Technology can seem pretty mysterious at times, so its all too easy for misconceptions to spread.
That helps explain why I keep seeing technological myths propagate. Should you bury a wet phone in rice? Do you need a VPN to use public Wi-Fi networks? Is your phone secretly recording your conversations? The answer to these questions and more is no, but believing otherwise can be detrimental.
Heres my attempt to dispel a half dozen popular tech myths, and what you should do instead of believing them.
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jareds weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up for free to get more tips every Tuesday.
Myth 1: Dry rice can save a wet phone
The idea that uncooked rice will draw the moisture from a waterlogged phone is so pervasive that even Apple has tried to dispel it. Dont put your iPhone in a bag of rice, the companys support documentation says. Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.
What to do instead: Your phone may already be water resistant, rendering the rice trick obsolete. But if not, iFixit recommends shaking loose any excess water, turning the phone off, and leaving it out to dry for as long as possible. (Putting your phone in rice forces you to leave it alone, which may explain why the myth persists.)
Myth 2: You should regularly force-close all your phone apps
Since the advent of recent app menus in iOS and Android, Ive seen too many people compulsively swiping up to force-close all their apps, mistakenly believing this will conserve battery life or help the phone run faster. In fact, force-quitting everything can make performance and battery life worse, because your apps will use more power each time they fully reload. Even Apple says to force-close an app only if its not responding, and the same logic applies to Android phones as well.
What to do instead: Use the Battery menu in your phones settings to identify apps that are draining your battery. You may need to adjust the background settings for that app or find an alternative.
Myth 3: Incognito mode prevents websites from tracking you
Misconceptions about Incognito mode are so widespread that Google had to settle a class-action lawsuit last year after Chrome users claimed that it provided a false sense of privacy. So heres what your browsers Incognito or Private Browsing mode actually does:
Prevents sites from showing up in your browsing history so that others with access to your computer cant see them.
Lets you browse sites in a logged-out state, with none of your interactions carried over from previous visits.
These modes do not render you invisible online, as websites can still collect data and use identifiers such as your IP address to track you. And if you sign into a website while using Incognito mode, that activity will be associated with your account.
What to do instead: Use a web browser with strong built-in tracking protections, and possibly a VPN if youre extremely concerned about privacy (though VPNs arent panaceas either). An ad-blocking extension can help, but only if youve set it to run in Incognito mode.
Myth 5: Public USB charging ports spread viruses
Thanks to repeated FBI warnings over the years, the idea that public USB charging ports can infect your devices with malware has become pervasive, yet the actual threat of juice jacking remains theoretical. To date, no ones provided a single real-world example of charging ports spreading viruses. Besides, both Android and iOS require permission to transfer data when connecting your phone to another devicesomething youd hopefully reject when plugging into a nefarious port.
What to do about it: Your own adapters and cables may be faster anywayespecially if youve followed my buying guidebut I wouldnt fret about using hotel or coffee shop charging ports in a pinch.
Myth 5: You need a VPN for public Wi-Fi
This ones just as pervasive as the juice-jacking myth, but at least it used to be true. These days, youll notice that pretty much every website has an https in its address, indicating that your traffic is encrypted. That makes the encryption from a VPN redundant. In the extremely rare case where a website transmits unencrypted data over Wi-Fi, your browser will use stern warnings to try to stop you from visiting it.
What to do instead: According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the best thing to do is make sure your devices software and operating system are up-to-date, so youre not at risk of security vulnerabilities that might transmit unencrypted traffic.
Myth 6: Your phone is listening to you
Youve probably heard an anecdote like this: I recently met up with a friend, and they told me about something they bought that Id never heard of before. Then a couple of days later, I started seeing Instagram ads for that exact product! My phone has to be recording me.
Its not, but the reality is no less concerning: If an app on your phone has access to your location, and that data gets shared with a company like Facebook or Google, its fairly trivial for those companies to understand which devices are nearby and to target ads based on what those devices have been doing. Thats a lot easier than secretly recording audio, especially because your phone indicates when thats happening.
What to do about it: If you find this behavior unsettling, take a few minutes to do the following:
Disable your ad ID in iOS or Android.
Manage which apps can access your location on iOS or Android.
Disable off-Facebook activity on this page under Manage future activity.
Turn off targeted ads from Google on this page.
Consider using a web browser with tracking protection or an ad blocker such as uBlock Origin.
These steps wont solve every potential privacy issue, but theyll alleviate the feeling that your phone is always listening.
This story first appeared in Advisorator, Jareds weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up for free to get more tips every Tuesday.
Juliet Schor is an economist and sociologist who specializes in the study of work. She is a professor of sociology at Boston College, having previously taught at Harvard for 17 years. Her previous books include the national bestseller The Overworked American. Juliet has received numerous awards for her research and writing and has had her work published in scores of magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and People magazine. She has also made several appearances on popular newscasts.
