Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, remains the best and most influential sci-fi movie of all time. Here's why.

Stanley Kubricks2001: A Space Odysseyis still the best and most important science fiction film of all time, and modern-day science fiction movies have yet to top whatthe director's 1968 release was able to do. Of course, there have been intelligent science fiction films released recently, includingEx Machina,Annihilation,Arrival,andBlade Runner 2049, and the genre has been popularized with multi-billion-dollar franchises likeStar WarsandStar Trek;even the MCU can be considered science fiction. But one would have to go all the way back to Fritz LangsMetropolis(1927), which is credited as the first science fiction film ever, to find a movie as daring, ground-breaking, and influential as2001: A Space Odyssey.

Written by Kubrick and famed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odysseys main plot begins with the discovery of a monolith on the moon, and upon investigation, a deafening radio signal is released. The story picks up later when Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are on a deep space mission to Jupiter, later revealed to be a further investigation ofthe monoliths lunar radio signal. The bulk of the films runtime includes Dave and Franks conflict with HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain), their ships malfunctioning artificial intelligence, which exhibits signs of self-awareness.

Related: Every Stanley Kubrick Movie Ranked, Worst To Best

A masterpiece of the science fiction genre, 2001: A Space Odyssey was groundbreaking in its exploration of complex themes, its prescience, and its visual language. Not only does it still hold up as a cerebral and visually stunning film, but it has since changed the genre, bifurcating science fiction films into two main categories, and even the best of recentyears has not approached what 2001: A Space Odyssey was able to accomplish.

When Kubrick approached Clarke about collaborating on 2001: A Space Odyssey, he said that he wanted to make a film about mans relationship to the universe. Its about as high-minded a concept as one can get, and its demonstrated in two main sections of the film. The prologue depicts what the film calls The Dawn of Man, which dramatizes a tribe of apes interacting with a monolith millions of years before the films main action. The visuals imply that the monolith bestows the apes with human-like intelligence the ability to reason and use tools which leads to humankinds eventual journey to space. Such an elemental question where do we come from? is answered in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The second deeply philosophical question explored in the film is what makes humans human? Through HAL 9000s self-awareness, the film wonders where the line of personhood is drawn. HAL demonstrates feelings of self-righteousness when his functionality is questioned, personal agency when conspiring against the crew members, and pain and fear when Dave is shutting him down or is that all just part of his programming? The singularity, or artificial intelligences self-awareness, has been a frequent subject of science fiction films, includingEx Machina, AI: Artificial Intelligence, and even The Terminator series, but it was first explored in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It is impossible to understate how forward-thinking this is. The first rudimentary AI was developed in 1955, so in 1968 the concept of AI was so new and cutting edge. Though films and television had depicted humanoid robots, including theone in Metropolis, consciousness in a disembodied computer was untrod territory in film. And considering that most Americans are walking around with a type of AI in their pockets - though not self-aware, of course - that 2001: A Space Odyssey predicted the ubiquity of artificial intelligence adds to the films prescient brilliance.

2001: A Space Odyssey was also a visually stunning film, easily winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It captures space realistically with slow, patient movements and the total absence of sound. In the climactic moments of the film, Dave goes through what is probably a wormhole (the film never directly states), which was once again a recent scientific theory, and the kaleidoscopic lights that fill the frame invented the visual language for wormholes that has been repeated in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Contact, and Interstellar, just to name a few.

2001: A Space Odyssey might feel dated now it has a sixties' version of futuristic production design and slowly paced sequences that arent as frenetic as most post-Star Wars space adventures but when it was released, it was truly a never-before-seen event that has influenced much of what came after it.

Related: 2020 Is The Best Year For Sci-Fi Movies In Ages

Since 1968 and 2001: A Space Odysseys release, there has been an explosion of science fiction on film. Broadly speaking, the genre has bifurcated into two general categories: realistic science fiction and fantasy science fiction. One shouldnt assume that there is more prestige in realistic science fiction than in fantasy. After all, at its best, the fantasy science fiction franchise Star Trek, which takes great liberties with the laws of physics, aims for resonant philosophical themes just as high-minded as 2001: A Space Odyssey's, and realistic science fiction like Ad Astra was a slog that failed to connect its ambitious premise with a cohesive plot.

In most cases, realistic science fiction utilizes 2001: A Space Odysseys visual and auditory language: outer space has no sound, and ships move deliberately. Many try to replicate 2001: A Space Odysseys philosophical themes:Ex Machina is about a sentient AI that turns dangerous and manipulative;Contact is about the search for meaning in a vast universe;Arrival takes seriously the interactions between humans and extraterrestrial visitors and plays with the very nature of time, just as the conclusion of 2001: A Space Odyssey does.

