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...]