Whats the big idea?
For a while, the concept of a four-day workweek seemed aspirationalutopian, even. However, it is now more realistic than ever. Research increasingly shows that switching from five to four days is a win for employees and their entire company. Well-being increases (and stays that way), retention issues are solved, and heightened productivity replaces fatigue and stress. The benefits are so impressive that governments are getting involved in legislating fewer working hours. Times are changing, and modern life and modern business are better off on a four-day work schedule.
Below, Juliet shares five key insights from her new book, Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter. Listen to the audio versionread by Juliet herselfin the Next Big Idea App.
1. The four-day week is life-changing for employees
Between dual-earner households, the faster pace and complexity of modern life, and intensifying job demands, weve heard over and over that two days is not enough to manage life admin, see family and friends, and recover from the workweek. Around the world, levels of stress, burnout, and disengagement remain historically high. Thats a big part of why we find that a third day off is transformational. Physical and mental health, sleep, fatigue, and anxiety all improve, according to survey and biometric data. Stress and burnout are reduced. People are happier and more engaged in their work.
The obvious reason a four-day week is transformational is the ability to work less. In our statistical modeling, we found that the larger the working time reduction, the bigger the well-being impacts. People who manage to reduce their time by a full eight hours per week experience about twice the improvement in well-being.
When we drill down to see what it is about working less that makes people so much better off, two factors emerge. About half the increase in well-being is due to behavioral changes outside of work, such as better sleep, more exercise, and less fatigue. The other half is that people register much higher levels of effectiveness and performance at work.
2. Working less boosts productivity
We discovered that people are much more productive on a four-day week. They report being able to find more efficient ways to do things. People report that theyre no longer experiencing the Sunday Scaries, and they show up on Monday mornings feeling refreshed, rather than anxious. They feel more on top of their workloads and score higher on a work smart scale. They do a better job prioritizing whats important, spend less time spinning their wheels, and are more motivated to get through their to-do lists. These individual impacts collectively contribute to the organizations overall success.
Companies tell us they are maintaining or increasing overall productivity when they switch to a four-day workweek. Thats counterintuitive if we assume that productivity mainly depends on how long we work. But there are several reasons for better performance. Staff are healthier, more energetic, and more loyal. Organizations become more intentional and invest in the upfront work that saves time in the long run. Customer-service-facing organizations in the tech world tell us they have finally gotten serious about documentation. Other companies report eliminating unnecessary forms or bottlenecks in approval processes. These are all examples of the forcing function of the four day week (4DW). It makes organizations do things they know will save time but have been too busy to accomplish.
Organizations become more intentional and invest in the upfront work that saves time in the long run.
The other major effect is that the four-day week stops resignations dead in their tracks. In one of our most successful cases, the manager explained that, on her team, turnover went from 30% a year to zero. That 30% turnover figure is common in her industry, and solving it avoided the wasted time of onboarding and training new people, which yielded a better product and higher sales. At a hospital we studied, the opportunity for overworked nurse managers to get a third day off led to many rescinded resignation letters. At a restaurant (another high-turnover industry) people also stopped quitting.
A four-day-a-week job is much more valuable to people. About 15% of our sample says that no amount of money could induce them to return to a five-day schedule. Many more would require a significant pay increase to return. Thats why when people get a four-day week, they dont leave.
3. A whole organization transformation
For years, companies have tried to address employee stress and burnout with individual solutions. Theyve tried flex time, scheduling accommodations, wellness classes, yoga, and mindfulness. The academic research shows that none of these works. Stress and disengagement have only gone up. Those on shorter schedules often suffer stigma or get paid less, but end up doing as much work as before.
In contrast, reducing hours across the entire organization is a real solution. In the trials we studied, companies received two months of training on how to implement the 4DW before they began. How is making it work defined? Well, there is some variation across companies, but generally, its defined as doing five days work in four.
Companies were coached on ways to get inefficient meeting cultures under control and to create focus time. They learned about new time-saving software or how to analyze their processes to eliminate wasted steps. They achieved success because it wasnt just on individuals, but everyone was pulling together to change the culture. That results in a true shift in work norms, shifting from the facetime/productivity theater model to one thats focused on results.
4. Almost all the companies who try it stick with it
Our team wanted to know if the great results we saw would persist. So, we went back to the companies at one and two years in. We found that improvements in employee well-being were remarkably stable.
Almost all the companies stayed on the four-day schedule.
Perhaps more surprisingly, almost all the companies stayed on the four-day schedule. Some instituted a few tweaks to their programs, but only about 10% reverted to five days after a year. If we exclude those who never really gave it a try, its closer to 5%. Maintaining or raising productivity, improving product quality, reducing turnvers, and getting happier, more satisfied employees is a recipe for success.