But its the subgenre of fantasy science fiction that has seen the largest growth, dominating the film marketplace in some years. The Star Wars franchise, the MCU, and Avatar are each in the top ten box office grossers of the past ten years, and the visual language and plotlines of these films are pastiches of other genres. In many ways, theyre space westerns, just as the original series of Star Trek was first pitched, and the battles between spaceships are airplane dog fights with laser beams instead of ammunition. Deep philosophical themes arent absent from fantasy science fiction: Avatar and Thor: Ragnarok are about the ethics of colonization;Event Horizon is a deeply existential film about humans place in an uncaring universe.

The sum effect of this glut of science fiction is twofold. First, the incredible popularity of fantasy science fiction has educated the masses about theoretical science. Theories in quantum physics like the multiverse and relativity and advancements in technology like artificial intelligence and deep space travel are almost ubiquitous in popular imagination. Second, speculative fiction allows audiences and creators to engage in the kinds of what if scenarios that other forms of drama dont tackle as well. Asking questions about the nature of personhood isnt confined to science fiction, but such questions can be more starkly dramatized when placed in otherworldly settings. As society catapults into a new, technologically dominated age, science fiction exists as both a warning and a goal. Will technology render humanity as helpless as the characters in Wall-E or usher in the utopia of Star Trek?

2001: A Space Odyssey remains the best science fiction film of all time. It is an engrossing, thought-provoking journey with surprises at every turn. Everything from the clever twist of HAL lip-reading Dave and Franks scheme to battle of wits between man and machine to the psychedelic visuals of the wormhole sequence makes watching 2001: A Space Odyssey a hypnotic feast. If it were released today, it would still attract a discerning audience.

But in the context of 1968, its truly extraordinary. Its difficult to name a recent film that has dramatized the effects of a technology only conceived of within the last two decades. Science fiction has always looked to breakthroughs in science for fodder for drama, but most recent films have been playing with questions debated in scientific communities during the early 20th century like AI and quantum relativity subjects that 2001: A Space Odyssey explored over fifty years ago.

Related: The Best Sci-Fi Movies On Disney+

2001: A Space Odyssey managed to be both cutting-edgeand iconic, a trend-setter and timeless. With its profound philosophical reach, its stunning visuals, and its prescience, Stanley Kubricks revolutionary science fiction opus not only inspired the crop of science fiction movies that followed it, 2001: A Space Odyssey remains the genres best.

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Jim is a Weekend Editor at Screen Rant, the film critic for WEHT/WTVW, and co-host of two podcasts on YouTube, Jim and Garret at the Movies and Deadly Analysis, which focuses on philosophy and horror films. He was educated at Miami (OH) University and Virginia Tech where he earned a Masters degree in English, and he has worked as an actor, writer, cook, accountant, paramedic, and English instructor. His tweet reviews can be found at jthunter13.

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Sci-Fi Movies Still Havent Topped 2001: A Space Odyssey - Screen Rant

BRISBANE, Australia (PRWEB) February 04, 2020

Readers are invited to follow one womans journey of self-discovery in Confessions of a Professional Overthinker (published by Balboa Press AU).

After developing a bout of anxiety and depression post the birth of her only child, Kristy Riggall an ex-nurse and behavioral science student decided to go on a search-and-destroy mission to overcome and heal what was internally ailing her. As she delved into her subconscious, she realized the answer laid in the scripts she had downloaded in childhood. Creating havoc in her adult life. By sharing this personal journey of understanding her chronic overthinking addiction, she hopes to assist others who are going through the same challenge.

One of the harmful facet of the mind is overthinking a symptom that Riggall believes causes disconnection and a battle between the subconscious and conscious minds. Often creating a cognitive dissonance. In Confessions of a Professional Overthinker, the author explains the source of overthinking and why people do it. Here, she sheds light on the root of anxiety and depression and encourages readers to isolate and consciously download the source of the internal stories through self-awareness.

Your subconscious mind is built in early childhood, the author explains. Events and situations leave marks or scars, leading to anxiety, depression and incessant mind chatter in adulthood. Overthinking is a source of control. Control leads to anxiety, perfectionism and fear of the future. She believes if you are willing to change the way you think and download new internal stories, your life could become amazing and everything you ever dreamed of.

