If you want to become a change maker, you need a better outlook on how the world looks like. On of my favourite routines is to collect articles over the week that I normally read in the weekend.
Here’s my first blog post about my weekly reads. Every Sunday from now I will share with you articles about human wellbeing and sustainable development I think is worth reading. If you want a more regular update you can also follow my Facebook Page.
The Diet That Might Cure Depression by Olga Khazan
Published in the Atlantic this article is about the lastest science on how a better diet, with whole-grain, fruit and vegetables can play a role against depression. I’m very interested in the way food relates to health and the more research showing the advantage of a diet mainly being plant based the more reasons to change our diets. We already know the benefits of a planet based diet in relation to tackling climate change so the stronger evidence for health benefits, the stronger the incentives to create new policies.
Has humanity reached “peak intelligence”? by David Robson
Published in BBC Future the article takes an holistic perspective on intelligence. It starts with an introduction of the historical research and concerns about the drop of IQ in many societies, the reasons behind it but also biases on IQ, such as critical thinking or rationality. Just the sentence “The cleaner our fuels, the smarter we became” makes it worth reading. Or this one: “.. a lack of rationality and critical thinking can explain why financial fraud is still commonplace, and the reason that millions of people dish out money on quack medicines or take unnecessary health risks”. In the era of AI it’s more important then ever to understand human intelligence and the development of our capacity to think clearly for our own benefit as a specie.
Published directly on Pocket. Yes, I love reading “what rich/successful people do”. Not because I necessarily want to be rich, no, I want to make the world a better place and that’s success for me. I love reading them because they’re normally short but consist of wisdom. This articles talks about the importance of saying no, the importance of focus and a good exercise on how to find your most urgent goals.
Published in Quarts this article is about the economist Mariana Mazzucato and her work. It’s an interesting read though we know that capitalism is dominating the world economy and has served us well, but also, especially in the lens of inequality and the climate crisis, has it’s shortcomings. Mariana wants to move beyond ideologies and are not interested in any of that sort. Rather, how to reshape economics and mainly capitalism since she still believed it has its role to play. In time of urgent action, her ideas are realistic ones that could help us to solve major issues.
The problem of mindfulness by Sahanika Ratnayake
I might not agree with the author completely but I think it’s very wise to extinguish western trends of mindfulness from buddhist teaching. Also the paradox of knowing yourself in relation to the insight of there is no self. Interesting read for anyone who has ever tried or thinking about trying meditation.
Turn off your phone, notifications on your computer and spend some time to focus on proper reading. It’s good for your mind. Enjoy.