A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hi all, welcome to Volume 102 of Dovi’s Digest.
I’m pretty honest and open when it comes to my mental health. In fact, I’ve been told that sometimes I’m too open about it. That there are some things which we’re supposed to keep behind closed doors. To be frank, I’m not really a fan of the stigma around depression and its friends. So, I talk openly about what I do and why I do it. I see a therapist, I take my meds the same way I’d take antibiotics for an infection, I do what I can to keep my mind healthy. These things keep me happy(ish) and being a normal(ish) member of society and allow me to go about my day-to-day without too much hassle. It sure beats not being able to get out of bed or not being sure where your whole day went. One of the more frustrating elements of it is people’s reactions and words of “advice”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told to “just cheer up”, or “put on a smile”, or “think of how lucky you are”. My response is normally a nod and a trite thank you, but really, I want to say: “oohhh I’d never thought of that Maureen! Thank you! If only I’d thought of that!! Now I’m cured, fan-bloody-tastic!” (Insert SarcMark).
This sort of “toxic positivity” is not only tiresome but can actually be unhealthy. It’s normal to have good days and bad days and being told to always look on the bright side negates our sad feelings, stopping us from properly dealing with them. I will let more qualified people than me expound on it more in this week’s headline article.
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were FIVE correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Josh Hazan, Kevin Levy, Tanya Perel, Gila Brill, and Ariel Subotzky. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
I understand that not everyone thinks that telling people to chill out makes them less chill, and I’ve accounted for that. This week you can also enjoy stories about whether AI can learn common sense (which we take for granted), the orthodox mathematician who opened up the mathematical floodgates between two branches of science, the ornate and opulent (not to mention super expensive) book that may be cursed, why bitcoin is bad for global warming, how Jeff Bezos just didn’t ever stop, and how other animals experience consciousness and see the world. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming,
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
Toxic Positivity Is Very Real, and Very Annoying
Forcing ourselves or others to always be positive can be harmful to our well-being and our relationships. There’s a better approach.
Can Computers Learn Common Sense?
A.I. researchers are making progress on a long-term goal: giving their programs the kind of knowledge we take for granted.
The Mathematician Who Helped to Reshape Physics
Barry Simon linked a phenomenon that had shocked physicists to topology, the branch of mathematics that studies shapes.
The Book That Sank on The Titanic and Burned in The Blitz
One of the most lavishly decorated books the world has seen was despatched from London to New York in April 1912. The jewel-encrusted edition of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám was taken aboard the RMS Titanic and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, exactly 110 years ago.
Bitcoin’s Climate Problem
As companies and investors increasingly say they are focused on climate and sustainability, the cryptocurrency’s huge carbon footprint could become a red flag.
The Relentless Jeff Bezos
A Journey into The Animal Mind
What science can tell us about how other creatures experience the world.
Quote of the Week:
“Today, not tomorrow.
What you avoid today is harder to do tomorrow.
Today’s choices become tomorrow’s position. If you put off things today, they don’t magically disappear tomorrow. They just get added to the list of things you want to do.
Don’t wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow is where dreams go to die.” – Shane Parrish
Facts of the Week:
The Queen is a fee-paying member of the Jigsaw Puzzle Society.
The Queen owns a treadmill that 18 horses can use at the same time.
Scientists have made a hat for horses with built-in earphones so they can listen to music.
Using a musical instrument to annoy someone is illegal in Singapore.
Pangolin-and-caterpillar soup is illegal in China.
Carp soup is a popular Christmas dish in Poland. It's good luck to keep the scales in your wallet till the next Christmas.
The Christmas Tree Grower Council of Europe holds its Christmas party in June.
The first person to use the phrase “Merry Christmas” was also the first to use the word “Prosecco”.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
(Courtesy of Daniel Sobel)
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
Replace each letter in the below words with one of the symbols: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + - x ÷ =, so that the word becomes a balanced equation.
Within the word, the same letter becomes the same symbol and different letters become different symbols.
Example: For CLEVER, the answer would be 9 + 1 = 10
LOLLIPOP
SEASHELL
DELETED
ESCAPEES
REFERRAL
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
The ten letter keys on the top of a keyboard are Q W E R T Y U I O P.
Can you find a 10-letter word that uses only these keys?
Answer:
Typewriter, repertoire (great word Tanti!), perpetuity, proprietor. There may be others, but I didn’t find them.