Focusing on what truly deserves our attention, rather than mindlessly succumbing to the allure of glowing screens, is a challenge worth pursuing. But if we want to learn more, grow more, and understand more, we won’t stop there—we’ll also take time to reflect on our lives.
Education expert Rebecca Winthrop describes attention as “the entry point, the doorway that gets you through,” but says that what a lot of people are struggling with today is actually reflection and meaning-making.
For generations, parents have approved, and disapproved, of the people their children have chosen as friends and romantic partners. The next generation of parents will face a new challenge: there’s no guarantee that all their children’s friends, or future lovers, will be human.
What is generosity? Intuitively, we know when an act is generous, and when it’s not. But try to nail down the boundaries of generosity, and things get slippery. Just ask Peter Blake, an associate professor of psychology at Boston University, who has been studying generosity in children for more than a decade. Even he struggles to define it.
Dr. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is a woman with a vast imagination. She’s capable of imagining changes of heart that many would dismiss as impossible. She can imagine people who have committed terrible atrocities, and the people they have hurt, turning toward each other instead of turning away. But she’s realistic, too.
