Cognitive Engineering

How ready are you for whatever the world might throw at you? Using the closure of the Suez Canal as a case study, this week's podcast explores the concepts of fragility and resilience. We discuss whether we can really prepare for unexpected events or should just rely on our adaptability. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - The cost of the Suez Canal blockage https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56559073 - Lottery winners and accident victims: is happiness relative? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/690806/ For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Using the government’s 'Test and Trace' programme as a case study, this week’s podcast discusses decision-making and analysis in environments where decisions need to be made quickly. We debate whether we should shoot from the hip or take our time when it comes to decision-making, examining the advantages and disadvantages of both ways of operating. We explore different approaches to decision-making, particularly when we are faced with a variety of constraints and varying levels of information or data. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - NHS Test and Trace 'no clear impact' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56340831 - Three keys to faster, better decisions https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/three-keys-to-faster-better-decisions - Make Good Decisions Faster https://hbr.org/2013/07/make-good-decisions-faster For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Elprofeabra via Flickr.

As the Covid-19 vaccine rollout continues, there is an ongoing discussion in some parts of the world about the relative risks associated with various vaccines. In this podcast, we delve into the principle of 'first, do no harm' - primum non nocere. We discuss this principle, its limitations and how we might determine if the cure is, in fact, worse than the disease. We also examine some of the consequences of medical errors on societal trust and perceptions of competency and credibility. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - AstraZeneca: Thailand delays vaccine rollout over blood clot fears https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-56369550 - 10 Medical Errors That Changed the Standard of Care https://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/med-errors - The Ten Worst Drug Recalls In The History Of The FDA https://247wallst.com/investing/2010/12/10/the-ten-worst-drug-recalls-in-the-history-of-the-fda/ - ‘Causing Death and Saving Lives’ by Jonathan Glover https://www.amazon.co.uk/Causing-Death-Saving-Lives-death/dp/0140134794 - The Acts and Omissions Doctrine https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/doing-allowing/ For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Are you allowed to choose the colour of your house, the height of your grass, or more importantly can you have a garden gnome? In this podcast, we delve into the world of town planning. We discuss the evolution of urban planning, its pros and cons, and whether new cities have it right or if there are still lessons that can be learned from old towns. We also look at how town planning can affect people's happiness and examine what should be the key considerations when it comes to planning a new town. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Hampstead Garden: The History of The Suburb https://www.hgstrust.org/the-suburb/history/index.shtml - Annual personal well-being estimates https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/datasets/headlineestimatesofpersonalwellbeing - ‘Britain’s Love-Hate Relationship with New Towns’ https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/15/sterile-or-stirring-britains-love-hate-relationship-with-new-towns - The Private Production of Urban Planning https://mises.org/library/private-production-urban-planning - 10 Reasons Explaining the Importance of Urban Planning https://planningtank.com/city-insight/importance-of-urban-planning For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Have you ever tried to teach someone to whistle? Highly frustrating for both instructor and student. This week we examine what makes a skill difficult to teach. This podcast looks into how skills are taught and what factors create barriers to this process. We try to classify different types of skills, as well as different types of teachers and learners. We also discuss what we have personally found difficult to master, and as a bonus Tom teaches us how to make a noise like a dolphin. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - PACEY survey on the hardest things to teach kids https://www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/news/archive/2020-news/april-2020/news-tricky-to-teach-new-pacey-study-reveals-the/ - Tom learns the piano in six easy steps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxAHsxDML4 For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Dean Michaud via Flickr