5. The four-day week is coming
It has been 85 years since the workweek was last reduced. Since the pandemic, pressure has been building, especially in the U.S., where working hours have been increasing. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Fridays are evolving away from a standard workday. Working from home is accelerating this process.
But its not just an organic evolution to the four-day week that were seeing. Governments are beginning to encourage or even legislate worktime reduction. The Polish government has just announced a pilot program similar to the ones weve been studying. This follows similar pilots by the governments of Spain, Scotland, Belgium, Portugal, and the Dominican Republic. The government of Tokyo has recently implemented a four-day workweek for all its employees. Spain has just legislated a reduction in the workweek for the entire country to 37.5 hours per week. Recently, two bills to run pilots were filed in New York state, making it the 11th state considering legislation. And a growing number of local governments are shifting to a four-day week for their employees, with some saving money in the process.
AI will accelerate the shift to four days. As companies incorporate AI at a rapid clip, society is faced with a stark choice: Are we going to lay off millions of people? Thats a possible outcome with a technology that can replace so much human labor.
But its not our only option. We could follow the path we took with the first industrial revolution. We can use that labor-saving technology to reduce working hours and keep employment high. Thats the path we shouldand I think willtake. I started researching worktime reduction many years ago. At the time, it was seen as aspirational, even utopian. But that has flipped, and now the four-day week has become common sense. It is also the smart option if we want to protect our economy, democracy, and society.
This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Maria was the CEO of a rapidly growing tech startup in the genomics space. She was curious, confident, open to new ideas, and comfortable being challenged by her teamall qualities that had helped her build the company from nothing into a 30-person organization with millions of dollars in venture capital funding and a consumer-facing product about to be released. And yet, even as things seemed to be going exceptionally well, key leaders were starting to leaveand the board brought me, a clinical psychologist-turned-entrepreneur-turned business coach, in to figure out why.
What you sometimes find in situations like these is a leader with a difficult personalityrigid, cold, and just plain unpleasant to work for. Not here. Maria was warm, engaging, and personable. Her team loved talking to her. They just didnt love working for her. As it turned out, her confidencea critical quality for an entrepreneur to possess when breaking new ground and coming up against scores of obstacles and critics insisting something couldnt be donewas playing out in a way that was hurting the business.
Shes curious until she isnt, one high-ranking team member told me. Everyone else might still have more questions, but she shuts down the conversation and insists we move on. Shes open to discussion right up until the point when she feels like shes made a decision, and then shes dismissive, arrogant, and impossible. She makes the rest of us feel stupid if we dont see things as quickly or as clearly as she does, and thats not an environment I want to work in. Shes brilliant, but I dread every meeting.
I dont know what hes talking about, Maria told me when I presented her with the feedback. My ability to make decisions is a strength. And theyre good decisions! I dont see the point of going around in circles once I know the answer!
When superstrengths become supernovas
Maria was a classic example of an entrepreneur with a blindspot. She didnt see how her superstrengthconfidencehad tipped over to become arrogance, and that arrogance was holding her back.
When I began as a coach and first started to hear people talk about strengths and weaknesses, I took the information at face value. If an executive was praised for their persistence, Id make a note of it, and look for other areas that might need to be addressed. After all, strengths are good, I reasoned. Its the weaknesses that we need to worry about.
But after a little while, I started to notice a surprising pattern. The calm, unflappable CEOa huge strengthnever signaled when he was upset, causing people to have to guess what bothered him. The curious, out-of-the-box thinker seemed to always get easily distracted by something shiny and new. The friendly, sociable extrovert wasnt leaving people alone to do their work. Every strength had its corresponding weakness, and the challenge was to keep things balanced, not to tip too far in one direction or the other. Strengths are not unqualified positives. Instead, our difficulties often emerge from investing too heavily in our strengthsour superstrengths become supernovas, and transform into the qualities that most frustrate the people around us and get in the way of our success. And because our strengths are often the qualities we are most proud of, the things we like best in ourselves and have heard positive feedback about over the course of our lives, the idea that they can become our biggest weaknesses is a common blindspot. Most of us simply wont be able to see when its happening.
How to keep yourself from tipping into disaster
We cant change our traits. But once we become aware of our extreme qualities, we can adopt behaviors to keep them in check. First, we have to find the blindspots. What I tell my clients to do is ask themselves the top adjectives others use to describe them, and then reflect on what happens if you modify them with the word too. Are they too smart, too energetic, too selfless? And how might that be playing out in the workplace?
For Maria, she acknowledged that perhaps she could be too confident sometimes, and was eventually able to see how that might make her team feel sidelined or ignored. She was never going to be able to slow down her decision-making, but what she could do is recognize when she had decided she had the answer, and stopped asking questions. That was her awareness trigger for when she was at-risk of appearing arrogant and dismissive. She could then change her behavior and communicate that she was nearing a decision but was still open to discussion. I think I know the answer, she could tell her team, but lets keep talking until were all on the same page. She might not think her mind was going to be changed, but more communication could uncover angles she was ignoring, and ensure her team feels heard and respected.