Confessions of a Professional Overthinker shares simple, active steps on how to find peace and self-acceptance. It will assist readers in learning the art of balance, surrender, compassion and self-love. To get a copy, visit https://www.balboapress.com/en-au/bookstore/bookdetails/771717-confessions-of-a-professional-overthinker.

Confessions of a Professional Overthinker By Kristy Riggall Softcover | 6 x 9in | 180 pages | ISBN 9781504320313 E-Book | 180 pages | ISBN 9781504320320 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author Kristy Riggall is a former nurse and a final year commerce and behavioral sciences student at a university. Her work as a nurse spawned her desire to learn more about the human mind and body connection and to further learn about the reasons why people make the decisions they do and why.

Balboa Press Australia is a division of Hay House, Inc., a leading provider in publishing products that specialise in self-help and the mind, body and spirit genre. Through an alliance with the worldwide self-publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the Author Solutions self-publishing model. For more information or to start publishing today, visit balboapress.com.au/ or call 1800 050 315.

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Do you want to transform your chronic overthinking to inner peace? - PR Web

By Puja Gupta

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANSlife): What defines a brilliant child? Is it academic scores or inherited family traits? Surely, test scores can't be the only way to determine a childs ability. At one point in time, IQ was viewed as the primary determinant of growth and while it remains an important aspect of a childs development, parents today are increasingly realizing that teaching kids ways to manage their emotions and social behaviour is equally important in ensuring a childs overall well-being.

Young children are exposed to and struggle with many emotionally turbulent stimuli both inside and outside their homes; right from packed academic and extra-curricular schedules to class bullies. Yet, burdened by expectations, a child is expected to react to these stimuli within the boundaries of socially acceptable behaviour.

Kids get scolded by parents, teachers and relatives for throwing tantrums and being difficult, not realizing that these are often innocent acts which don't require judgements but a considerate, sustained intervention by caregivers to boost kids' Emotional Intelligence(EQ), helping them deal with their daily lives in a more healthy way, underlines Simon Jacob, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Toiing.

The good news is that this is very doable through coaching and even a fraction of the effort we put into developing academic excellence in children can help them grow into well-rounded individuals with a healthy attitude towards life, Jacob says.

Here are some tips shared by Jacob to nurture and develop EI (Emotional Intelligence) or EQ (Emotional Quotient) in kids:

Help them identify emotions:

No one notices and understands kids' unexpressed emotions and unstated needs better than parents. The way your child understands and manages their emotions can determine their outlook and personality. So your role here lies in helping them identify various emotions and navigate this complex world by having conversations around healthy ways to react to different situations. Let them comprehend and react to different feelings running in ways that suit their personality and help them find the best way to channelize & express their emotions.

Two-way communication:

Kids learn faster and develop holistically in an open, connected and trusted environment. They are able to identify, understand and exhibit their feelings freely. A two-way conversation opens doors to a healthier parent-child relationship, where the parents inspires confidence in their children. Parents need to talk to them with an open mind, and let them have a share of voice along with helping them distinguish between right and wrong.

Power of Play:

Play is incredibly important and allows kids to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity and emotional skills. Role play, storytelling, collaborative games and simple DIY activities such as labelling emotions can inculcate resilience, team spirit, improved communication skills and compassion for others.

Motivate and engage:

As a parent, it is important that we acknowledge our child's feelings and perspectives. This allows a child to express their feelings without the fear of judgement or admonishment, which in turn helps them familiarise themselves with different kinds of emotions. Encouraging them through active listening and by engaging with them actively in conversations around their behaviour can really help them increase their self-awareness and over a period of time, children learn to introspect and arrive at thought out decisions independently.

Emotionally intelligent kids are known to foster more meaningful relationships, have better mental health and are more likely to succeed as adults. It is about time we started treating emotional intelligence as a mainstream skill.

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Teaching emotional intelligence to kids - Daijiworld.com

Joaquin Phoenix targeted the British Academy Film Awards' embarrassing lack of diversity while accepting the Leading Actor award for his role in Joker a film that has been criticised for its depiction of white terrorism.

Acknowledging that the BAFTAs had been supportive of his career, this being his fourth nomination, Phoenix said he felt "conflicted" because non-white actors weren't afforded the same privilege.

"I think that we send a very clear message to people of colour that you're not welcome here," said Phoenix, who beat out fellow all-white nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Taron Egerton, and Jonathan Pryce.

Phoenix also acknowledged that he was "part of the problem", having failed to push for inclusivity in his own projects. Though he fell short of committing to visible, measurable steps to rectifying this, it at least indicated some self-awareness.

