It would be no surprise to the Max Wertheimer and the other Gestalt psychologists that visual displays can deliver complex information so effectively. I think of it as "cognitive broadband." Journalist LaToya Egwuekwe created a progressive data display of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment numbers that delivers a powerful message. (See "The Decline: The Geography of a Recession,") So powerful, in fact that it went viral from YouTube to CNN. (The orginal site has more impact than the YouTube version embedded below.) Beyond the implications of the unemployment numbers, however staggering and moving, there is an underlying and very important message about education in the 21st Century. I'm on board with all the STEM initiatives (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) but the missing ingredient in this push is synthesis. As people either celebrate or lament, we have no shortage of data. Finding out stuff is no longer a scarce resource. Making … [Read more...]
The role for vigilantes: A little duct tape and plastic sheeting and all’s right with the world
Pamela Rutledge A version of this article was published on PsychologyToday.com in the blog “Positively Media.” Dexter is a Showtime series about a serial killer with a code. He only kills the bad guys who deserve it. We love Dexter precisely because he finds bad guys and kills them before they can hurt us. In a world plagued by terrorism, lost jobs, shrinking retirement accounts, political scapegoating, outsourcing, and freeway shootings, it's nice to have a guy around with strict code of honor who doesn't mind getting his hands a little dirty to restore order. There are many television programs on this theme that identify and defeat bad guys using a spectrum of innovatively-employed physical and mental talents: Leverage, Human Target, White Collar, the Mentalist, not to mention the uber-avenger Steven Seagal, whose movies frequent Spike TV. Humans are order-seeking creatures. Our brains work hard to make things fit into the patterns we know; the … [Read more...]
