Smart Skills

The worst year of former tennis pro James Blake’s life was tragic—professionally and personally. Here’s how he got back on his feet after multiple setbacks.

This infographic, by Anna Vital from Funders and Founders, recaps the significant moments of Steve Jobs’ journey on, and sometimes off, the path of success. 

Psychopathy and sadism play a prominent role among those who choose to take it up. 

Illinois passed a bill that could abolish AT&T’s obligation to provide the state’s citizens with landline telephone services.

Your brain stops at the most comforting thought. The truth is somewhere beyond that. Using scientific skepticism as a guide, astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss outlines the questions that critical thinkers ask themselves.

Goal setting is a hamster wheel, says Adam Alter. If you want to channel your best work and get off the failure circuit, set systems instead.

Polymaths are people who have excelled in diverse pursuits, and several of those polymaths left us with some very practical advice on how to succeed.

“We don’t notice one another nearly as much as we think we do,” says Alan Alda. Here’s how the actor inspired a scientific study on empathy.

That’s a big yes, as an incredible new study from University of Melbourne researchers found.

Your mind is built to process contradictory, irrational ideas. Use that to reach new intellectual heights.

Skepticism has a place, but it’s optimists who decide the future, says Kevin Kelly.

Do you retreat from your ambitions out of fear? Self-preservation isn’t doing you any favors, says Kyle Maynard. Confront your excuses and live more honestly.

The ‘Project Wing’ drone system is going to change life as we know it—and inadvertently fix all your storage problems. rn

These glycerin “smart glasses” may be the only specs you’ll need – although they do need a design intervention at some point.

Astro Teller’s innovation tip? Fail fast. Here’s how he cultivates and rewards intellectually honest failures, and helps his team get comfortable with the idea.

Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial trends go through births and deaths, revolutionizing business attitudes before turning stale. Tim Ferris explains two trends: one near its death, the other very much alive and kicking.

One of the lesser-discussed but potentially most disastrous appointments is in education: Betsy DeVos. Her anti-intellectual agenda would take root in the nation’s youngest minds, filtering down through descendant generations. 

Start at the beginning sounds like good advice, and yet it isn’t, says Tim Ferriss. He explains the value of the mastering the endgame, and of carving out empty space.

Tim Ferriss shares a bounty of strategies to help you really and truly overcome procrastination. And if it doesn’t do it for you, hey, at least you just killed 10 minutes.

It’s not by burning people’s pictures and wearing the flag as a cape, but by understanding ourselves better, and understanding the person beside you. Three Ways America Can Be United Again – Through Decision-Making 3 Ways We Can Make America Great Again – Through Decision Making Looks Like We’re Making America Great Again. Here Are 3 Ways to Contribute.    

When you see a stranger in some kind of hardship, how do you react? Researchers carried out a rare study in a real-life setting to assess the relationship between empathy and altruism. 

We’re ranked behind Saudi Arabia and Korea in empathy. Surprised?     

Cross ‘multi-tasking ninja’ off your resume, it’s out, say Stanford researchers and other cognitive experts. Here are three tips for transitioning back to single-tasking.

The truly awesome part of Facebook’s company culture isn’t the unlimited holidays or the free lunches, says Stuart Crabb, former Global Head of Learning. It’s something much deeper.

Are you a maverick or are you a mouse? Author Julian Guthrie brings us one of the great entrepreneurial adventure stories of our time in ‘How to Make a Spaceship’.

There’s more to intuition than meets the eye.

A new study in nature reports that LSD minimizes fear recognition and enhances emotional empathy and sociality. Is it time to widely utilize ‘trip treatment’?

According to Pulitzer winner Charles Duhigg, the art of focus is training your mind to know what it can safely ignore.

A new study finds that one of the world’s most popular painkillers affects the ability to empathize with the suffering of others. 

From a personal tutoring service for his young cousin, Salman Khan’s company Khan Academy has grown exponentially into a massive, global, online engine for learning.