"I think that we really have to do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism. I think that it is the obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it. So that's on us," finished Phoenix as the room full of rich white people looked sad and applauded.

It's a good sentiment, but also one that's been repeated for years. It'd be nice if people actually started doing something.

Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi also gave a nod to Britain's historic racial issues in his acceptance speech for Adapted Screenplay. "Coming from the colonies, we know it's been a hard week for you guys. It's been very nice to take a little bit of your gold back home. Where it belongs."

Continued here:
Joaquin Phoenix and Taika Waititi reminded everyone about racism at the BAFTAs - Mashable SE Asia

Illustration by Rachel Wada

First Person is a daily personal piece submitted by readers. Have a story to tell? See our guidelines at tgam.ca/essayguide.

Dads been calling.

Usually he calls my brother, but, sometimes, the calls come in the night and even my brother gets to turn his phone off once in a while. Im awake, in my distant time zone, and I answer, honestly grateful for a chance to save my brother just one drop of this waterfall of misery.

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"Where's your mom?! I've looked all over the house, I can't find her anywhere."

Dad's pretty much deaf. Only yelling will be enough to move my answer across the ocean between us.

"MOM DIED, DAD."

How do stage actors project their voices with sombre and serious tones? I cannot. At high volumes, I can only sound angry or impossibly cheerful, like I'm running a morbid puppet show for children. And I only want to say it once, otherwise we will slip into a very dark Abbott and Costello routine.

"Oh."

Strangely, he doesnt usually crumble at the news. It's possible, at some cellular level, he already knows.

The news does awaken a tortured moment of self-awareness and, with it, some understandable panic. What the hell is wrong with me? This is hard. Theres no explanation he will understand and even if he could, nothing would help.

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You just need some sleep, Dad.

Did you come? This one, at least, is easy. Yes. I came, on a flight from Zurich, through Reykjavik, to Calgary. My brother, who still lives in Canada, has shouldered almost all of the burden of caring for our ailing parents. When I arrived, I was at least able to help a little draft an obituary, get the hospital bed out of the living room, sign some legal documents but mostly I sat with Dad.

Did we have a decent funeral for her at least? This one is trickier. We did not. Mom was quietly cremated; her ashes are in a pretty urn just down the hall from Dad. He probably saw her in his search of the house. This is the only time I nearly lie. I mean, whats the harm in letting him think we had a grand ceremony?

His initial request for a big funeral had surprised and terrified my brother and me. Funeral plans had never been discussed, and it had never occurred to us that Mom would have wanted something elaborate. After her own parents died, Mom had instructed my brother and I to bury their ashes in the backyard. We planted a tree on top, but it died. I dont suppose that counts as a decent funeral?

Mom and Dad were a vibrant couple. They had lots of wonderful friends. But hardly anything has survived their last couple decades of self-destruction. The idea that my brother and I would have to engage in a protracted pantomime, of pretending that any of this was normal, while also having to repeatedly explain the unexplainable to lots of concerned strangers, made me want to bolt.

No, Dad, we didnt.

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"Oh. I feel awful."

I know, Dad, its really sad, Im sorry.

"How did she die?"

This is the worst one. A dark and bitter part of me wants to say, she drank herself to death, but thats just pointless cruelty. And its not entirely true. Over decades, Mom catastrophically eroded her physical and mental health with a steady routine of smoking, drinking and barely eating. A particularly insidious feature of alcoholism is that with enough drinking, you can damage your brain to the point that even if you wanted to quit drinking, even if you had an utter and complete moment of clarity and saw God and fully and completely committed to treatment, you can forget all of this a few moments later while sipping your next whiskey.

Not that Mom, as far as I know, ever had doubts. She was righteous to the end.

She was, undeniably, a remarkable woman. She built and ran a successful accounting practice. As one of the very few women in her field when she started out, she must have experienced no end of sexism. She was so matter of fact and quietly talented about it, though, that when I was first introduced to the concept of unequal opportunities for women in school, I was genuinely confused.

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She was tiny and tough as nails. After breaking her thumb skiing, she wore the cast for a few weeks, but then decided enough was enough and convinced Dad to saw the cast off in our basement. (If youre wondering, I was an anxious and sensible child who found this incident flatly terrifying. The sight of a Dremel saw still makes me shiver.) Of course, she woke up in agony and had to go to the doctor and ask her to, pretty please, put the cast back on. I like to think she was sheepish, but, honestly, this is my mom Im talking about.