Recognizing when our superstrength has tipped over the edge and we have gone too far is the new skill to develop. It starts with accepting that a strength will at times become a liability. With that awareness we will naturally think about tapping the breaks a bit when we spot we are expressing that strength.
Next, we can become aware of other behaviors that accompany our over-indexed strength. For Maria, it was feelings of having the answer, being done, wanting to move on, and feeling irritated that others want to discuss some more. When those feelings appeared, she would then know she had moved into problem territory. In turn, following up with the actual behavior change to correct the situation was a rather small adjustment.
The changes we need to make arent dramatic, just little tweaks to how we approach the world, informed by greater self-awareness. Yet these tweaks can have huge effects. The more deliberate we are about how we show up, the more strategic and effective we can be at keeping our superstrengths in check and avoiding deeper problems.
Pride Month is here, and theres no question weve come a long way since the first Pride events, which advocated for collective solidarity, individual identity, and resistance to discrimination and violence. Yet we still have much further to go.
According to one recent report from the University of California at Los Angeles, nearly half of LGBTQ workers have experienced workplace discrimination or harassment at some point in their professional lives. Add in microaggressions, or the everyday slights that happen in plain sight in front of colleagues and managers, and the number is even higher.
Heres where allies can make a differenceand there are plenty of them. One PRRI public opinion report indicates that three-quarters of Americans support policies that protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation.
But being an ally to any minority is hard, especially when its not always obvious when someone identifies as LBGTQIA+.
So how can you be a better ally and bolster inclusion at work? Here are three ways (plus a bonus!) to be a more effective ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, from a business leader who also happens to be a lesbian.
1. Educate yourself
Allyship isnt a passive thing that shows up without effort. Take it upon yourself to understand the struggles of your LGBTQIA+ colleagues and actively try to create change in your workplace.
The LGBTQIA+ label is a huge catchall (and a long acronym by any measure). Learning about the everyday experiences of even part of this community is a great starting point to better understanding the struggles we face. In turn, you can take steps to become a more effective ally and drive informed change. At the very least, itll help you recognize when you have the opportunity to stand up for, or against, something on our behalf.
Checking unconscious biases is also part of this narrative. Being self-aware to identify behaviors were not usually conscious of is the first step in learning how to avoid unintentionally acting on them.
2. Recognize your privilege and use it for good
You dont have to apologize for it, you dont have to hide it, but you do need to understand your privilege and the power it bestows.
Being a heterosexual person in the workplaceand in the worldgives you the chance to make a difference. It allows you to challenge bias, tackle unfairness, and effect change. And for a heteronormative individual, you can often do those things with far lesser risk. So be vocal. This doesnt have to be in a big, highly visible wayit can be as simple as respecting someones chosen name or pronouns, and encouraging or gently correcting other people if they defer to the traditional he/she binaries.You have the armor of privilege. Embrace it and then use it to open doors for those who dont have that same protection.
Incidentally, having these conversations outside of the workplace with family and friends educates them on what being an effective ally can look like and what they can do to help. The more people we can bring to a place of understanding and support, the deeper the change.
3. Change the culture
Consistency is a major win when it comes to good allyship. Its essential to building trust and driving lasting change, so model inclusive behaviors.
How? Good allies share opportunities with others: they cut out (and call out) microaggressions thinly disguised as banter; they use inclusive language with intention and sincerity; they listen to a member of the community over coffee and welcome someone into their space.
It can be as simple as being the voice against presumptions in the workplace. Ive seen this myself when colleagues default to gendered generalities. For example, theres using he/him pronouns when referring to generic or hypothetical humans (Whoever we bring onboard, he should be highly skilled). Or assuming someones gender on the basis of their name when you dont actually know the person or how they identify (I havent met Ryan, but I hope hes top-notch). By gently correcting (Whoever we bring onboard, they should be highly skilled or I havent met Ryan, but I hope theyre top-notch), you remind others that gender isnt always what it seemsand that not everyone fits neatly into a gender normative box.
It can also be about consciously changing patterned social behaviors. For example, if a coworker mentions that theyre married, dont assume they have a husband or wife of a different gender. I cant count the number of times colleagues and clients have asked me What does your husband do? over the years. Ive had to come out again and again over the span of my career.
Instead, consider asking about who they most enjoy spending time with outside of work or who the important people are in their life. Its an open question that, when asked in an authentic and respectful way, invites the other person to share within their own level of comfort.
Continue to challenge the microaggressions. Culture change doesnt come solely from the top. It comes from repetition, from small corrections, and from people like you choosing to do the right thing consistently.
