The question by the Edge Foundation: “What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit?” 163 answers are here. Here’s a sampling:
– “Cognitive load” from Nicholas Carr: a limitation in how much information entering our consciousness we can process at any instant;
– “The Pareto principle” from Clay Shirky: a reminder that the richest or busiest or most connected participants in a system will account for much more wealth, or activity, or connectedness than average”;
– “Connective intelligence” from Matt Ridley: the idea that human achievement “is entirely a networking phenomenon” and is “based on collective intelligence”.