The last time I saw her, before she died, she was mad at me. I have no idea why, although her anger was quick and common. She glared at me from her hospital bed with alarming ferocity, as if nothing would have pleased her more than to see me incinerated on the spot. How could a five foot tall, bedridden woman, who weighed less than my 9-year-old still command such terror? I managed a cheerful goodbye and a hug before giving my legs permission to bolt.

None of this can be shouted into a phone in short phrases. She had been sick for long time, Dad! How does my brother get through these calls in his open-plan office?

Silence.

So, are you still coming to visit us for Christmas?

Dad Im so sorry, Mom isnt there anymore

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I know. I know shes gone. But it will always be us in my heart, I think.

Were still coming for Christmas, Dad. Were looking forward to it.

Great.

Silence.

Can we have ham for Christmas dinner? Your mom hated ham.

Paula Ramsay lives in Lucerne, Switzerland.

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Dad forgets Mom died, but sometimes thats a blessing - The Globe and Mail

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This time of year, many are establishing goals and plotting their course for the new year and the decade ahead. But in their quest for career growth, they may have ignored the one factor hiding in plain sight: how, where, and from whom they derive their energy.

Though it may seem inconsequential, your energy powers all that you do. When youve filled your tank with energy, that fuel helps propel you to leave your comfort zone and tackle new challenges. It gives you that extra boost to go after your dreams and persevere, even when the going gets tough.

Making career progress becomes exponentially more difficult when youre operating from a place of low energy. It negatively affects your mood, your drive, and can leave you feeling unmotivated and uninspired.

Knowing how, where, and from whom you obtain your energy can make the difference between a career that soars and one that stagnates. Heres how to identify your sources of positive energyand fix those that are notto create an environment of career success:

Tap into yourself-awarenessto home in on your feelings about where you spend your time, what youre doing, and with whom. Maybe youll notice that you seem to be more productive in a favorite coffee shop rather than in your cubicle. Or perhaps youll observe that you feel a sense of flow in creative activities but seem to dread repetitive or detail-oriented tasks. And you might be surprised to learn that you leave every conversation with a particular colleague feeling pumped up yet deflated after interacting with another. This can be especially important to note when youreempatheticand tend to absorb the energy of others.

We all have people, places, and activities that either bolster us or bog us down; its wise to get to know how each makes us feel.

Once youve gotten into the habit of payingattentionto the elements of your careerenvironment(which includes your friends, colleagues, location, patterns, and lifestyle), youll begin to see that they impact you far morefor better or for worsethan you realize.

Ask yourself these two questions to better assess if your career environment is helping you grow or holding you back:

Who is in my top five?

Jim Rohn famously said, Youre the average of the five people you spend time with.

Rohns assertion was rooted in the law of averages, which is the theory that the result of any given situation will be the average of all outcomes, and suggests that the five people youre around the most shape you.

Said another way, when youre trying to grow into the person you hope to be, its helpful to surround yourself with people who demonstrate those qualities you aspire to achieve.

Where do I hang out, and what do I do while there?

Its not just thewho, but also thewhat, that you surround yourself with that can either propel you forwardor hold you back.

Where are the top five places where you spend your time? For most, this includes an office and home base, as well as additional locales: commuting in your car or on the train; the gym or a bar; networking events or your sofa; walking through a park or surfing the internet.

Consider, too, your habits and lifestyle: are you intentionally placing yourself in situations and locations that spark growth? Or have you fallen (perhaps unconsciously, out of fear) into a stagnant comfort zone of the familiar but uninspiring?

Ideally, you want to surround yourself with those who inspire you, are passionate and enthusiastic, and are motivated, grateful, and open-minded. These people might include mentors from whom you can learn new skills, colleagues who cheer you on when you get discouraged, or friends who hold you accountable to your goals. Having positive, encouraging people who lift you up and support your dreams will dramatically improve your chances for career progress.

Conversely, if your environment contains negative people threatened by your choices, youll have a much harder time trying to make let alone maintainsignificant change. Make a point to eliminate (or significantly reduce the amount of time you spend with) energy vampires that suck the life right out of you, leaving you feeling empty and uninspired.

Likewise, no place or activity is inherently good or bad, but you should pay attention to how you feel while youre within those spots and doing those things, and note if that feeling changes when you leave them or stop doing them. Are you motivated or drained? If its the latter, and you want to make progress, somethings gotta give; itstime to make a change.

Real career growth happens when we understand whom and what energizes us and best supportswhat we want, and then align ourselves with those people and places that do.

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How To SpotAnd FixThe Most Overlooked Factor In Your Career Growth - Forbes

Here are a few 'tools' that you may want in your professional kit.