The bonus: Dont beat yourself up
The ever-evolving language of inclusion means we all trip up occasionally, even with the best of intentions. No one expects you to get it right every time. Dont sweat it.
Even we trip up within our own community, be it over chosen names, pronouns, or how we support our loved ones who are transitioning. Give yourself some grace. If you make a mistake, apologize, learn, and keep going. Dont let a slip-up stop you from showing up.
Allyship isnt about being perfect. Its rarely about big gestures. Its about showing up, paying attention, and doing what you can consistently. Sometimes it means speaking up. Sometimes it means stepping forward on someone elses behalf. And sometimes it just means being someone others know they can count on. The small, everyday actions add up. And when enough people do them, thats when real change happens.
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This years spring selling season didnt meet expectations, Toll Brothers CEO Douglas Yearley told a group of institutional investors gathered at Bank of Americas 2025 Housing Symposium earlier this month.
The spring selling season, which is really a winter selling season, is when most new homes are sold in this country, Yearley said. This was not a good spring . . . it still was, overall, a soft spring season.
Yearley said February marked the spring season low point, with some improvement in March and Aprilbut not enough to call it a rebound.
Regionally, Yearley painted a picture of a highly bifurcated market. The best-performing areas for Toll Brothers include Boston and Northern Virginia, where land is scarce, resale inventory is tight, and competition from large public builders is limited.
Through the COVID years, you know, the Northeast and Atlantic, all across and down through Northern Virginia, did not fare well, as everybody could go remote and leavethey were chasing the sunshine and chasing a lower cost of living. And so home price appreciation through COVID wasn’t as much in Boston and Northern Virginia because demand wasn’t as strong. Now that has completely flipped, and our strongest corridor is Boston, Yearley said.
Yearley added: There’s less competition [in the Northeast]. The big public builders aren’t here. There’s very little land. So when you get the land, it’s gold, and the resale markets are much tighter. I live on the Main Line of Philadelphia, in the suburbs of Philly. There’s no inventory [here]. That’s not true in Texas and Florida and other places where you have a lot of big public builders and a lot of land. So there’s much more supply [in Texas and Florida]. But in the Boston and Northern Virginia corridor, it’s very supply-constrained, and we [Toll Brothers] are doing really well [in the Northeast].
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On the flip side, Toll Brothersa publicly traded luxury homebuilder with an $11 billion market capitalizationis seeing the most softness in pandemic-era boomtowns across the Sun Belt, where unsold completed spec inventory has surged. Spec homesshort for speculative homesare built without a buyer lined up, with the builder betting the home will sell once finished.
On the softer side, you know, Florida inventories are up . . . parts of Texas inventories are up. Phoenix is still adjusting a bit with high inventories. A lot of that inventory for existing homes is builder spec, because all those markets have a lot of big builders there who are committed to a spec strategy, Yearley said.
Yearley doesnt think this spec overhang in boomtown areas in Arizona, Florida, and Texas will last forever. Hes already starting to see some homebuilders pull back.
As many as a third of the overhang on the resale market right now is actually new unsold spec. That’ll clean up [over time] because the builders are starting fewer spec homes in the softer market, and I think that will naturally work its way out, Yearley said.
Despite near-term softness, Yearley remains bullish on the long-term fundamentals driving housing demand. We have 4 to 6 million too few homes in this country. We havent built enough homes in the last 15 years to come close to satisfying demand,” he said. “The tailwinds for the industry are great, but short-term pressure is real.
In many ways, the world is a much friendlier place for members of the LGBTQ+ community on this, the 56th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, than it was a lifetime ago.
But that doesnt make navigating American life while queer any less frightening. In addition to the federal government making overt attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, many of the same invisible barriers that kept the LGBTQ+ community impoverished a lifetime ago are still at work today.
Financial marginalization may seem like small potatoes compared to fighting for the right to exist, but the unacknowledged systems keeping the LGTBQ+ wealth gap in place are the same systems working to erase queer history.
Illuminating these hidden financial systems is the first step toward bridging the wealth gap.
The problem: family estrangement
Gay and lesbian young adults are 86% more likely to report estrangement from their fathers than their straight counterparts, according to a 2022 National Institute of Health study, and a recent U.K. survey found that 46% of LGBTQ respondents between the ages of 18 and 25 are estranged from at least one family member.
Estrangement is painful enough, but it can also put queer kids at serious financial risk. LGBTQ+ youth have a 120% higher risk of experiencing homelessness compared to the general population.
But even if coming out doesnt completely sever the familial relationship, it can change family dynamics, including financial expectations. In the 2023 LGBTQI+ Economic and Financial (LEAF) Survey, 38% of those surveyed said they lost the option of relying financially on their families after coming out. This leads to things like a significantly higher likelihood of carrying student debt into adulthood and more than double the rate of bank overdrafts compared to the general population.
