Learning anything, never missing a bullseye, and life lessons from podcasts about healthy arguing
Welcome to the Hurt Your Brain internet playlist from March 26, 2017. It's a collection of podcasts, videos, and other links for people who love to learn online and are fascinated by the world. Click here to get playlists emailed to you as they come out.
Fact of the week: It’s estimated that malaria has killed 50 billion people since humans have been around, half of the 100 billion who have EVER lived. From Mark Rober’s video on Stanford engineers who invented a microscope and centrifuge that cost less than a dollar.
PODCASTS
Meta Learn- How To Learn a New Skill 25 minutes This podcast is all about the art and science of learning and this episode specifically stood out to me because I’ve been trying to figure out the best ways to gain some completely new skills. The show sets up three main pillars that each has a spectrum: your mindset, your habits, and your community or environment. If you want a mental framework or motivation to jump into a new thing, there is some great actionable advice in here.
50 Things That Made The Modern Economy: Insurance 9 minutes I had about ten episodes to catch up and went on a bit of a binge this week. This episode on insurance was surprisingly among the most interesting. The origins of modern insurance date back to a gambling addicted coffee house in 1680’s London. You’ll also learn what underwriting means (very literal origin) and why governments are actually the biggest insurance entities in the world.
Dan Carlin’s Common Sense: Unhealthy Numbers 65 minutes I try to steer clear of recommending political podcasts, but I respect the opinion of Dan Carlin and was curious to hear what he had to say about our healthcare system. Regardless of where you stand politically, I think we can all agree that what the U.S. gets in healthcare vs the costs we pay is crazy. Carlin dissects what is going on.
+ Here’s John Green on a 7 minute Vlogbrothers video making a very similar breakdown on why our medical system is so out of whack.
VIDEOS
Mark Rober: Automatic Bullseye, MOVING DARTBOARD 7 minutes Man I wish I had more of a knack for engineering because this moving dartboard is COOL. Throw a dart anywhere in the vicinity of the board, and it moves the whole board lighting fast so that the bullseye still gets hit. Awesome and all, but c’mon Mr ex-NASA engineer, we all know a triple 20 is better than a bullseye.
BBC Earth: Bears Dancing to ‘Jungle Boogie’ - Planet Earth 2 2 minutes The amazing Planet Earth 2 series finished airing in the U.S. last night. It's worth going out of your way to watch it if you haven’t. The things they caught on camera and the cinematic story they are able to tell is amazing. And the above clip with dancing bears is just the best. Here are some other short clips from the series that are great. Flying Dragons of the Jungle Swimming Sloth Searches for Mate Iguana Vs Snakes Widowbird Jumping Competition
Veritasium: Does Water Swirl the other way in the Southern Hemisphere? 6 minutes Short answer: toilet flushing direction is entirely dependent on the direction the water flows in but rotation of the Earth does have an effect in draining much larger containers of water. Just watch the video, it’s pretty cool.
ARTICLES AND OTHER LINKS
Something I wrote this week on Medium, published in Bello Collective: How to actually change somebody’s mind: a lesson from podcasts. 3 episodes, 14 lessons.
Interesting: The Best Ways to Fund Your Relationship Bank Account. Don't be turned off that this is from "The Art of Manliness". It's pretty great advice for anyone looking to maintain a healthy relationship.
Survival of the Friendliest. "It’s time to give the violent metaphors of evolution a break."
Inside the Hunt for Russia's Most Notorious Hacker. #longread
Learning: How I got a second degree and earned 5 developer certifications in just one year, while working and raising two kids. Great motivation for making the time to learn what you need online to achieve your goals.
How to Learn New Things as an Adult. A short and useful interview with the author of Learn Better.
Quora: If the universe is infinite and there are infinite galaxies, does that mean there's a 100% chance that my double lives on a duplicate Earth? There are different types of infinities. Quintessential brain hurting material.
Reddit: /r/space- A high-resolution picture of a large hurricane over Saturn's north pole, taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Awesome.
/r/podcasts- Top 10 Podcasts That Will Turn You Into A More Well-Rounded Human. Lots of familiar shows but an interesting discussion.
Quote: “Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” - Leonardo da Vinci
That's all for this week!
Connect with me @erikthejones on twitter and if you've learned anything interesting, please forward this link to any curious natured friends or family so they can subscribe. Many thanks!