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If you have ever found yourself believing that humans only use 10 percent of their brain, that vitamin C cures a cold or that eating carrots improves eyesight, you have experienced the persuasive impact of repetition.[1]

The reality is that none of statements above are true, but we have each heard them so many times throughout our lives that we naturally come to believe that they must be. This is something referred to as the “illusory truth effect.”

Politicians and marketers know well that if we hear something long enough and repeated often enough, we are likely to believe it to be true. The reason repetition is so effective is that it plays to the two variables by which we assess whether something is true or not: whether the information concurs with our understanding; and whether it feels familiar.

In a world of increasing polarisation, empathy stands out as a virtue that restores humanity to conversations and is persuasively powerful enough to change even the firmest of opinions. But, few things evoke empathy as poignantly as first-hand experience.

I vividly remember a simulated experience that forever changed my perspective on the plight of refugees. A few years ago, my family and I spent a few weeks volunteering at an aid agency in Hong Kong called Crossroads. While Crossroads’ core work is the shipment of essential aid and materials to impoverished people around the globe, they also have a commitment to education and community engagement.

Are you remembering things correctly? What do you do when you know something you can’t quite recall? What if our memories have evolved over time? What if we are in fact imagining that we have a memory that in fact does not exist?

What does it take to change a mind? This question has garnered much attention in recent years. Shifting the beliefs and behaviour of an individual and group has only grown as a priority in the minds of many, as politics becomes more polarised and opinions more opposed.

Some persuasion practitioners have sought to create formulas or frameworks for doing so. Take Blair Warren’s one-sentence persuasion approach which promises to capture the secret of meaningful influence in a single 27-word sentence:

You’ve likely read the headlines regarding how many million jobs will be taken by robots, or what percentage of professions will disappear in the coming years. While some of these predictions are deliberately crafted for dramatic effect, they may well be close to the mark.

The most thorough and widely reported research looking at the potential of automation-led job losses in the coming years was conducted by researchers at Oxford University. These researchers found that as many as 47% of total United States employment had a ‘high risk of computerisation’ by the early 2030s[1] — more than 64 million jobs in all.[2]

Recent years have seen cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Etherium attract enormous attention and fascination. Blockchain technology is complex, but the idea is simple. For the uninitiated or unaware, blockchain is a global distributed ledger or database running on millions of devices and open to anyone. On the blockchain, trust is established not by traditional intermediaries like banks, governments or technology companies, but through mass collaboration and clever code. Blockchains radically improve transparency thus ensuring integrity and trust between strangers.[1]

As it gains more and more traction among individuals and investors, it is influencing real world money in significant ways.

Here are 3 ways blockchain is impacting our money.

The last couple of years have seen the entry of the next generation into the workforce. Gen Zs are a unique group – fiercely ambitious, values-driven and highly attuned to the digital world. Workplaces are increasingly needing to adjust to the new set of employee needs, interests and working styles that has arrived with this generation.

If you are hiring Gen Zs, here are 2 key attributes you need to know…

The last couple of years have seen the sharp rise of a very welcome idea: working less. With trends like working from home and the Great Resignation, our collective mentality towards work has undergone significant change. One of the ways we are now seeing this manifest is in the four-day workweek, which is increasingly looking like it’s here to stay.

Many of us assume the idea of a Monday to Friday working week is something that humans have always done – that it reflects some unspoken law about how the nature of work should be. And yet the notion of working five days per week is actually a relatively new concept. In fact, it was stonemasons in Melbourne, Australia, who were the first to achieve an eight-hour, five-day workweek back in 1856.

In years past, flying cars were the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. Developments of the last decade, however, are seeing the reality of this vision edge closer and closer. Unlike the fantasy and luxury imagined in our previous visions, the future of our driving cars serves practical purposes – cutting down commute times, enhancing efficiency and enabling contactless transactions.  

Albert Einstein once suggested that if he had an hour to solve a problem and his life depended on it, he’d spend the first 55 minutes determining the best question to ask. ‘For once I know the proper question,’ he said, ‘I could solve the problem in less than 5 minutes.’[1]

Good questions yield good answers. As pointed out by one of histories greatest geniuses, problem solving is largely dependent on the ability to ask the right questions. But beyond problem solving, good questions are irreplaceable tools in the art of persuasion. Where we are most inclined to bolster our own arguments, ideas or products with supporting facts, stats and data, often the best move is to ask a good question.