Slightly controversial points of view #7
“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:
- Learning styles myth (endorsed by 93 per cent of the public, 76 per cent of teachers, and 78 per cent of those with neuroscience education)
- A common sign of dyslexia is seeing letters backwards (endorsed by 76 per cent of the public, 59 per cent of teachers, and 50 per cent of those with neuroscience education)
- Listening to classical music increases children’s reasoning ability (endorsed by 59 per cent of the public, 55 per cent of teachers, and 43 per cent of the neuroscience group) [more on music-related neuromyths]
- Children are less attentive after consuming sugar (endorsed by 59 per cent of the public, 50 per cent of teachers and 39 per cent of the neuroscience group)
- The left-brain right-brain myth (endorsed by 64 per cent of the public, 49 per cent of teachers and 32 per cent of the neuroscience group)
- The 10 per cent myth (endorsed by 36 per cent of the public, 33 per cent of teachers, and 14 per cent of those with neuroscience education — my unfriendly correspondent is not alone).