The early loss of direct financial assistance may be the most obvious obstacle to LGBTQ+ wealth building, but Dr. Jenna Brownfield, a queer Licensed Psychologist based in Minnesota, suggests looking at the less clear-cut financial barriers that come with estrangement.
Its more than just passing down wealth, Dr. Brownfield says. Its also the knowledge of how to navigate finances. If you dont have a relationship with an older family member to demystify and guide you through things like insurance and taxes, youre left to learn that on your own.
Unlike learning how to change a tire, roast a chicken, or apply a perfect smoky eye-shadow effect, it can be more difficult to find reputable and trustworthy financial information on YouTube or TikTokand the lack of this knowledge really hurts anyone who falls afoul of Lady Luck or Uncle Sam.
The work-around: chosen family
Parents have been cutting off their LGBTQ+ kids from time immemorial, and the queer community has responded by creating a culture of chosen family. Leaning into the cultural legacy of multigenerational queer friendship and found family is an excellent way to help bridge the financial knowledge gap.
Though discussing money is typically a taboo topic for discussion, openly sharing hard-won money skills with the younger generation is an excellent way to fight back against marginalization.
The problem: lack of access to healthcare
Approximately 17% of LGBTQ+ adults do not have any health insurance, which is a major improvement over the 34% of queer adults who were uninsured in 2013, just before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. But having insurance doesnt necessarily equate to receiving care.
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that LGBTQ+ adults faced higher rates of discrimination and unfair treatment at the doctors office compared to non-LGBTQ adults. Queer adults were also more likely to report going without needed mental health care because of affordability or accessibility.
But even finding a caring doctor in network doesnt guarantee affordable healthcare, especially for transgender individuals: 82% of LEAF survey respondents who received gender-affirming care reported spending some money out of pocket. Nearly half (46%) of those respondents spent $5,000 or more, while 33% spent at least $10,000 of their own money.
But whether its paying out of pocket for affirming care or avoiding the doctor because of cost (or bad experiences) until the only choice is the emergency room, cutting the LGBTQ+ community out of healthcare becomes another invisible financial drain.
The work-around: medical allyship
The American system of health insurance doesnt really work for anyone, but it seems to make a special effort to work especially badly for marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. While there is very little that cishet friends of queer folks can do about the obscenely high insurance copays and deductibles, a friend can potentially ride along to doctors visits.
There are two good reasons for roping a friend into a doctors appointment. First, since LGBTQ+ folks are more likely to face discrimination and unfair treatment in healthcare settings compared to straight patients, the presence of a friendly ally
It can be enthralling to watch artificial intelligence models progress toward a mastery of deep learning. But are we as equally invested in our own abilities to think and learn? The human capacity to think deeply, find meaning, and apply wisdom is what makes us unique. Yet, it is increasingly tempting and easy to rely on the fast, accessible answers that AI provides.
In a recent McKinsey study of organizations that use generative AI, only 27% said that employees review all content created by gen AI before it is used. One-third of respondents said that only 20% or less of gen-AI-produced content is checked before use.
The antidote in this moment is critical thinking. Critical thinking is sometimes called careful thinking, as it involves questioning, interpretation, and discernment. Critical thinking is not always our default mode, and its already under siege from frequent AI usage. However, critical thinking skills can be taught. Moreover, according to our latest research, leaders with strong critical thinking skills have better outcomes, such as confidence in their ability to lead and lower burnout.
Thinking Slow or Not at All
Whether it’s a matter of being lazy or economical, humans dont think a lot if we dont have to. This isnt necessarily a bad thing. Researchers estimate that our conscious brains process information at a rate of 10 bits per second. (AI models process data at trillions of bits per second.) So, we conserve our limited mental horsepower for complex tasks rather than wasting it on simple or repetitive tasks. This is why we go into autopilot mode when we drive familiar routes or rely on mental shortcuts to make decisions. (For example, we are prone to judging a persons trustworthiness based on appearance instead of interactions.)
Our slow brains have a new, fast friend called AI. Thats a good thing, right? It can be. AI can rapidly process vast amounts of information, recognize patterns that lie beyond human reach, and provoke us to consider new angles. AI-based tools will expand our understanding of business performance, team dynamics, market trends, and customer sentiment.
But our new friend can also exacerbate our tendency for cognitive laziness. Remember those mental shortcuts we take? In one shortcut, we overtrust answers from automated systems and dont pay attention to contradictory information, even if its correct. As AI tools become even smarter and slickerand answers are delivered in highly confident tonesthis automation bias can grow. The downside to all of this is the risk of losing ones own capacity for thinking, learning, and reasoning.
