Supplement the learning environment with resources

Global poverty is one of the world’s most vexing problems. For decades, we’ve assumed smart, well-intentioned people will eventually be able to change the economic trajectory of poor countries. From education to healthcare, infrastructure to eradicating corruption, too many solutions rely on trial and error. Essentially, the plan is often to identify areas that need help, flood them with resources, and hope to see change over time. But hope is not an effective strategy. Clayton…

9-year-old Caine Monroy spent his summer vacation building an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad’s used auto parts store. The entire summer went by, and he never had a single customer. But Caine didn’t give up. Then, on the last day of summer, filmmaker Nirvan Mullick walked in by chance to buy an auto part for his car. Caine asked Nirvan to play, and, well, watch Caine’s Arcade and Caine’s Arcade 2 to see what happened next…

Israeli Historian and Author of “Sapiens” Yuval Noah Harari discusses how the accelerated pace of change of artificial intelligence and automation will impact the future of work, education, democracy, and even morality. What is next for humanity? Read the full article here.  

According to The New York Times, the challenge of our time is to make people changemakers – individuals who see problems and organize responses to solve them. And, making agency a universal quality in people will provide them with some sense of control in their lives. Read the article here.

To conclude the April 2021 Top of Mind newsletter, we turn to beloved first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In her book, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life, “To be mature you have to realize what you value most. It is extraordinary to discover that comparatively few people reach this level of maturity. They seem never to have paused to consider what has value for them. They spend great effort and sometimes…