Slightly controversial points of view #7

GapJumpers
Jul 21, 2017 · 3 min read

“Tell me something, that almost nobody agrees with you on”

Based on the famous Peter Thiel question and in line with our slightly evil podcast and slightly uncomfortable newsletter, every week we post things that had the same reaction: they forced us to stop and think about what we’d just read.

Admissions officers at schools like Harvard and Yale will tell you there’s an issue: The vast majority of students whose applications they review have perfect or near-perfect GPAs and SAT scores, so these metrics can’t be used to distinguish between the very best candidates. This means that other yardsticks — such as a student’s involvement in extracurricular activities — have become, by default, much more important because the objective academic metrics don’t have enough headroom.

Editor’s note: Additional info -> study on Gender-role portrayal in TV Ads.

Moreover, as my book Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America illustrates, a growing diverse, globally connected minority population will be absolutely necessary to infuse the aging American labor force with vitality and to sustain populations in many parts of the country that are facing population declines.

Editor’s note: How does A.I affect all of this? Is A.I the logical conclusion to the case for diversity making us perform better economically? Something to ponder.

Blood pressure: Here it was the hand grip group that showed the biggest improvement — a 16% average drop, that was statistically significant.

Editor’s note: How small interventions can have a big impact on BP and the money people spend on it.

Editor’s note: Amazing how many of the executions and ideas would work great even in today’s media and tech landscape. A great ad is a great ad.

And yet, all three groups still displayed high levels of brain myth endorsement, especially for what Macdonald and her colleagues identify as the classic brain myths, including:

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GapJumpers

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Since 2012 on a mission to eradicate bias by 2025

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