Culture 101 (#13)

Die Hardly Working.

Compliment Machine. A compliment machine has been installed in Los Angeles as part of an art exhibit. To passers-by, it says things like this:

• “You are awesome.”
• “You are a great driver.”
• “People are drawn to your positive energy.”
• “You have a nice voice.”

(Via the Stand To Reason Blog.)

Brainstorming Virtually. This is the most interesting thing I read this week. Brainstorming works better when people generate their ideas individually than when they brainstorm as a “real group.” From The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson (as reported by blog.pmarca.com):

Of the 25 reported experiments by psychologists all over the world, real groups have never once been shown to be more productive than virtual groups. In fact, real groups that engage in brainstorming consistently generate about half the number of ideas they would have produced if the group’s individuals had [worked] alone.

In addition, in the studies where the quality of ideas was measured, researchers found that the total number of good ideas was much higher in virtual groups than in real groups.

Why do I find this so significant? Getting people together is hard. But if we only need to generate ideas, people can be asked to brainstorm when they have time and forward the ideas to the facilitator–and we’ll get better ideas than if we got together anyway.

ACLU Creates Comic Book to Reach Youth. An ACLU email received by the blogger YPulse announces that a comic book called “Defenders of Freedom” will feature a story about a racist police officer. The ACLU email says,

Part of an ongoing effort to reach a new audience of young people, Defenders of Freedom will be distributed…in digital format…. [It] will also be handed out via “guerilla marketing” street teams in seven U.S. cities (Philadelphia, PA; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Madison, WI, and Columbus, OH) and the ACLU is distributing print copies to its members…to read and share with youth….

Tips from Non-Religious Guy. David Foster, speaking as “non-religious guy,” has 17 tips for churches. Here are four:

2. I’m very observant. I’m picking up both verbal and non-verbal communication. Help me make sure this is a safe place where I won’t have to reveal too much of myself until I am ready.
5. When I sit down in the service I want to be able to sit where I choose, and if at all possible, let me sit near the back and near the aisle.
13. On that note, don’t be afraid to talk about Jesus. I’ve been to churches where they’ve talked around him.
15. While I don’t quite understand how long this talk should be taking, please don’t make it any longer than it has to be. I’ll get used to it after awhile, but initially, I get distracted.

The World Is Different Now. “1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. in 2005 met online,” according to ChurchRelevance.com. “Culture is changing. Does your church know how to handle change?”

Top-Notch Methodist Theologian Praised. Fred Sanders praises William Burt Pope (1822-1903), “a great British Methodist theologian.” “In fact,” Sanders writes, “I am coming to believe that he was the greatest doctrinal theologian ever to take up the task of teaching Christian theology from the point of view of the Wesleyan revival movement.”

“There Is No Truth.” That statement is self-refuting. Do you know why? A lot of American teenagers don’t.