We recently reached our five year anniversary of producing these podcasts, and (in true meta fashion) thought we would celebrate by analysing why we recognise such occasions. At the point of recording this podcast, there have been 241 episodes of the Cognitive Engineering podcast and nearly 100,000 listens. For some reason, though, we find it much more significant that this achievement has taken us five Earth years to complete. In this podcast we examine why humans are drawn to recognise the passing of the years and whether it is useful to do so. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Places with the least seasonal variations https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/2966/are-there-locations-on-earth-that-only-have-one-season#:~:text=The%20region%20on%20Earth%20that,experience%20cold%20and%20warm%20seasons - Javanese calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javanese_calendar For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Ten years on from the Arab Spring uprisings, we look at whether revolutions constitute an effective way of improving a country’s governance, with Dr Alia Brahimi, an expert in Middle Eastern politics. In this podcast we look at the precursors and aftermath of the Arab Spring, examining several of the affected countries - then and now - to see whether their lots have been improved. We also examine revolutions in general and consider how you might determine their success or failure, and over what period of time it is appropriate to judge their outcomes. Finally, we analyse different types of revolution and try to understand how they might be predicted. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Jihad and Just War in the War on Terror https://global.oup.com/academic/product/jihad-and-just-war-in-the-war-on-terror-9780199562961?cc=gb&lang=en& - ‘Life has got worse since the Arab Spring’ https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/17/arab-spring-people-middle-east-poll - Alias Advisory https://aliasadvisory.com/ - Quality of Government data https://www.gu.se/en/quality-government/qog-data For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Shawn Hayward via Flickr

Which is more grating, constant punning or permanent snarkiness? We examine the hierarchy of humour in order to determine what is, indeed, no laughing matter. In this podcast, we consider whether humour value can be objectively measured, and if so, whether it is a separate concept to that of wit. We also look at why we bother to attempt humour in the first place. Finally, we engage in a slightly awkward exercise to determine whether we are good judges of our own funniness. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - The eleven kinds of joke according to The Onion’s founder https://bigthink.com/stephen-johnson/every-joke-falls-in-one-of-these-11-categories-according-to-the-founder-of-the-onion - The Atlantic: What Makes Something Funny? https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/funny-how/550910/ - Do animals have a sense of humour? https://www.livescience.com/60864-do-animals-have-humor.html - Humor ability reveals intelligence, predicts mating success, and is higher in male https://www.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/attachments/95822/humor-predicts-mating-success.pdf - Walter Nash’s ‘The Language of Humour’ https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Language_of_Humour.html?id=Ef0NAQAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y - ‘Biggus Dickus’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQkQAU9iU7I For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

What is more virtuous, delivering a pizza or administering a Covid test? As we begin to end lockdown, we discuss who was most helpful during this difficult period. In this podcast, we examine how data can be used to assess the societal value of different jobs. We look at the Covid risk exposure of different roles, consider whether salary is a good indicator of value, and explore where duty ends and altruism begins. Finally, we ask whether heroism can ever truly be measured. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Death rates by occupation (National Statistics) https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/causesofdeath/bulletins/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyoccupationenglandandwales/deathsregisteredbetween9marchand28december2020 - Wages by occupation (National Statistics) https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/grossweeklyearningsbyoccupationearn06 For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: via UCL Partners

What3words provides its users with an easy way of referring to any geographic location, but nobody knows how the three word reference is generated. Is this the right approach or should all standards be open? This podcast looks at how open and closed standards work, investigates the pros and cons of both and considers their economic consequences. We explore existing examples of open and closed standards and delve into the relative levels of control and investment value that both models offer. We also look at the rights of users, such as the right to repair. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - What 3 Words https://what3words.com/daring.lion.race - Why bother with What Three Words? https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bother-with-what-three-words/ - Vendor lock-in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vendor_lock-in - Prisoner’s Dilemma https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/prisoners-dilemma.asp#:~:text=The%20prisoner's%20dilemma%20is%20a,expense%20of%20the%20other%20participant. - Right to repair https://repair.eu/ - A list of format wars https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/65305/winner-takes-all-8-most-dramatic-format-wars For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Wiyada Arunwaikit via Getty Images/ iStockphoto