Not long ago, there wasnt much complexity involved in mapping an organisations structure. Organisations slid into ready templates as easily as a knife into a scabbard. With the increasing complexity of the business environment challenging them to be more agile, organisations now assume rather unusual shapes during their lifetime just to address emerging situations. What does this mean for employees? Kannan Hariharan, former senior director, human resources, PepsiCo India, who is now associated with social enterprises, says it means resilience and agility have become indispensable.

Kannan explains, Those are two abilities any employee would do well to carry into 2020. Companies are changing the way they do business. Organisations are changing the way they are structured. In this climate, an employee cant afford to be fixated on how they would want to work. Certain skills are required to work in a matrix organisation. Working in a global organisation will come with its own demands. New technology ushers in new ways of working. Resilience and agility are two abilities that are absolutely necessary to navigate this VUCA business environment.

Naresh Purushotham, co-founder, Crestcom India, believes that most professionals procrastinate over issues that are important because there is no need to deal with them immediately. They let things slide till they are forced to attend to it, and sometimes, they realise to their chagrin that they are well past the golden hour. In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey discussed the four quadrants of time management in the context of work that comes with varying degrees of urgency and importance. Quadrant I (urgent and important) and Quadrant III (urgent but not important) are where we expend most of our time, because they are external reminders pushing us to attend to them. Quadrant II (not urgent but important) is the most ignored, because usually, the motivation has to come from within.

Naresh gives two examples of how we fail to live in Quadrant II, professionally.

We may not ask ourselves How do I reinvent my leadership style? as we are not threatened in any manner, in the present. Let us take the question of performance appraisal. There is the option of making it proactive, by not waiting to do it only at the end of the year. Every quarter, managers can provide their team members with feedback about their performance in the previous quarter, and directions on how to work in the next quarter. Doing so allows team members to make course corrections. If a culture of informal performance appraisals is built into a team's functioning, there won't be any surprises at the end of the year.

Though workplace conflicts are commonplace, efforts to develop the skills necessary to resolve them are rare.

Vidhya Srinivasan, adjunct faculty and advisor, XIME Chennai, believes the ability to universalise the conflict so as to take the sting out of it, and listen empathetically can help defuse tension in the workplace, and make for a happy and engaged team.

Vidhya explains, Universalise conflicts by creating empathy about the issue. Conflicts often lead to burnout so being inquisitive, asking questions, listening deeply helps to keep the attention on the other person and focus on what is being said. Understanding another perspective builds trust and influence. One participant described how sharpening his empathic listening skills has enabled him to foster greater collaboration with his colleagues. His response de-escalated the conflict and led to a healthy, less stressful conversation.

A culture of learning can make an organisation competition-ready, as it can adapt to any changes that new market realities may impose on it. K.S. Raja Rajasekar, deputy general manager, human resources, KONE India, says organisations should seek to promote a culture of learning at every level of their workforce, even if it may sometimes mean welcoming the possibility of failure.

In learning, there is no hierarchical factor.

There are only two kinds of employees: the learner and the non-learner, who will be characterised by a progressive mindset and a fixed mindset respectively. Leadership competence is centred around humility, which is about the ability to learn from everyone, says Raja Rajasekar.

With the world shrinking considerably, working with distributed teams will become the norm. In such a working environment, employees will have to make sense of culturally diverse situations far too often, and respond appropriately.

If you are looking to add a super-strategic skill to your armoury in 2020, you just cant go wrong with cultural intelligence! We live in a world today that is not only incredibly diverse, but also one where our identity is linked to socio-cultural anchors. You can take me out of Chennai, but you can never take Madras out of me! The ability of individuals, teams and businesses to be mindful of the varying cultures around them and respond with understanding, respect and inclusiveness is what one would call cultural intelligence. How do we build this skill? Simple. Read up on people, habits, customs and traditions. Interact with people who are very different from you. Develop an attitude of acceptance, rather than tolerance. Add a dash of friendly humour and voila, you will display cultural intelligence!" says Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president, Avtar Group.

In this VUCA world, the speed of operations can be so intense that one day blends into another, with no distinguishable difference between the two. Self-awareness is one of the casualties in this situation. However, ironically in the VUCA world with challenges coming from many quarters, being self-aware becomes extremely important, especially in the context of leadership.

We have to practise pausitivity. When our work is punctuated with meaningful and purposeful pauses, there will be greater self-awareness. If employees are to be reflective, the output in their work will be higher, says Naresh.

