Positive Feedback Loop

Positive Feedback Loop

By Positive Feedback LoopSociety & Culture
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Positive Feedback Loop episodes

  • Ep. 33: Online Learning: A Must or a Bust?
    What is a MOOC?
    Are MOOCs more interesting than normal college courses?
    Are MOOCs the future?
    Are online courses effective?
    The role of online learning in the workplace
    Who learns online?
    Can one put online learning on a resume?
    Commercial: Pifflorations
    You can learn just about anything online
    Online misinformation: how do you know what’s true?
    The modularization of content
    Reading the news
    The importance of context and source
    Can online learning replace the traditional college experience?
    46 min
  • Ep. 32: Adventures in Venture Capital (with Carlo Santelli)
    Ep. 32: Venture Capital (with Carlo Santelli of Stonehenge Capital)
    Carlo Santelli explains growth capital
    The role of venture capital in community development
    Trends in the private equity and venture capital worlds
    Are the unicorns in a bubble?
    Networking in the VC world
    Does size matter?
    The management team
    The college majors that will prepare you for working in the industry
    How has technology changed the world of venture capital?
    How to identify the right investors
    What is the geography of venture capital?
    Venture capitalists as portrayed in pop culture (e.g., Shark Tank)
    The goal of venture capital
    37 min
  • Ep. 31: Boredom (with Chinmay Dhandhania)
    When are you most bored?
    Are children more prone to boredom than adults?
    Inactivity vs. boredom
    Is boredom related to imagination, motivation, energy?
    Boredom as a lack of freedom
    Boredom from entertainment overload
    Boredom as a source of innovation and creativity
    Commercial: Bartholomew’s School for Active Children
    Are we more bored as a society than we used to be?
    Choice paralysis / overload / FOMO
    Boredom and dissatisfaction
    Are people with depression more prone to boredom?
    Being bored during work vs. leisure time
    Is any event inherently boring or does it vary by person?
    Is boredom about choice?
    Is boredom one cause of drug abuse?
    Are some people more prone to boredom than others?
    Are the thrill-seekers among us the more prone to boredom?
    Embrace the boredom
    41 min
  • Ep. 30: The Illusion of Control
    Independence as control
    Cosmic lack of control
    Controlling the weather
    Do humans ultimately desire to conquer and control?
    Civilization as control over environment
    Do we ever desire to lose control?
    The spiritual side: acknowledging a lack of control
    The power of the brain
    Drugs and loss of control
    Modern life: too much control?
    Who has more control?
    Uncertainty and letting go
    Commercial: The Vacuum Cleaner for your soul
    Self-control
    Controlling our dreams (shout out to Episode 14)
    Control and anxiety
    Pursuit of control as an irritant
    Is there a balance between control and lack of control?
    The relationship between control and power
    Has the Internet given people more control?
    Internet activism
    How do our choices affect others?
    Bonus: Getting the commercial right
    42 min
  • Ep. 29: Collaboration — Crime, Corporate Culture, and Chaos
    A conscious decision or just instinct?
    Process discipline vs. collaboration
    Cooperation vs. collaboration
    Organization and discipline in crime rings
    Do crime rings thrive because of ideology or market demand?
    The electronic silk road
    Cybercrime groups: collaborating against vs. for something
    Commercial: The PFL Threadless Store
    How to incentivize collaboration
    Do you prefer a collaborative culture or people with collaborative traits?
    Collaboration within diverse groups
    Collaboration vs. chaos
    First-ever “debunking bunker”: are crowds naturally chaotic or collaborative?
    The dark side: groupthink
    Machine-to-machine collaboration
    Artificial intelligence vs. Internet of Things
    33 min
  • Ep. 28: Board Games and Beyond
    What is a board game?
    The best strategy for Monopoly
    German-style board games
    Jumanji
    Collaborative games
    Group games
    Kickstarter games
    Commercial: The Positive Feedback Loop Game
    Ancient games
    AI/machine learning
    3D games
    Solveable vs. unsolveable games
    Tactile games
    Dominoes across cultures
    Games we played in high school
    Strategy vs. luck
    One-player games
    Why do we play games?
    Is there a difference between work and play?
    38 min
  • Ep. 27: Summer Vacation – On the Beach or in Space?
    Do we take more risks in the summer than in other seasons?
    Summer vacation
    Jobs that make it difficult to take a vacation
    Dangerous sports
    Attempts to avoid a shark bite
    Ways to treat a jellyfish sting
    Our favorite seasons
    The story of the grateful woman
    When seasons change
    Traveling during summer
    Two types of holidays
    Virtual reality and tourism
    Commercial: Invisibility Sunscreen
    Will there be such a thing as a virtual reality summer?
    Summer: away to the ocean, Europe, etc.
    Virtual reality providing accessibility to a new market
    Augmented reality for an enhanced vacation experience
    Democratizing augmented reality for tourism
    Most memorable summer activities
    Summer vacation to Mars
    Space elevator
    47 min
  • Ep. 26: Time Travel - Alpha: Aging
    Episode notes:
    Society’s fear of aging
    Agism
    Seniors and their independence
    Tom Leer’s song
    Aging for women vs. men
    Aging in Japanese culture
    The Giver
    Experience over mere ability
    The perks of being old
    Traveling and age
    Commercial: Time Paradox Box
    Why are younger people afraid of getting old?
    Expectations: seniors vs. teenagers
    Retirement
    Why seniors should podcast
    PFL in 40 years
    Senior singles
    Friendships help us age well
    Aging vs. growth
    The biology of aging (cellular senescence)
    The immortal jellyfish
    Anti-aging science and technology
    Natural ways to slow aging
    42 min
  • Ep. 25: How to Keep a Friend
    Does the magic of friendship last?
    What is a friend?
    Are Facebook friends… friends?
    The definition of friendship: has it evolved?
    Friend audit
    Friendship in terms of database management
    Can friendship be one-sided?
    Friends you see daily and friends far away
    Ralph Waldo Emerson’s definition of friendship
    Childhood vs. adulthood friendships
    Friendship: serendipitous or hard work?
    Commercial: The Friendship Battery
    100 years ago: communicating with friends
    Dunbar’s number
    Long-distance friendships
    How to maintain friendship
    Technology’s role
    Friendship takes time
    Friendship atrophy
    Can it be a perfect balance of give and take?
    Can a deep friendship be reinstated after many years of separation?
    35 min
  • Ep. 24: Do Grades Matter?
    Do grades correctly reflect achievement?
    How are grades constructed?
    Grades as inaccurate predictors of success
    Different sources of power
    Professors and power
    The status of honor societies
    Competition, aspiration
    Commercial: Time paradox box (again!)
    The power dynamics of grades
    Do grades account for soft skills?
    Grades are just a simplified tool
    What is the future of grades?
    A better understanding of who people are and what they can do
    Is grading itself a primitive practice?
    Grade non-disclosure agreements
    Ethics and incentives: will people who are rewarded by a bad system still fight to correct that system?
    Grades as a metaphor for politics
    Taking a more holistic approach to seeing people
    Grades as a heuristic
    Does academic achievement translate to workplace achievement?
    Should resumes be screened by GPA?
    Do people in all courses really fit to a normal curve?
    37 min

About Positive Feedback Loop

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Positive Feedback Loop! We discuss tech, history, and culture and we have fun disagreeing with each other. ;-) Co-hosts: Luis, Ray, and Steph. Find us on Twitter: twitter.com/thepflpodcast!