The Covid pandemic has seen a sharp rise in government spending, and large scale testing and vaccination programmes. Some of these have been successful, while others less so. We look at whether, on balance, governments are an effective mechanism for achieving desirable outcomes. In this podcast, we explore the rationale for having governments in the first place and consider what activities it is appropriate for them to carry out. We look at what happens when the government gets it wrong and also examine what various data sources say about the relative effectiveness of the private and public sectors. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Chicago School of Economics https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/chicago_school.asp - Milton Friedman – Four ways to spend money https://investorjunkie.com/economics/milton-friedman-ways-spend-money/ - Principle-Agent Problem https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/principal-agent-problem.asp#:~:text=The%20principal%2Dagent%20problem%20is,roles%20of%20principal%20and%20agent. - Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Good and Bad Government https://www.visittuscany.com/en/attractions/siena-ambrogio-lorenzetti-good-and-bad-government/ - PSIRU report summarising some of the evidence https://www.epsu.org/sites/default/files/article/files/Public%20and%20Private%20Sector%20efficiency%20EN%20fin.pdf - The effects of bad government https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/01/effects-bad-government/ - What’s so bad about government anyway https://fee.org/articles/whats-so-bad-about-big-government-anyway/ - What is rent-seeking? https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/rent-seeking/#:~:text=Rent%2Dseeking%20is%20a%20concept,It. For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Some government ministers seem to constantly court controversy, while others manage to fly smoothly under the incompetence radar. Is this down to luck or judgement, and what is it realistic to expect from our politicians? In this podcast, we examine ministerial accountability using Gavin Williamson as a case study. We consider whether it is realistic to expect a government minister to be infallible, and if so what level of fallibility is acceptable. We also delve into concepts of ministerial responsibility and honour, and try to understand when something is a minister’s fault. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - The Crichel Down Affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crichel_Down_affair - List of political scandals in the United Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_scandals_in_the_United_Kingdom - Institute for Government chart of ministerial resignations https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/ministerial-resignations-outside-reshuffles-prime-minister - Gordon Brown - Taking Responsibility https://youtu.be/CND6i2o7tTE?t=3 For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Chris McAndrew via Wikimedia Commons

Quite aside from a pandemic, a brewing environmental catastrophe and a highly disruptive technological revolution, is the trend for protein shakes the real sign that we have moved into a dystopian nightmare? We look at what constitutes a dystopia, how you can categorise different types of dystopia and why we conceive of them in the first place. We also attempt to measure how close we are to dystopia at the moment and explore whether we would be able to spot its arrival. Finally, we consider if there is such a thing as a good dystopia. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Are we living in a dystopia? https://theconversation.com/are-we-living-in-a-dystopia-136908 - Darren Allen’s ‘four kinds of dystopia’ https://expressiveegg.org/2017/01/03/four-kinds-dystopia/ - TV Tropes - dystopia https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Dystopia - British Social Attitudes https://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/ - The Economist - Global democracy has another bad year https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/01/22/global-democracy-has-another-bad-year For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Wes Candela via Creative Commons

Nasty, brutish and short or the Garden of Eden? We explore the Return to Monke meme and ask whether we are right to yearn for a more primitive lifestyle. In this podcast, we examine our origins as hunter-gatherers and explore whether things were better or worse before we became civilised. We look at food scarcity, environmental damage, child mortality rates and a whole host of other fun stuff. We also address the morality of primitivism and consider what would actually happen if we all tried to Return to Monke. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - Know Your Meme: Return to Monke https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/return-to-monke - The Unabomber manifesto: Industrial society and its future http://editions-hache.com/essais/pdf/kaczynski2.pdf - Life expectancy in hunter-gatherers https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-16999-6_2352-1#:~:text=Excepting%20outside%20forces%20such%20as,individuals%20living%20in%20developed%20countries - Are hunter-gatherers the happiest humans to inhabit earth? https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/10/01/551018759/are-hunter-gatherers-the-happiest-humans-to-inhabit-earth?t=1608278213042 - Uncontacted tribes: What do we know about the world's 100 hidden communities? https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/there-are-more-than-100-uncontacted-tribes-in-the-world-who-are-they - Holocene calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_calendar For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com

Some art forms seem to have passed their creative peak, no longer acting as an outlet for human ingenuity and innovation. But how do we know that they are truly moribund and not just having a bit of a rest? In this podcast we look at art forms that appear to have stopped generating genuinely novel work, and see if there are any broader lessons we can draw regarding their life cycles. We also consider whether some art forms are better suited to longevity than others. Finally, we discuss the concept of a golden era and wonder which heydays would have been the most fun to have lived through. A few things we mentioned in this podcast: - The 32 Most Iconic Poems in the English Language https://lithub.com/the-32-most-iconic-poems-in-the-english-language/ For more information on Aleph Insights visit our website https://alephinsights.com or to get in touch about our podcast email podcast@alephinsights.com Image: Herry Lawford via Wikimedia Commons