Without the transformative power of a reflective mind, an experience will be just an experience: It cant turn into a lesson. Journaling can be a handy tool in a leaders or any professionals toolkit, as it can help them put their work in perspective and make necessary changes.

There is an increasing number of HR professionals who believe in technological tools that can help employees take care of themselves, and their organisations to assess individual performance on a daily basis. Shradha Puri, corporate head, human resources, Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic, says In todays fast-paced world, there are huge demands, especially on our time, and in the process of meeting them, we often neglect our health. A personal health app that monitors our physical and psychological well-being, by reminding us about the breaks we need to take during a work-day, will be a great workplace ally to have. In our organisation, we are in talks with those who can make such an app for our organisation. Our interest in such an app is driven by our awareness of the benefits resulting from using a customised resource-management app that has been tracking employees daily productivity levels.

Artificial Intelligence tools can study continuous engagement of employees through a method that cuts out a laborious and boring feedback and processing mechanism, says Poonam Sharma, global organisation development head, Alkem Laboratories Ltd. The cloud-based AI tool can be put in employees mobiles and laptops. It will call the employee for feedback, and if the employee specifies a different time, it will call back then. Having an analysis done on the basis of the feedback is easier. Using some cloud-based tools will help the analyst arrive at the right picture. One doesnt have to sit on an Excel sheet, says Poonam.

It should all begin with a career map marked by actionable steps, between the dream and the destination, says R. Sridhar, founder, IDEAS-RS, and this is how he explains it: There are three questions one has to ask. One, what would I like happening in my career in 2020? Two, what is currently happening in that context? Three, what should I change or what should I do differently, do more of, or less of, to get where I want. Anybody can do this. It will give a roadmap to 2020. Everybody has a dream, but most of them dont do anything about it. They had a dream in 2019 and in 2020, it remains a dream. They start and stop with the dream, and they don't follow the next steps.

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Nine things every professional would need in 2020 - The Hindu

Aaron Judge has had the best selling jersey in baseball for three straight seasons. Mike Trout is the most talented player most of us have ever seen. Juan Soto had a star-making World Series run with the Nationals. Baseball is flush with dynamic, exciting players, and yet the biggest star of them all may be budding in the Bronx.

Over the past two winters, Gerrit Cole has come into his own, both as a pitcher and a really famous one. His signing with the New York Yankees, the most recognizable and successful brand in North American sports, straps a rocket to his own brand and, in my view, catapults him into the conversation for the biggest superstar in the game.

There are a few qualities that go into making a star player, and the first is on-field performance. Cole has that in spades, redefining what a dominant pitcher looks like in this era of baseball. A sizable contract is more of a signal of a star than an inherent quality, but Coles got that too.

There also needs to be a certain chip on a guys shoulder, to engender the kind of emotional reaction fans need to rally behind, or in opposition to, a star player - Judge playing New York, New York in Boston during the ALDS or Juan Sotos shimmy in the box, that sort of thing. Cole made headlines after the World Series by sporting a Boras Corp hat rather than the conventional Astros cap, the exact type of flash that inspires praise and silly condemnation in response, a crucial element of stardom.

The last ingredient in a star is a certain level of self-awareness. Stars know theyre stars - its impossible to not be aware youre one of the absolute best at your job, or to not see your jersey worn by thousands at a stadium. Yet self-awareness is often the most difficult tool for a star to fashion; and often is the difference between stars and villains. Derek Jeter and David Ortiz were incredibly self-aware as players, while Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds werent. The differences in perception between these players, despite the villains being objectively better baseball players, boils down in a lot of ways to that level of self-awareness.

I think thats what struck me most about learning more about Gerrit Cole; he genuinely seems to understand himself as a person and how he fits in the wider spectrum of baseball. This is a guy who bet on himself by telegraphing he wouldnt sign after being drafted out of high school, who went to the Houston Astros with eyes and mind wide open to changing, and talks about the game in a way that few players do:

Coles helped out a lot by his particular role in baseball. Starting pitchers are often the main character of a baseball game, dominating the pregame conversations, the focus of almost every camera closeup, and a pitchers performance will often dictate how we talk about the results of a game. Position players may play every day, but as weve seen with Mike Trout, the best of them all may only touch the ball once a game. Great starters have always been a vehicle to drive the conversations around baseball, and Coles no exception.

I said before, both on these pages and in private, that acquiring Cole has been my favorite Yankee move in ages, even more than Giancarlo Stanton. Theres nobody better in the game right now, and nobody that better suits what the Yankees need. Theres also nobody better fitted to become the biggest star in baseball - Cole perfectly balances on-field dominance with the behavior fans gravitate toward. My expectations for him are sky-high, and I cant believe were so far from spring training.