Guillaume Delacour, global head of people development at ABB, a technology leader in electrification and automation, spoke to us about the importance of critical thinking for leaders in the age of AI. One of the big benefits of AI is that it always has an answerbut this is also a major challenge,” he noted. “It can be too easy to accept the outcomes it generates. Good leaders have always needed critical thinking, but in our AI-enabled workplace, where every question has an instant answer, this skill is even more important.
Are You a Strong Thinker?
Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate situations objectively and make informed, well-reasoned decisions. It requires us to consider biases, question assumptions, and incorporate multiple perspectives. With critical thinking, its like your brain is doing a workout rather than just lounging on the couch. And, like a physical workout, critical thinking requires discipline, self-awareness, and effort. But the payoff is pretty significant.
We recently assessed 227 leaders on their level of critical thinking and divided the group into high and low critical thinkers. We assessed how well each group is likely to operate in the new world of AI, as well as their overall experience as a leader. The differences are striking.
Leaders Who Dont Think Will Struggle
In a world in which answers can come fast and easily, leaders who score low on critical thinking are at greater risk of letting machines do the thinking for them and becoming increasingly less sharp.
Low critical thinkers are 18% more likely to have confirmation bias than high critical thinkers. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or favor information that confirms our existing beliefs.
Low critical thinkers are 32% more likely to over-rely on gen AI for answers.
Low critical thinkers are 36% more likely to demonstrate cognitive failures. Cognitive failures are everyday lapses in memory or functioning during situations we normally are on top of, such as forgetting where you put the car keys.
Leaders Who Think Will Thrive
Strong critical thinkers have a protective shield against the threats of AI. Critical thinking balances the pull toward cognitive laziness and guards against our natural tendencies to accept and rely on what AI tells us. Moreover, these thinkers have a better experience as a leader.
High critical thinkers rate themselves 14% higher than low critical thinkers on their ability to perform well in their roles.
High critical thinkers rate themselves 13% higher than low critical thinkers on their ability to lead others effectively.
High critical thinkers rate themselves 10% higher than low critical thinkers on their ability to lead confidently into the future.
Additionally, high critical thinkers report 21% less burnout in their roles and 16% higher job satisfaction. In important ways, thinking can be a secret weapon for leaders, enabling them to be better at and happier in their jobs.
Strengthening Your Thinking Muscle
The encouraging news for leaders is that critical thinking is not a you have it, or you dont proposition. Each of us can be a critical thinker, but we need to intentionally rewire our relationship to thinking in order to cultivate this vital leadership skill. Here are a few things to try.
Think about your thinking. In the course of a day or week, try taking a mental step back to observe how you think. You could ask yourself questions such as:
What is a belief or assumption that I questioned?
Did I change my mind about something important?
Did I avoid any information because it challenged me?
Did I feel uncomfortable in any ambiguous situations?
The underlying skill you are practicing here is the ability to observe how you think and to discern what may be influencing your thoughts. Is there a past experience or possible bias that is playing a role? How much does stress or the need for speed factor in?
Practice why questions. When looking at a situation, ask yourself why it happened, why it matters, and/or why a particular conclusion was reached. This habit encourages second looks and slows us down to uncover underlying assumptions, potential biases, and hidden logic. This approach not only deepens our understanding but also tretches our ability to evaluate information from multiple perspectives.
Make AI your thinking partner. If we are not careful, our predisposition to cognitive laziness will drive us to pick the fast answers that come from AI models versus the deeper mental workout that comes from wrestling with complex ideas or considering underlying assumptions. But that doesnt mean AI cant play a role.
When used well, AI tools can be very effective critical thinking coaches, nudging us to consider new angles or refine our arguments. Always make sure you challenge AI by asking questions such as: How did you come up with that result? Why should I believe that what you are suggesting is correct? What questions should I ask to improve my critical thinking?
Bigger Comprehension
Thinking has always set humans apartsomething to be taught, mastered, and celebrated. In 1914, IBM founder Thomas J. Watson declared THINK as the mantra for the struggling machine organization, saying I dont think has cost the world millions of dollars.
We have arrived now at an incredible point when machines can think and learn in ways far surpassing human abilities. There are benefits to thisways in which AI can make us all smarter. The key is to stay alert and grounded in what is uniquely human: the ability to examine an answer with clarity, to grasp whats around and underneath it, and to connect it to a bigger comprehension of the world around us.
The biggest technology game changers dont always grab the biggest headlines. Two emerging AI developments may not go viral on TikTok or YouTube, but they represent an inflection point that could radically accelerate the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI). Thats AI that can function and learn like us.
Coming to our senses: WildFusion
As humans, we rely on all sorts of stimuli to navigate in the world, including our senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Until now, AI devices have been solely reliant on a single sensevisual impressions. Brand-new research from Duke University goes beyond reliance only on visual perception. Its called WildFusion, combining vision with touch and vibration.
