Photos

The festival of lights in Thailand

Three Irish girls win the Google Science Fair  with an approach to bacteria-enhanced crop growth

Two versions of “Oklahoma” at Bookworm, with discussion

10 Disney cartoons from the 1930s, with link to an article on the evolution of Disney’s cartoons over several decades

The lost art of political persuasion.  This piece at Ricochet argues that politicians are now less about converting the opposition and persuading the undecided, and more about activating those who are already members of their choir.

Bill Whittle thinks  it’s time to talk about some good news  (video)

A recent study suggests that empathy can lead to scapegoating

Book giveaways during WWII contributed greatly to the popularization of reading and the subsequent growth of the publishing industry.

This article by a Wharton professor argues that “emotional intelligence is overrated” and, specifically, that it is overrated in sales.  He cites a study in which hundreds of sales people were tested both for emotional intelligence and cognitive ability, and their sales performance subsequently tracked…with the conclusion that cognitive ability was more than 5X as powerful as emotional intelligence in predicting sales performance.  (Actually, I’m pretty sure that the importance of cognitive ability and the importance of emotional intelligence both vary greatly depending on what you’re selling and who you’re selling it to, and also on what kind of resources the salesman needs to leverage within his own organization.)