The magic hidden in plain sight — Let’s talk about the obvious things first. The first obvious thing is that Mona Lisa was astonishingly beautiful back in the day. She might not have Angelina Jolie’s cheekbones or Emma Watson’s eyes, but that’s not how people saw her 600…

A warning for those who still believe their kids are in good hands — I grew up without a father. My mother did a great job substituting. But I had to piece together the image of masculinity all on my own. In high school, I had teachers who helped me with that. I had a wonderful arts teacher who took on a somewhat fatherly…

According to Laszlo Bock, a former Google executive, top students from the best schools often lack the intellectual humility that comes with failure. As a result, they develop a highly egocentric worldview. “If something good happens, it’s because I’m a genius. If something bad happens, it’s because someone’s an idiot…

And the genius writer — A ceramics class. The teacher divides everyone into two groups. People in Group A have to produce as many ceramic pots as possible. They will be graded solely on the quantity of their work. People in Group B can only make one pot. They will be graded solely on the…

“The most cataclysmic peacetime economic collapse of an industrial country in history.” That’s what happened in Russia thirty-two years ago. Before perestroika, businesses and major properties were all owned by the state. People owned things like cars and clothes. The state owned things like corporations and natural resources. Then, the…

It was nine years ago. A series of protests broke out against Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year old regime in Libya. The military were ordered to open fire on the civilians. Suddenly, a peaceful protest movement turned into an armed uprising. NATO intervened. They shot down Gaddafi’s vehicle. Gaddafi got captured by…

When the rebel hero becomes the evil establishment — Yesterday, Elon Musk announced that he’d purchased a 9.2% stake in Twitter Inc. for nearly $3 billion. This makes him the largest shareholder, with four times more equity than former CEO Jack Dorsey. Nobody knows why Musk did it. But he did drop hints. Soon after Dorsey left the company…

(Answers only by non-Americans) — I’ve never been to the US. But I’ve been raised partially as an American. Why? Because pretty much everything I’ve watched, played, listened to or read since I was 5 was produced by Americans. This influence is so widespread that we can’t notice it anymore, even if we wanted to. …

In his prime, Nikola Tesla was one of the most influential people in the world. His main invention — the alternating current (A/C) motor — became the basis for the electric grid that powers the modern world. His spectacular display of 160,000 lightbulbs (photo below) at the 1893 Columbian Exposition…