Author: TheConversation

By Thomas Saltsman, Senior Lab Director, Social Psychophysiology Laboratory, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Freedom of choice is a pillar of Western culture. But there’s such a thing as too much choice. Researchers such as Sheena Iyengar and Barry Schwartz have pioneered this area of study, finding that being overwhelmed with options can create an adverse experience called “choice overload” or ”The Paradox of Choice.“ People tend to want as many options as possible. Whether it’s buying a car or a meal, they gravitate toward companies that offer more options versus fewer ones, because they...

By Leah Ranney, Director of Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill In 2018, more than 4 million high schools students and 840,000 middle schools students used any tobacco product, with e-cigarettes driving the surge. The increase among high school students represented a 78% increase, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The upsurge started in 2011, when 1.5 percent of high school students, or 220,000, reported e-cigaratte usage in the past 30 days. In 2018, 20.8 percent, or 3.01 million, high school students surveyed reported e-cigarette use in the past 30 days. There is...

By Risa Robinson, Professor and Department Chair, Mechanical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking closely at the different flavored nicotine juices and other substances users may be vaping in e-cigarettes to determine how the aerosol might be affecting users’ lungs. On September 12, 2019, the CDC lowered the number of confirmed and probable cases from more than 400 to 380. The number was lower, the agency said, because it is no longer reporting “possible cases.” The mystery and concern remain. And, many smokers who use these devices to quit are concerned...

By Kelley Fanto Deetz, Lecturer in American Studies, University of Virginia Four hundred years after the event, the New York Times has published a special project focusing on the first Africans arriving in 1619 at Point Comfort, Virginia, and the legacy of slavery in the United States. “No aspect of the country that would be formed here has been untouched by the years of slavery that followed,” the introduction said. While there has been much praise for the project’s recasting of American history, it has been given a chilly reception by others. These critics, including former top GOP legislator...

By Nicholas Diakopoulos, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University Much as robots have transformed entire swaths of the manufacturing economy, artificial intelligence and automation are now changing information work, letting humans offload cognitive labor to computers. In journalism, for instance, data mining systems alert reporters to potential news stories, while newsbots offer new ways for audiences to explore information. Automated writing systems generate financial, sports and elections coverage. A common question as these intelligent technologies infiltrate various industries is how work and labor will be affected. In this case, who – or what – will do journalism in...

By C. Thi Nguyen, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Utah Valley University Pick any of the big topics of the day – Brexit, climate change or Trump’s immigration policies – and wander online. What one is likely to find is radical polarization – different groups of people living in different worlds, populated with utterly different facts. Many people want to blame the “social media bubble,” a belief that everybody sorts themselves into like-minded communities and hears only like-minded views. From my perspective as a philosopher who thinks about communities and trust, this fails to get at the heart of the...