Sure happiness is great, but what about groundbreaking yet tortured artists and unhappy but principled workaholic reformers? And is the theory of positive psychology fodder for governments to make citizens responsible for their own happiness despite material deficiencies? Tal Ben Shahar, author of Happier, takes on these arguments!

Malcolm Gladwell argues that embracing intellectual messiness goes against our instincts and training as educated people, but writers and artists should accept and understand it as crucial to the creative process. Via bigthink & Len Kendall

Technology is evolving us, says Amber Case, as we become a screen-staring, button-clicking new version of homo sapiens. We now rely on “external brains” (cell phones and computers) to communicate, remember, even live out secondary lives. But will these machines ultimately connect or conquer us? A fascinating Ted Talk