9th April 2022
From Wunderman Thompson. Micro-dosing happiness. Consumers are looking to small, daily interactions to bring them greater overall happiness and health.
The oldest joke in the world? Jokes have a lot to teach us about what humans find funny. National Public Radio in the US suggested in 2016 that the oldest recorded joke is from Bronze Age Sumeria (an early Mesopotamian civilisation dating 3300-1200BC). The joke goes: “What has never happened since time immemorial?” (Head to the article for the punchline). ….and, why do we even have humour? “Some researchers suggest that because humour brings us together it might have an evolutionary purpose. Perhaps our ability to make light of bad situations helped us to overcome them – by joining together in laughter, we were able to reinforce our social bonds.”
The Death of Ideals. TikTok, goblin mode, and the end of Platonism. TikTokers are going “goblin mode”. Burnt out by the pandemic and the pressures of modern life, millennials and Gen Z have taken to shamelessly “slobbing out and giving up”, malnourishing themselves with junk food and mangling their sleep cycles by staying up scrolling until 3am. Described elsewhere as a “full-on rejection of self-betterment”, goblin mode is the antithesis of being “that-girl” who embodies productivity, wellness and aesthetic perfection. It is an unapologetic unleashing of the creature within, and a complete lack of aesthetic. (ht @here_forth)
Crypto clubs. What does a members-only social club look like in the age of decentralization?
Droga5 helps good ideas get found in this catchy musical campaign for Meta.
From the BBC. This first known fossil of a dinosaur killed the day the giant asteroid struck Earth is pretty incredible
‘It takes your hand off the panic button’: TS Eliot’s The Waste Land 100 years on.
Highlights from the top five events from the first ever Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW).
From MIT. This horse-riding astronaut is a milestone in AI’s journey to make sense of the world.
From Aeon. In a Mongolian burial, a body falls on the land before getting swept up to the heavens. (nine minute animation)