“Welcome to the modern science of politics, where voters have become lab rats in an ongoing cycle of controlled trials informed by principles from behavioral psychology. Once dominated by superstition and guesswork, campaigns today are now awash in data and insights that allow them to act on that data. As election day approaches, here are five ways that campaigns are using these new tools to sway voters.”
Tag: 09.15.12
Why Can’t We Sell Charity Like We Sell Perfume?
“What if we let philanthropies operate like businesses? Let them pay for talent, advertise aggressively to build market share – even build a stock market for charity. Maybe then capitalism could finally save the world.”
How Photography Is Changing In the Age Of Everyone’s-A-Photographer
“It is estimated that 380 billion images were taken last year, most with a camera phone. Over 380 million photos are uploaded on Facebook every day. Instagram is growing exponentially and had four billion photos uploaded as of July 2012.”
Readers Rejoice As Typography Makes The Sound and the Fury Clearer
“Faulkner readily acknowledged the difficulty of what he’d written. In fact, he himself first proposed using different-colored inks as a way to make Benjy’s section more accessible, with distinct shades assigned to its crisscrossed time-settings.”
The Hungarian Government’s Culture Wars Continue
A virulently anti-Semitic play has been canceled in Budapest – but how it got scheduled in the first place “is part of a larger drama involving this country’s leadership and its assault on culture. And that drama has a few more acts to go.”
And Britain’s Most Prestigious Painting Prize Goes To …
Sarah Pickstone, whose entry won out over more than 3000 other entries, is the first woman to win the John Moores Painting Prize since 1989.
Want To Heal Faster? Subconscious Cues May Help
“If we can identify cues that subliminally aid recovery, ‘such as background smells or simply a firm, reassuring handshake from a doctor,’ then we could incorporate them into clinical practice. Likewise, we could try to reduce or eliminate people’s exposure to cues that can hamper recovery.”
Can J.K. Rowling Really Move Beyond Harry Potter?
“The unusual (some might say defensive) marketing strategy is a reminder of just how much is at stake for Rowling, creator of the biggest franchise in the history of children’s literature. Worth £560 million, there is no financial imperative for her to keep on writing never mind experiment with a new genre. She must know the omens are not good.”
Is Stravinsky’s Classic Now Just A Rite Of Enjoyment?
“It was not Stravinsky’s music that did the shocking. It was the ugly earthbound lurching and stomping devised by Vaslav Nijinsky, the greatest dancer in the troupe but a novice choreographer, that offended the Paris public, for whom ballet was all about swans and tutus and elevation. Once the whistlers and hooters got going, nobody even heard the music.”
Italy’s Cinecitta Studios Partly Occupied By Workers
“This famous place that once rivalled Hollywood is partly under occupation by striking workers. For more than two months now they have been camped day and night on the roof of the main gatehouse and in an area nearby.”