The four-legged robot used by the research team includes microphones and tactile sensors in addition to the standard cameras commonly found in state-of-the-art robots. The WildFusion robot can use sound to assess the quality of a surface (dry leaves, wet sand) as well as pressure and resistance to calibrate its balance and stability. All of this data is gathered and combined or fused, into a single data representation that improves over time with experience. The research team plans enhance the robots capabilities by enabling it to gauge things like heat and humidity.
As the types of data used to interact with the environment become richer and more integrated, AI moves inexorably closer to true AGI.
Learning to learn
The second underreported AI technology game changer comes from researchers at the universities of Surrey and Hamburg. While still in the early stages of development, this breakthrough allows robots that interact socially with humans (social robots) to train themselves with minimal human intervention. It achieves this by replicating what humans would visually focus on in complex social situations.
For example, we learn over time as humans to look at a persons face when talking to them or to look at what they are pointing to rather than at their feet or off into space. But robots wont do that without being specifically trained. Until now, the training to refine behavior in robots was primarily reliant on constant human monitoring and supervision.
This new innovative approach uses robotic simulations to track, monitor, and importantly, improve the quality of the robot interactions with minimal human involvement. Robots learn social skills without constant human oversight. This marks an important step forward in the overall advancement of social robotics and could prove to be a huge AGI accelerator. Self-teaching AI could lead to advancements at an exponential rate, a prospect some of us view as thrilling, others as chilling.
AI signal over noise
Amazing as they may be to watch, dancing humanoid robots and mechanical dogs can be characterized as narrow AIAI designed only for a specific task or purpose. The feats of these purpose-built tools are impressive. But these two new developments advance how AI experiences the world and how it learns from those experiences. They will dramatically change how technology exists (and coexists with us) in the world.
Taken together, these breakthroughs and the work of other researchers and entrepreneurs along similar paths are resetting the trajectory and the timetable for achieving AGI. This could mark the tipping point that turns the slow march toward AGI into an all-out run.
Whether weather is always on your radar or merely a passing front of occasional interest, having an on-demand eye on the world around you is one of the most powerful slices of sorcery you can set your sights on today.
And this week, I want to introduce you to a worthwhile new weather app I recently encountered thats decidedly different from the others. It isnt meant to replace whatever weather app youre already using, whether thats the one that came preinstalled on your phone or another favorite youve found over time (maybe even one that serves up the forecast with a hilarious side of sass?).
Rather, it serves one super-specific purposeand serves it impressively well. And it might just be worth your while to keep around as a complement to whatever other weather wesource resource youre using.
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Your personal precipitation station
Most weather apps aim to do it allto be your one-stop spot for every manner of weather info you could possibly wonder about.
This weeks Cool Tool is more of a specialist. It does just one extremely specific weather-related thing, but good golly, does it do it well.
The app is called Precip. Any guesses about its purpose?
If you said it knits you sweaters whilst preparing delightfully steamy stews, (a) excellent guessbut (b) unfortunately, that isnt correct.
Precip, as perhaps mightve been your next guess following sweaters n stew, measures the rain and other precipitation around you.
It isnt offering up a forecast like most weather apps, in other words.
Its actually telling you how much moisture came down in any given areaover any time period you want.
And it lets you zoom into a narrow area for supremely detailed and precise info, too, even going down as far as to a specific address.
Precip shows you precise precipitation totals for any area you open.
Theres just one asterisk: Precips data is limited to the U.S. and Canada, at least for the time being. (Sorry, international pals!)
If youre in one of those areas, though, itll take you all of a single minute to start using:
For the best and most robust experience, youll want to snag the mobile appavailable on Android as well as on iOS.
You can also check rainfall totals by zip code on the Precip website, but you wont be able to zoom in any further to exact locations or to access any of the more advanced data.
In the apps, you can search by city, zip code, or street address, and you can see rain totals from the past 12, 24, or 48 hours. You can also save specific locations and then easily track their rain totals over time.
You can track rain totals from locations down to a specific street address.
Precip offers even more info as a part of its premium subscription, for 20 bucks a year and up. But the apps free version is plenty powerful, and odds are, itll be all you need. (That version also doesnt even seem to have any ads present, as far as Ive seen so far.)
Its like having your own personal rain gauge on the groundonly it exists entirely in your purse or pocket, all inside your favorite device.
Not too shabby, Id say.
Precip is available on the web in a limited form or in a native Android app and iOS app for a more complete experience.
Its free at its base level, with optional subscriptions starting at $20-a-year for a variety of extra abilities.
The apps do require you to sign in with an email address to use many of their features, but they dont require any other personal infoand the developers say they dont share any data with anyone.
Check out my free Cool Tools newsletter for even more useful software surprisesstarting with a standout audio app thatll tune up your days in some delightful ways.
