On a long flight from New York, I recently rewatched the original Star Wars  movie, first released in 1977. Not having seen the film in many years, I delighted anew in the banter between R2-D2 and C-3PO as they venture around the galaxy. It occurred to me as I was laughing that the movie portrays two visions of technology: one in which technology serves human beings in pursuit of a good end, and another in which technology subsumes human beings into itself.  R2-D2 and C-3PO r

Formality is often equated with discomfort in a consumerist society. Jennifer L. Scott was astonished to find the opposite during her time as an exchange student in France. She arrived at her host family’s Paris apartment with habits of sloppy dress and casual snacking, only to discover a deeper joy in the heightened formality and discipline practiced by her host family. This experience changed Scott’s life. The “Chic” family, as she nicknames them, lived in a small apartment

Atomic Habits is a book packed with wonder. How can something as ordinary as a habit have explosive potential? Who would think tiny changes could yield remarkable results? It's a mystery worth unraveling, and James Clear helps us do it. Clear relates stories of people whose small habits, applied over time, produce astonishing results. One of the more striking examples is his account of the British cycling team, which in 2003 had won almost no major international competitions