Something of a new era is starting for me today. It's not a seismic change, but a significant one on the Day Job^TM front. That change represents both a step back and a step forward; both good, in case you're wondering.

With that out of the way, let's get Monday started with these links:

How effective is fear as a teaching tool? How and what do we learn when we are scared? — Yeah, bullying and aggression, especially when the source is those with power or authority, really works to reinforce learning. At least if you want a cowed, submissive population or family.

From the article:

In response to threats and hostility, we learn to avoid challenge and comply with external rules (instead of wondering how systems can be improved). We protect our feelings and restrict our thoughts to what is safe.

Reclaiming the roads — I can hear the war on cars people screaming right now, but there's no valid reason motor vehicles can't share the road with other forms of non-motorized personal mobility. It's just a matter of will and adaptation. Hey, we did it before ...

From the article:

Cyclists and motorists of the late 1890s and early 1900s were not from separate tribes: They were often the exact same individuals. The ultraexclusive Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, which later added the Royal prefix to become the RAC, was founded in 1897 by cyclists. In 1904, many of its members, in their entries in a motoring annual, were still proudly displaying their love for cycling.

All the lonely people — What's loneliness, and what causes it? Turns out that, like many other things, the answer to that question has many facets and many layer which Norwegian writer Hilde Østby explores in her new book.

From the article:

City-dwelling people are lonelier despite being surrounded by other humans, and although social trust reduces loneliness the highly cohesive Japanese suffer high rates of it. Loneliness involves a deep and abiding sense of disconnection from others, but brief and shallow interactions with baristas have been shown to reduce it.

American Hindenburg — While I'm familiar with the story of the USS Akron, I didn't know all of the details. After reading this article, I'm kind of happy that that age of the airship ended when it did ...

From the article:

It’s difficult to overstate the impact of the Akron’s crash on the country. One historian referred to it as a “psychological knockout punch” sustained by a Depression-savaged public. President Roosevelt called it a “national tragedy.”