idea insider

Only 26% of @LinkedIn #Influencers are women. 

Paul Ratner writes:

Science and religion are fighting it out in your brain, not just in a metaphorical sense, but in a real, physical altercation. That’s the conclusion drawn by researchers from Case Western Reserve University and Babson College. They found that people who believe in a god, or some spiritual essence, suppress the brain network for analytical thinking and instead engage the empathetic network. [...] Atheists were found to be most aligned with psychopaths.

Read Paul Ratner's article for Big Think, “Religious People Are Less Smart but Atheists Are Psychopaths.” 

Check out bit.ly/study-religion to see the study by the above-mentioned colleges. 

Robby Berman writes: 

Geniuses may become geniuses simply from an extreme degree of concentration: Their art becomes the only thing they know how to do well.

Check out Berman’s Big Think article, “The Well-Tempered Clavier’s Foul-Tempered Composer”

twitter.com/everyrobby

robbyberman.com

Brandon Weber writes: 

Scientists recently proved that [tardigrades, aka water bears] can be be brought back to life after 30 or more years encased in ice.

Check out Weber's article, “7 Things About Water Bears That Explain How Life Can Spread To Other Planets” 

Follow Weber on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.

Follow Big Think on Twitter and Instagram and visit BigThink.com.

Shareable: 

Bob Duggan writes: 

Who was the first Beatle to try to quit? [...] On August 22, 1968, Ringo, feeling alienated from the group during recording sessions for The White Album, told his bandmates he was leaving.

and:  

Who was the second Beatle to quit [the band]? George Harrison on January 10, 1969, got up at lunch during the Let It Be recording sessions and said 'See you 'round the clubs.'

Read Bob Duggan's Big Think article “Who Really Killed the Beatles?” 

How much would the US government earn if it taxed churches? 

$81,000,000 per year, according to a University of Tampa study. 

Check out bit.ly/81MillionBucks, an article by Derek Beres for Big Think.

Donald Trump’s narcissism

Extracts from “Less Than Artful Choices: Narcissistic Personality Disorder According to Donald Trump,” by Maria Konnikova for Big Think.   

Trump’s quotable illustration of the hallmarks of NPD, defined according to DSM-IV as, “A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy.” The disorder is indicated by at least five of the following:

1. An exaggerated sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements). 2. Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty or ideal love. 3.  Believes he is “special” and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions). 4. Requires excessive admiration. 5. Has a sense of entitlement. 6.  Selfishly takes advantage of others to achieve his own ends. 7.  Lacks empathy. 8.  Is often envious of others or believes others to be envious of him. 9. Shows arrogant, haughty, patronizing, or contemptuous behaviors or attitudes.

While Harriet Tubman is an excellent choice for an individual whose presence on our money would serve as a reminder of a terrible blemish on our past, a historical Native American leader should have replaced the noted “Indian Killer” Jackson.

Paul Ratner

— “A Native American Chief Should Have Replaced Andrew Jackson on the $20”

— bit.ly/new20bucks

[A] professional contortionist in Canada has created a new yoga movement called “Rage Yoga.” Practicing Rage Yoga includes drinking beer, yelling out obscenities, and a heavy metal soundtrack.  The mantra of the new movement - “get zen as fuck.”

— Paul Ratner

— “Want to Be Zen as Fuck? Try Rage Yoga”

— bit.ly/RageYoga

— paulratnerimagines.com

— twitter.com/paulratnercodex

Kevin Dutton: There are some situations in which psychopaths are more adept at saving lives than taking them. 

bit.ly/BigPsycho

Above screenshot from Andy McNab and Kevin Dutton’s website, thegoodpsychopath.com. 

Sam Harris: The self is an illusion. The sense of being an ego, an I, a thinker of thoughts in addition to the thoughts. An experiencer in addition to the experience. 

Watch the video on Big Think: bit.ly/BigSelf. 

Follow Big Think on Twitter and Instagram and visit BigThink.com. 

Can’t get enough of newts and limb regeneration? Check out Laurie Vazquez’s article: bit.ly/GotLimb

Follow Laurie Vazquez at twitter.com/mslauriewrites and check out mslauriewrites.com. 

Joshua Cohen on ...

secrets, computer languages, the democratization of art, being messy, language as a vehicle of transcendence, clichés and punishments and prayers, poisoning generations, not caring about schools, unavoiding pain, unteachability, justice ≠ law, jazz and punk and irony and boredom, and leaving life unexplained.

— Think Again, a Big Think podcast hosted by Jason Gots 

— View this episode on Stitcher: bit.ly/JoshPod

— Subscribe on iTunes: bit.ly/BigThinkAgain

Trying to love someone out of their pain is a self-defeating strategy, says Maria Popova — bit.ly/MariaPodcast

Trying to love someone out of their pain is a self-defeating strategy, says Maria Popova

— Listen on Stitcher: bit.ly/MariaPodcast 

— Think Again, a Big Think podcast hosted by Jason Gots, is on iTunes on bit.ly/BigThinkAgain

— Maria Popova: Twitter.com/brainpicker

Philip Perry: 

The whole point of the report is that countries should be striving to make their nations happier. [...] 

Venezuela has vowed to create the office of “Vice Minister of Supreme Happiness.” 

Ecuador will have a “Buen Vivir” state secretary, and the UAE will soon be filling the “Minister of State Happiness” position. 

Should Barack Obama add a Secretary of Happiness to his cabinet? 

— “What is Happiness Inequality and How is It Affecting You?” — bit.ly/happiness-inequality — Philip Perry: twitter.com/Raving_Madman