Lakelight Monthly GoodFinds
Articles
George Packer’s 2021 Four America’s article remains the most enlightening framework for grasping the underlying narratives that fuel our political polarization. (The Atlantic)
Chris Watkin from the Keller Center on the Christian roots of “speaking truth to power.”
10 lessons that Leadership guru Jim Collins learned from Peter Drucker
Ross Douthat explores whether the Cultural Left can be happy without God or history.
Non-violent Palestinian Christians are working for peace in the West Bank.
There was a “conspiracy of silence” surrounding Joe Biden’s cognitive decline.
Imagine a medical establishment which shrugged off the conclusions of a comprehensive report and continued providing the same unproven and life-altering treatment to young patients. This is where we are with gender medicine in the United States. (NYT)
“He’s like this dictator…But man, this catchy song is actually kind of good.”
That’s Jordan Daniels, a 31 year old Tik Toker who went viral from a propaganda song dedicated to Kim Jong Un.
Gavin Ortlund answers the question: “Is the Bible pro-slavery?”
“I’ve looked on with a kind of dismay as elite university dynamics have spread across national life and politics, making America worse in all sorts of ways.” That’s a snippet from David Brooks latest article “The Sins of The Educated Class.”
Best-selling Christian writer Randy Alcorn released a recent article “What You Read Builds Who You Are.” Check it out here.
Non-violent Palestinian Christians are working for peace in the West Bank.
Jean Twenge wrote another excellent article investigating how the mental health epidemic has affected various social groups.
30% of 5-7 year olds are on TikTok. Learn more about the long-term mental health outcomes in this graph-filled, data-driven article.
An expert in human happiness offers 5 lessons for lifelong joy here.
The Gospel Coalition published an excellent article addressing how to integrate Christian faith with mental health issues.
“They were doing what their leaders and teachers had instructed them was the right, the only, way to respond to a hurt.” That’s a quote from George Packer’s article on the recent college campus protests.
Neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff lists the 9 habits of curious minds here.
NYT columnist Ross Douthat cuts through the confusion around Christian Nationalism in this article.
NYU Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt urges parents to end the phone-based childhood in this article based on his new book.
Harvard Business Review’s Rebecca Knight offers 6 questions to ask yourself at the midpoint of your career.
Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant has some do’s and don’ts for your performance reviews here.
AI will induce a shift from a knowledge economy to an allocation economy, argues Dan Shipper in this essay.
Leadership expert Patrick Lencioni has identified 5 behaviors that characterize a cohesive team. Learn what they are and their unique power here.
All-time GoodFind: Robert Jenson’s essay “How The World Lost Its Story”
“You’re the new David Brooks.” - Mike Woodruff after reading Glenn Wishnew’s article published by The Gospel Coalition.
We want to raise resilient children. The Institute for Family Studies published an excellent article to help.
Working 9-to-5, apparently not a way for Gen-Z to make a living.
Many skeptics are reconsidering religion. Ross Douthat explores the phenomenon and offers some insights in this article.
More and more women are self-medicating with a full glass in hand. Why? This article offers data, and substantive reflection.
David Brooks’ excellent essay “How America got mean” argues that our society needs moral reformation. He’s right, and the gospel can supply it.
80% of Republicans believe that the Democratic agenda “if not stopped, will destroy America as we know it.” The Democrats feel the same about the Republican agenda, according to this WSJ article.
Netflix, Disney and more are reconsidering the value of Chief Diversity Officers.
Baseball’s rule changes in 2023 were a hit, maybe even a homerun.
Leaders share what Tim Keller taught them in this compilation of tributes. The list features articles in the Atlantic, New York Times, National Review, Washington Post, Fox News, CNN, New Yorker, and more.
Negativity in news media sells – so much so that “each additional negative word increased the click-through rate by 2.3%.”
The Millenials are this, the Millenials are that. They’ve heard it all. Jean Twenge, in this article from The Atlantic, shares the data to debunk the myths.
New research conducted by the Institute for Family Studies pushes back against a popular narrative that most parents are miserable.
Tim Keller thinks America is due for a revival. We agree. And apparently so do the students at Asbury University in Kentucky.
