Wonderbringers Newsletter with Monica Parker
View this email in your browser
Hello wonderseekers!
F
TIME magazine has chosen their kid of the year. 15-year-old Heman Bekele developed a soap that can prevent and possibly reverse early-stage skin cancer. In his profile for TIME he made a profound point:
“Anybody could do what I did,” he says. “I just came up with an idea. I worked towards that idea, and I was able to bring it to life.” But he confesses that he worries too: scientific breakthroughs seem to be coming faster and faster—in medicine, in engineering, in artificial intelligence—and he frets that people may have reached something of a saturation point.
“A lot of people have this mindset that everything’s been done, there’s nothing left for me to do,” he says. “To anybody having that thought, [I’d say] we’ll never run out of ideas in this world. Just keep inventing. Keep thinking of new ways to improve our world and keep making it a better place.”
There’s an urban myth that back in 1899, U.S. Commissioner of Patents Charles H. Duell declared that everything that could be invented had been invented and therefore, the patent office should be closed. It turns out this is apocryphal, but the notion is still quite interesting. Why do we limit our belief in what is possible?
Some wonderbringers for me this week:
The power of sound in activism: Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon on the tremendous power of communal singing, from a 1991 PBS special with Bill Moyers.
Sound healing: A psychologist explores the healing power of ‘sound baths’
Science Friday Podcast: Could light and sound therapy treat Alzheimer’s?
I shared last week that I’m always trying to improve the newsletter to make it better for you, so I have a single-question survey you can find here. Your feedback would be so appreciated! Also, I finally included video captions for greater accessibility. I hope you find those helpful.
Thank you to everyone who is part of the Wonderbringer community!
With wonder,
Follow Me
Copyright ©*|CURRENT_YEAR|* Monica C. Parker. All rights reserved.
Want to unsubscribe? That’s ok! We’re sad to see you go, but you’ll still be a part of our Wonderbringer community in spirit.
Mailing address:
10 Colosseum Terrace
London, UK NW1 4EB