The Edge Effect

Shankar Vedantam
Hidden Brain NPR Podcast
Transcript

   The edge effect occurs when two ecosystems meet.  There, "the most new life-forms are created."  This podcast applies the ecological edge effect to human interactions.  Hypothesis:  When people deeply engage with those who have a different culture, they become more creative.
     Richard Freeman did a study in which he found scientists who collaborated with scientists outside their culture wrote higher-quality scientific papers, as evidenced by the number of citations. 
     Yo-Yo Ma created the Silk Road Ensemble, which brings together musicians of different cultures.  They create music mixing instruments from these diverse cultures, including traditional instruments.
     Adam Galinski is an American Jewish social psychologist, married to the daughter of Filipino immigrants.  He conducted a study with students who had dated both someone of their own culture and someone of a different culture.  They asked one group to reflect on the intercultural dating experience, and the other to reflect on the cross-cultural dating experience, then gave them a creativity test.  Those who reflected on the cross-cultural experience were more creative. 
     The results of this study were confirmed by a different study by Adam's friend, Dan Wang, who conducted a study on J-1 visa holders.  A J-1 visa allows the holder to temporarily work in the US, usually between three months and two years.  Those who had frequent contact with American friends after returning to their home country were more likely to become entrepreneurs or introduce new practices within their company. 
     Adam also applied this theory to fashion designers, finding that the amount of time a designer lived abroad predicted their fashion line creativity.

Is War Between China and the US Inevitable?

by Graham Allison

TED Talk Podcast

     The first historian, Thucydides, described the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.  Sparta was a current power, Athens began to rise, and the fear of Athens led to war.  In history, when a current power was threatened by a rising power, 12 of 16 major cases led to war.  Graham Allison calls this pattern "Thucydides' Trap."  The real kicker is that, in most cases, the two powers don't want war.  A third party provokes them....the classic example being World War I, in which the world was enveloped by war because of the assassination of a single Austro-Hungarian.

The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady

I was in the library, looking for Amy Tan books, when my mother pulled a book off the shelf.  "The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady."  Having been radioactive for a few days myself, I couldn't not read it.  I didn't even bother to check the summary...until I checked for my mother to make sure it wasn't trash.
     This book has pretty mature themes, especially sexual abuse, but all graphic content has a clear purpose.  Sexual abuse is a difficult topic for many people, rarely discussed by many families.  As the book points out, most people envision sexual predators as strangers, when it's actually often a trusted adult.
     Each chapter is narrated in the third person omniscient following a different character.  The book is full of memorable, well-developed characters.

Spriggs Family

• Suzi:  13-year-old daughter, popular, talented goalie
• Otis:  16-year-old son, obsessed with science.  Builds a model breeder reactor in the shed behind the family home.  Becomes friends with Rusty.
• Ava:  18-year-old daughter, beautiful, obsessed with Elvis, has Asperger's Syndrome
• Vic:  Father, obsessed with following storms and developing hurricanes, working on a portfolio assessment project as part of his job at the university
• Caroline:  Mother, puts all of her energy into Ava, formerly fashionable but now sloppy
• Wilson:  Doctor who poisoned 800 pregnant women as part of a Cold War medical study

Coffey Family

• Buff:  Youth minister at Genesis Church
• Paula:  wife, former Playboy bunny, ignores her husband's sexual addiction
• Rusty:  Teenage daughter, wears black, does drugs, shoplifts, good-for-nothing boyfriend Royce who mysteriously disappears
• Angel:  4-year-old daughter

Also in the Neighborhood:

• Marylou:  Old woman, also known as Nance Archer.  Her daughter, Helen, died of cancer at age eight.
• Gigi:  Blonde, Southern, divorced, flirty, heavy drinker
• Travis:  Gigi's son, undiagnosed disorder, becomes Ava's boyfriend

TED Talks Daily

What Soccer Can Teach Us About Freedom--Marc Bamuthi Joseph
     Joseph connects soccer to dancing and politics, attempting to use it as a tool for education.

Why I Study the Most Dangerous Animal On Earth--Fredros Okumu
     A description of the study of mosquitoes and methods to suppress and control populations, especially in Africa.

The Single Biggest Reason Start-Ups Succeed--Bill Gross
     Timing.  He gave the example of a Hulu-like start-up that failed because, when it was launched, the technology allowing people to access entertainment hadn't developed well enough to make it convenient.  A positive example is Airbnb.  Because of the economic downturn, people were willing to rent out parts of their houses; at other times, they might not have been so interested.  Having a good team and being able to roll with the punches was second; the idea itself was, surprisingly, only third.