Thomas Chatterton Williams, a fellow at AEI, argues that identity politics divides and our society is in desperate need for a story which unites.
Arthur Brooks assures us in this article that workaholism can temporarily relieve negative emotions. But much like other -isms, those effects are short-lived and exacerbate the problem.
According to Tara Isabelle Burton, the infusion of therapeutic language into everyday life distorts both language and every day life.
After 10 years of dating apps, users — especially female ones — are unfulfilled according to this New York Times article.
Emily Bobrow, a secular Jew, wrote a profile on Pastor Tim Keller’s preaching in the Wall Street Journal, admitting she was “a little surprised at how compelling she found him.”
Studies & Links
While men make up slightly less than 50% of the US population, they now account for nearly 80% of all suicides. (source).
The % of Americans who say they are worried about losing their job if their political views became known, by education level (source):
High school or less: 25 percent
College degree: 34 percent
Postgraduate degree: 44 percent
When Title IX was introduced to promote gender equality in education in 1972, there was a 13 percent gap in the proportion of bachelor’s degrees going to men compared to women. By 2019, the gender gap in bachelor awards was 15 points wider than in 1972 — but the other way around.
54% of 18-year-olds in 2020 said they wanted to do their best in their job “even if this sometimes means working overtime.” By 2022, only 36% said that — an all-time low in the 46-year history of the survey.
The top 5 regrets that people share on their deathbeds (source):
“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”
“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”
“I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.”
“I wish I had let myself be happier.”
Between 2017 and 2023, the number of adults aged 18-29 in the U.S. with depression roughly doubled from 13% to 25%. (source).
40% of college students drop out, never earning a degree. (Study)
The median black American household earns more ($48,297) than the median UK household (£35,000 = $44,450).
Friends matter. Low social interaction was reported to be similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day and to being an alcoholic, more harmful than not exercising, and twice as harmful as obesity. (source).
78% of Gen Zers chose work-life balance as their definition of career success. Dead last was “advancing to a senior role,” at 40%. Learn more about Gen Z’s view of work in Handshake’s report.
Public speakers — stop trying to impress your audience. Educate them instead. That’s the gist of new research from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
People are overly optimistic about how much they can work later in life, a new study suggests.
Employees now work 20 to 30 hours less every week compared to the 19th century. (source)
The average American reads at a 7th grade reading level. (source)
220 billion dollars. That’s how much money has been bet on sports since 2018. (source)
People (including atheists) trust religious people more than the non-religious. (source).
Trust your kids and your grandparents. A new study suggests children and the elderly are the age groups least likely to deceive you.
In the history of the world, no society with democratic elections and free speech has ever experienced a famine. (source).
The US has the highest percentage of single-parent homes in the world.
Be nice to teachers. They’re more burned out than members of any other industry according to a 2022 Gallup Poll.
The earlier a child receives a smartphone, the worse their mental health as an adult. (study)
For the first time ever, television accounts for less than 50% of American viewing time. (source)
Married people are 30 percent happier than unmarried people, making marriage the most significant differentiating factor for happiness in a recent study.
Between 19-22% of Gen Z girls identify as bisexual, according to a study conducted by Jean Twenge.
Friends matter. 60% of the differences between individuals' happiness can be accounted for by the presence of quality friendships, according to a study from this article.
New research conducted by the Institute for Family Studies pushes back against a popular narrative that most parents are miserable.
Survey says: Business (62 percent) remains the most and only trusted institution globally. Business now holds a staggering 53-point lead over government in competence and is 30 points ahead on ethics.
Kids
In Madrid, there are more cats and dogs than children under 10.
In 2023, the total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman expects to have in her lifetime) was 1.62, the lowest on record and well below the replacement rate of 2.1.
A 2010 study showed that American adoptive parents were 30 percent more likely to prefer girls than boys and were willing to pay $16,000 more in finalization costs to ensure a daughter
It is estimated that 70% of wealthy families will lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% will lose it by the third. (source)
College Students & Free Speech
Sixty-three percent of college students believe professors should be required to make statements in support of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a condition of employment. (source)
Forty-six percent agree that opinions they find offensive from fellow students should be reported to administrators. (source)
For the first time in US history, people have decided that they want less education—because costs of learning now outweigh perceived benefits.
