Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 11

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Look Again by Tali Sharot & Cass R. Sunstein

Humans are great at habituation. We can get used to it when things are great, and we can get used to it when they aren’t too. Both situations can be a problem. The secret to really being more fulfilled may lie in our ability to dishabituate. That’s the simple premise Look Again, a book that delves into the social science and research behind why challenging yourself to do this more frequently matters. It’s a message that resonated immediately for me, as did one of the opening stories where the au...

Astronauts Are Leading the Quest to Prevent Space Advertising from Filling the Sky

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), is a beautifully imagined group within the United Nations that aims to make sure space doesn’t get misused as the costs for launching satellites continues to go down and the industry continues to privatize. Investor plans show there are several companies aiming to put hundreds of laser-fitted small satellites into orbit roughly 370 miles above Earth’s surface by 2030. Altogether, this many satellites could work together like a space bil...

Can Brand America Be Destroyed?

Diplomats and trading partners don’t trust the word of America anymore. Countries are hosting summits and meetings to discuss alliances specifically omitting the US. Politicians in other countries are winning elections because they argue against America. There are even kits for sale online to help Americans who do travel abroad to disguise themselves as more universally appreciated Canadians. As an article from Fast Company this week suggests, perhaps Brand America itself has become toxic.

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Unnecessary Enhancement and the Upscaling Backlash Against Netflix

What if everything doesn’t need to be better? A series of 80s shows originally released at a 4:3 aspect ratio and with non-HD level filming have been digitally “enhanced” with AI to make them higher quality and in the typical widescreen format preferred now. The upscaling is a disaster.

Anyone watching immediately notices inconsistencies, weird AI-generated remnants and a wide format that cuts off critical pieces of a scene. The end result is that anyone watching will long for a time whe...

The Tesla Resistance Is Real. Here’s What It Means …

Tesla owners are disguising their cars as a sign of resistance. There are plenty of YouTube videos with tips on how to hide the evidence that you’re driving a Tesla. Others are putting bumper stickers explaining that: “I bought this before Elon went crazy.” People are selling or otherwise getting rid of their Teslas if they can afford to, and the stock is in a nosedive. All of these are a growing response to owner Elon Musk’s erratic behavior and lack of attention spent recently on running Tesla...

The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St. Clair

There are colors that you may have heard of, and more than a few that you haven’t. This highly original book takes a look at all of them and gives you all the meanings and symbolism of colors that you may never have thought about. Rated by USA Today as one of their “Top 100 Books to Read While Stuck at Home During the Coronavirus Crisis”—I’m pretty sure this was the first time I came across the book too. Since then, I have referred to it often when I’m going through an exercise to work on a book...

The Talking Tree and How AI Can Give a Voice to the Voiceless

How can you get young people to reconnect with nature? Let them talk to a tree. That’s the creative premise behind a new campaign that features a 150-year-old horse chestnut tree in London’s Morden Hill Park, which ‘speaks’ using “real-time sensory data from over 10 sensors measuring wind speed, soil moisture, humidity, and bioelectrical signals. This data feeds into an LLM that shapes the tree’s personality and enables live conversations.”

While a novel concept, this also signals an inte...

The 7 Non-Obvious Secrets of Understanding People to Predict the Future

This past week, I debuted a new keynote talk at SXSW, and it was all about understanding people. I will share the full video when it comes out in a few weeks, but in case you want a behind the scenes look at the tips, here’s the full list:

BEING UNIQUELY HUMAN IS THE ADVANTAGEIDENTITY ALWAYS SHAPES BELIEFSWINNERS AREN’T THE SAME AS CHAMPIONSEASY, OBVIOUS ANSWERS ARE A DISTRACTIONPEOPLE & EXPERIENCES SHOULD SURPRISE YOUMEANING COMES FROM INTERSECTIONSUNDISCOVERY CAN BE...

What Entitlement Looks Like? Adrien Brody’s Oscars Award Acceptance Speech

When the Best Actor award was announced and Adrien Brody took the top honor for the second time, he headed toward stage and abruptly stopped. Realizing he was chewing gum, he took it out and threw it to his partner and “personal gum valet” Georgina Chapman. That was just part of the criticism that author Joe Berkowitz offers up for Brody who’s “case study in entitlement” was broken down in this article. The reaction to his speech (which broke the Guinness record for its length) was widely negati...

The Ultimate Movie Brand Partnership: Kleenex and IMDB Launch “The Kleenex Score”

There aren’t many brands that define their entire category so much that people literally use the brand name interchangeably to describe the product. Kleenex has always had that for the tissue industry, and now they are doubling down on this dominance with a clever new partnership with movie database IMDB to offer “The Kleenex Score” to movies so you can anticipate how much a movie is likely to make you cry. Preparing for that moment, of course, involves getting the Kleenex ready.

This is ...