I Don't Want Children--Stop Telling Me I'll Change My Mind--Christen Reighter
     A description of the immense difficulties she encountered in seeking a tubal ligation.  She had to go to multiple medical providers, encountering sexism such as providers referring to her as a "little girl" and refusing to allow the procedure.  She made a lot of points that conservatives would agree with, including the future possibility of adoption.

Podcasts

I don't have access to a lending library, so I've discovered a new source of information:  Podcasts.  Here are a few TED talks:

From Death Row to Law Graduate--Peter Ouko

Peter Ouko was wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit.  He decided "not to play the victim," and took advantage of an opportunity to go to England and earn a law degree from a maximum security prison.  He then returned to argue his own case, resulting in a presidential pardon.  He now works with the African Prisons Project to give other inmates the tools to obtain justice.

How to Fix a Broken Heart--Guy Winch

I think my main takeaway was that, even though we often don't take it seriously, the pain of a break-up can be similar to going through grieving.  The human brain's instincts become the enemy.  The first problem is that people continually look for a reason for the break-up.  They become obsessed, refusing to accept a simple explanation.  The process in the human brain is similar to overcoming an addiction to a drug.  Every time they think about the person, they think they're "getting over it," but they're really just getting another hit.  They idealize the person, forgetting the negative memories and characteristics.  He makes his clients make a list of these things, the reasons the relationship didn't work out, then keep it on their phone.

China in Ten Words

by Yu Hua

When I first came to China, I read a book called Dreaming in Chinese.  It was the recollections of a foreign woman who lived in both Beijing and Shanghai, explaining how her study of language helped her better understand Chinese culture.  I read it at a good time--being in China gave me a real idea of what she described, but it was also able to teach me some useful things about culture, not to mention helpful words and grammar points.  Last week, I found the Chinese equivalent.
     China in Ten Words ties the author's experiences growing up during the Cultural Revolution to the China of today.  Yu Hua is a masterful author, carefully choosing metaphors and stories to share.  In many cases, he just tells stories, allowing the events to speak for themselves.  He has more commentary on modern China.
     During a book club discussion, people talked about how the theme of the book seemed to be that there is hope, that humans can be good even in the face of awful events, like during the Cultural Revolution.  I prefer to look to the author's explanation in the introduction.  He gave the story of how he was in charge of vaccinating factory workers and children.  The needles were cleaned, but needed to be re-used, making them barbed.  Each vaccination resulted in the loss of a small piece of flesh.  He didn't really think much of it with the factory workers, but after seeing the children, who weren't afraid to express their pain, he realized how painful it actually was.  He then meticulously sharpened the needles.  He regretted that he had vaccinated them without feeling the needle himself.  He then explains that in the book, he describes a lot of pain, and he describes it without superiority or detachment.  China's pain is his pain.
     The first chapter hooked me.  I was startled to see that he started with a story about Tiananmen, partly because I'd been sent this book, over WeChat, by a Chinese friend.  I was on my guard, since the choice to start with Tiananmen betrays a certain viewpoint.  The word for the chapter was "RenMin," "The People."  Yet he won me over with the last story.  He described a scene, a few days before Tiananmen, that he said was more about the people than Tiananmen.  The people gathered in intersections, thousands of people, blocking tanks.  He was biking, and he was hit first not by sound, not by sight, but by a wave of heat from the bodies.  The people were joined together, singing the anthem.  It was a beautiful picture of the Chinese people, strong and standing.
     A lot of Americans don't understand why I'd want to come to China.  They think all Chinese people are hard-core Communists, but I've yet to meet a party member in China, and with maybe two exceptions, even someone mildly interested in discussing politics.  The people are not the government.
     This book was much more historical than I expected.  I thought it would be interesting to have a young Chinese person today choose ten words.  I think I know one of them--yali, pressure.  There is so much pressure--friends with jobs are forced to work unpaid overtime.  Last night, my roommate got home at 9 pm.  I assume she had an 11-hr work day.  There's pressure from society and family to marry.  There's academic pressure for students.
     A recent political development has been Xi Jinping's seizure of power.  I asked a university student about it, and she seemed unconcerned.  "It doesn't matter, since we can't vote.  If he can make China stronger, good for him."  I've been reading an interesting article about this event.