In his book, “Birds, Sex and Beauty,” Matt Ridley explores why learning isn’t always nature versus nurture but nurture reinforcing nature.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

“The truth is that the skills that go into both motivation and manipulation are almost the same skills. The same level of persuasion, the same level of influence, the same level of charisma and dynamic creative thinking drives us to both be manipulated and be motivated.”

Barnard’s star, the closest singlet star system to ours, has long been a target for planet-hunters. We’ve finally confirmed it: they exist!

“Lookism” is prevalent and harmful. So why do so few take it seriously?