -- well over 5% -- are in danger of dying out. It is perhaps surprising that this fraction is no higher, as most models have so far predicted that a minority language will be doomed to extinction once contacts with speakers of the majority…
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