Kickoff For May 8, 2023
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Monday Kickoff, a collection of what I’ve found interesting, informative, and insightful on the web over the last seven days.
Let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Japan’s Shrinking Population Faces Point of No Return, wherein we get some insight into why the country’s population has been in steady decline, and the ways in which Japan’s government has been (vainly) attempting to reverse that decline.
40 Years of KOYAANISQATSI, wherein Christopher John examines the titular film, a groundbreaking piece of creative work that combined visuals and music to create a stunning assault on the senses and on the mind.
The Strange Life of Glass, wherein we learn what glass is, how it became an essential material in our lives, and how we can use glass to tell our individual truths, but we can also use it to create false narratives.
What Emojis Can’t Express: How Handwriting Reveals Our True Selves, wherein Neil Servin explores how writing with a pen or pencil can expose aspects of ourselves even we’re not aware of, and how handwriting develops and devolves as our priorities change.
30 years ago, one decision altered the course of our connected world, wherein we get a brief history of how the World Web Web entered our collective lives, and how the web became just a reflection of us — and that’s by design.
Inside the Secretive Life-Extension Clinic, wherein we’re introduced to a little-known centre in Tijuana, Mexico that uses unlicensed therapies to try to help patients stave off old age.
Why Mathematicians Re-Prove What They Already Know, wherein we learn about a curious pastime among those who work with numbers: continuously testing their proofs for fun and to come up with new ideas.
The Reaction Economy, wherein William Davies looks at how much of what’s labelled engagement online if actually reaction (often knee jerk), which does little to enhance online life or general discourse.
Why Does the Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe’s Death Still Haunt Us?, wherein Mark Dawidziak examines the enduring mystery of, and fascination with, the death of the American author (and with the man himself).
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.