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Gerrit Cole is poised to become baseballs biggest star with the Yankees - Pinstripe Alley

The "Couch Dance"

In Jagged Little Pill, she's a member of the incredibly dancy chorus, though she's featured prominently in Act II's "couch dance," in which Lang embodies Elizabeth Stanley's Mary Jane, a seemingly perfect Connecticut mother and wife, who's consumed by her addiction to prescription pills. In the scene, she overdoses on opioids in her home. That's when Lang appears from behind the couch wearing Mary Jane's same black pants and denim shirt. Set to Morissette's haunting "Uninvited," Lang's limp body slides along, around and off the couch, sometimes interacting with Mary Jane who is eventually found unconscious on the floor.

Lang, who's in her mid-30s, describes the movement as "liquid, falling, release" and "a full surrender." Her mastery of the scene becomes all the more impressive when you learn that she had a hip replacement nine month ago. "That sort of fluidity, and with my background, age and experience, it's where I feel most comfortable," says Lang. "The show's more hard-hitting and get-your-legs-up stuff, which I used to be so good at in my 20s, is harder."

Shape-Shifting Throughout the Show

How does she shift between such different modes of dancing, and tap into the headspace of Mary Jane, as well as another character, a teen named Bella who's dealing with sexual trauma? "I track both of those characters through the show. You'll notice little parts where I'm standing behind Mary Jane. That gives me information that then serves me later."

Lang also credits her study of acting for helping her to connect with a difficult emotion quickly. "That's a practice and something I've really worked on. There are little things that help me: The chord progression in 'Uninvited' is so damn spooky. Every night I hear that, I have imagery, an inner landscape going on. And the minute that I look at Mary Jane, I enter that space, like, 'Boom. I'm here.'

"That's what's so exciting about being a dancer. You're able to mold and meld like you're a shape-shifter. There's so much joy in that."

But now, Lang is a mother who plays a mother in the "couch dance." "Being a mom is so deeply profound," she says. "All I know is I want to give any character I play, but especially MJ, as much complexity as possible. Being a mom is so layered. It's beautiful, powerful, life-changing, challenging, grueling, not valued, sometimes disgusting, magical, ambivalent, boring, beyond fun. It's all the things!"

As for what's next in Lang's career, she says, "I try not to get too boxed in. We love labels in our culture, but I think most dancers are actually quite versatile. We have the capacity to do all kinds of things, and I have to be honest: I just love dance. I love performing."

She hopes to bring Cherkaoui and Paulus' spirit of rigor and generosity to her own work. "I want to continue to create that environment for others."

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This Dancer Is Training the Corporate World How to Move - Dance Magazine

Editor:

I like and admire Greta Thunberg. I'm also worried about her future.

Greta is a bright and well-spoken 16 year-old girl, with documented behavioral and cognitive challenges that register on the autism scale. She meets these disadvantages with dignity and self-awareness. I consider her a victor over adversity, and a champion for others like her.

So why should I worry about her? Because I see her being fed into what I call the "Celebrity Meatgrinder."

I don't know who's handling her, coaching her, or holding her out of school. I don't know who made the decision to send her on a 15-day, 3,500 nautical-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean through rough seas - in an open sailboat with no kitchen, shower or toilet - to attend a scientific conference and be feted like a Kardashian. I strongly suspect some people are profiting off her notoriety. Further, I doubt that her long-term interests are being served by people and groups promoting their political and/or showbiz agendas through her.

Few people - and fewer children - escape happy or whole from the "Celebrity Meatgrinder." We know how it works; they build you up, then tear you down. It starts with red carpets and magazine covers (she is now Time Magazine's 2019 "Person of the Year"), then ends with tabloids, court cases and "where are they now?"

Maybe I'm worrying over nothing. Perhaps young Greta, for all the hurdles she faces, really is the one calling the shots - a pint-sized cross between Svengali and Machiavelli. Maybe she's writing the speeches, managing the media, arranging the travel, setting up the press conferences and interviews, and leading the negotiations with book publishers.

Instead, I fear she is being used as a stage prop - a willing but perhaps too-trusting pawn in a dangerous game she may not fully understand. If so, I truly pity her manipulators.

If she wants it, I hope Greta Thunberg regains her chance to be a child, before she faces adulthood as a faded sideshow attraction.

David Christovich, Woodstock

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Letter to the Editor: Concerning Greta Thunberg | Nvdaily | nvdaily.com - Northern Virginia Daily