Short Stuff: The Guinness Widget

If you’ve ever pushed a “pull” door or accidentally flipped the wrong light switch, you’ve experienced the impact of bad design. You may have blamed these mistakes on yourself, but in reality, the way we interact with the physical world is often driven by design. From smartphones to stovetops, faucets to fighter jets: Every object we encounter on a daily basis is designed. Good design streamlines our lives and makes everyday tasks easier. Bad design, on the other hand, causes frustration, errors, and even dangerous accidents.

In order to tell the difference, we need to understand how we perceive the objects all around us, and how our brains make sense of that information. Combining the principles of cognitive psychology and engineering makes all of us smarter consumers and helps designers create products that work with users, rather than against them.

Have you ever had a sudden burst of inspiration that led you to a new solution to a problem? Or have you ever marveled at seemingly impossible modern inventions like the internet? If so, you may wonder how individuals are able to come up with such incredible innovations and how they develop them over time. In Where Good Ideas Come From, best-selling author and theorist Steven Johnson explains how good ideas grow from minor inklings to groundbreaking inventions, and how you can use this knowledge to come up with the best ideas possible.

In our guide, we’ll explore how good ideas grow from previous knowledge and networks. We’ll also look at how hunches lead to full-fledged ideas, often as a result of sudden insights, and how mistakes and the repurposing of other ideas can lead to new ones. Finally, we’ll compare Johnson’s ideas with ideas from other authors, contextualize them in other fields, and add tips for putting Johnson’s recommendations into practice.

We live in an age where sophisticated technologies are increasingly pervasive. User interfaces are so intuitive that we don’t need a manual to figure out how every mobile application works—but what is it about specific technologies that allows them to integrate seamlessly into our day-to-day lives, and how did user-friendliness become the bedrock of innovation?

In User Friendly, user experience designers Cliff Kuang and Robert Fabricant explore the evolution of user-friendly design—how the concept emerged from the feminist movement in the 1920s, how it has morphed into the often addictive forms of technology that we have today, and how it might be leveraged to improve human well-being in the future. The authors argue that we must shift how companies apply user-friendly design principles to ensure that technology reflects the values of consumers—and doesn’t just keep people glued to screens to their own detriment. In this guide, we’ll also incorporate research showing how technology impacts the social fabric of society as well as advice on mitigating technology’s harmful effects.

Since humans first looked up, we’ve wondered about our place in the cosmos, yet everything we’ve learned has shown that our ignorance still outstrips our knowledge. While to some that may seem disheartening, science educator Neil deGrasse Tyson finds it exciting to know there’s so much left in the universe to discover. The study of astrophysics, he says, gives us a valuable perspective on ourselves while revealing the nature of the universe in which we live.

Tyson explains in layman’s terms how physicists use the fundamentals of science and the full range of visible and invisible light to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos. He then goes on to cover the three biggest mysteries in astrophysics today—the origin of the universe, dark matter, and dark energy—while making a case for the benefits of understanding where we fit in the universal scheme. In this guide, we’ll also provide the historical context for astronomy’s groundbreaking discoveries and explain in more depth the current theories that are guiding astrophysics’ progress.

Why is it so hard to stop eating your favorite chips? What are the implications of supermarkets containing aisle after aisle of sodas, frozen meals, and packaged snacks—and only tiny produce sections?

In Ultra-Processed People, professor and infectious disease doctor Chris van Tulleken argues that ultra-processed food—everything from breakfast cereals to fast food, candy, and lunch meats—is destroying our health and our planet. He claims that ultra-processed food isn’t really food at all; rather, it’s akin to an addictive substance that tricks us into eating more and more while simultaneously increasing our risk of developing a host of diseases. Plus, the way ultra-processed food is made harms the environment and contributes significantly to climate change.

Our guide explores van Tulleken’s arguments and his recommendations to counteract the effects of ultra-processed food. We’ll also provide context for his claims from the perspective of nutritional science, statistics, and other influential books on processed food, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Fast Food Nation.

In This Naked Mind, Annie Grace reveals the real reason it’s so hard to quit drinking: We often see alcohol as a drink that enhances life experiences and makes us happy, relaxed, and confident. Although in reality, alcohol does none of these things, Grace explains that our unconscious minds still cling to these false beliefs that alcohol is good. To break free from alcohol dependence, you must change your unconscious beliefs and see alcohol as it truly is: an addictive drug that poisons your mind and body. When you change your beliefs, you’ll overcome addiction by no longer wanting to drink, and you’ll enjoy a fulfilling life free of alcohol.

In this guide, we’ll explain how alcohol affects your brain and body, how addiction works, and how to change your false beliefs about alcohol. We’ll also compare Grace’s advice with that of other addiction experts and provide more practical tips for applying her recovery approach to your life.

Why is it so hard to stop eating your favorite chips? What are the implications of supermarkets containing aisle after aisle of sodas, frozen meals, and packaged snacks—and only tiny produce sections?

In Ultra-Processed People, professor and infectious disease doctor Chris van Tulleken argues that ultra-processed food—everything from breakfast cereals to fast food, candy, and lunch meats—is destroying our health and our planet. He claims that ultra-processed food isn’t really food at all; rather, it’s akin to an addictive substance that tricks us into eating more and more while simultaneously increasing our risk of developing a host of diseases. Plus, the way ultra-processed food is made harms the environment and contributes significantly to climate change.

Our guide explores van Tulleken’s arguments and his recommendations to counteract the effects of ultra-processed food. We’ll also provide context for his claims from the perspective of nutritional science, statistics, and other influential books on processed food, including The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food, and Fast Food Nation.