【推荐2】The secrets of dreaming are always interesting psychologists. It is generally acknowledged in the field that dreams people have during this time between childhood and full adulthood, that’s around 30, are the strongest and most influential. Yet not enough is known about the repeated patterns of dreaming. Researchers are still trying to answer a basic question: How does dreaming relate to the life experiences and developmental challenges?

G. William Domhoff and Adam Schneider, at the University of California, help to answer this question by examining the lengthy dream series of two individuals, “Izzy” and “Jasmine”. Izzy provided a collection of 4, 329 dream reports from between the ages of 12 and 25, while Jasmine provided 664 dreams recorded between the ages of 14 and 25.

Large collections of dreams like these pose challenges to researchers. Until recently, the means of studying dream series was to employ a team of recorders who take the time to code each dream for a predetermined(预先确定的)number of content categories, and then compare their results. Nowadays, digital technologies enable the analysis of language usage in dreams with high speed, accuracy, and objectivity. This marks a revolutionary advance in the science of dreaming. However, it can only lead so far.

To gain more specific and detailed insights, Domhoff and Schneider tailored word strings(词串)for each dreamer, mixing elements of traditional research with digital tools for analyzing large data sets. For Izzy these word strings included “family and relatives”, “celebrities” and “fantasy”, while the word strings they created for Jasmine included “familiar places,” electrical equipment” and “music”. The researchers used these word strings to identify connections between their dreams and real lives. Surprisingly, the results of the analysis revealed a great deal of consistency(一致性)and continuity in both sets of dreams. Izzy pays much attention to pop culture, and has affection for famous actors. Jasmine is an accomplished musician and performer.

“The frequencies of dream elements show the intensity(强度)of the dreamer’s personal concern with that element in waking thought,” Domhoff and Schneider conclude. For anyone who still claims dreaming is merely random nonsense from the brain and mental world, these findings are hard to explain away.

【推荐3】Owls are so famous for their nighttime activities that the phrase “night owl” is used to describe people who stay up late.     1    . That’s because some owls are active daytime hunters. During the daytime, the northern hawk owl and the northern pygmy owl are hunting for meals, making them diurnal—that is, active during the daytime. Moreover, it’s not uncommon to spot a snowy owl or burrowing owl during the day, depending on the season and food availability. Still others hunt during both the day and night, as well as daybreak and nightfall.

    2    . For instance, the northern pygmy owl has a preference for songbirds, which are awake during the day. The northern hawk owl, which hunts during the day, as well as at day-break and nightfall, eats small birds and other diurnal animals.

As the northern hawk owl’s name implies, it looks quite hawkish.     3    . However, it’s unclear whether the common ancestor they shared was diurnal, like the hawk, or nocturnal—that is, active at night, like most owls.

However, nocturnal owls certainly get advantages from their nighttime activities.     4    , both of which help them excel at nighttime hunting. Besides, the cover of darkness helps nocturnal owls avoid predators, as well as attack prey, principally because their feathers hardly make any noise when they fly.

Whether owls are nocturnal or diurnal, experts credit their success to the birds’ flexibility and adaptability. “Some hunt specific prey at a specific time, day or night.     5    ,” an expert said.

【推荐3】Teachers are one of the professions least at risk of being automated. A job that requires emotional intelligence and flexibility — in adapting lesson plans on the fly to a particular group of children, for example — is not one particularly well-suited to robots.

Artificial intelligence (AI), however, still deserves a role in the classroom. This is not as a replacement for teachers, but as a tool or an assistant that can aid them both in trying to close the gap in achievement between the rich and the poor and in making up for lost teaching time, for instance.

The principle of machine learning is to enhance humans’ existing capacities. The best AI apps promise to improve teachers’ knowledge of what their students need, how best they deliver the teaching, and which students require the most help — from a human teacher — to keep up with their learning. Besides, poor and unequal schooling, leaving too many children behind, is one of the deepest roots of inequality and low productivity. If AI can help target existing teaching resources better, the benefits could be incalculable.

Therefore, smart policy is urgent. There must be a focus on the teaching philosophy behind the programs, as well as ensuring that any decisions made by machine learning are under human control. In education, choices made by AI could set a direction for the rest of a child’s life.

These may be common concerns about AI, but education is particularly sensitive — especially the ownership and control of any data generated through the platforms. Schools, too, will need to prevent teachers, who already have plenty of responsibilities, from also having to keep up to date with thousands of apps. AI belongs in the classroom only so long as it enhances the humankind.

【推荐2】“Hi, how are ya,” some people say when they see a familiar face. The words run together into a mass, all sense and meaning lost. All the same, people do care how you are. After they greet you, it’s likely you will greet them back, with an equally meaningless phrase like, “Can’t complain, can’t complain.” You could probably complain, at length, or share a brilliant thought you were just beginning when a greeting interrupted you. You don’t though, you say, “Great, you?”

You are not giving each other information about your health and well-being. All the same, you are sharing information. You’re acknowledging each other’s positions as acknowledged friends, or at least as accepted acquaintances. And you are reestablishing the ties that may have lapsed since yesterday.

It’s what anthropologist Bronislaw Malinoski called a phatic communication. Its message is not in the words you use, but in the fact that you speak ritually accepted words. In Asia, for example, people may ask one another if they have eaten, or if they are busy. They’re not really asking for their lunch menu or their agenda, they are saying hello. A phatic signal says hi.

There’s embarrassment of being near people without acknowledging them. That uncomfortable feeling is one reason why lonely passengers in the subway may behave as if they cannot see anyone around them or may escape their uncomfortable situation with a book. Some people read all the way home, and never turn a page.

Your friend isn’t asking how you are, and you aren’t telling him. However, he is recognizing your existence, and when you answer, you are recognizing his. In addition, the set speech you have shared opens the door to closer communications if both agree. Someday, you may come to real close friendship, and really tell one another how you are.

Meanwhile, people who greet one another this way do care. They care enough to recognize someone’s essential humanity. They send a signal across the space between, to share, very briefly and lightly, in awareness of one another.

Your greetings prove that neither of you has become a social outcast. How are you? You are still a member of society in good status. You are still the one who knows the rituals necessary to get to work each day.

【推荐3】Anyone who has visited Europe will have noticed its coffee culture. A good example of this is the type of cup you’re given after ordering a coffee.

Order a coffee in any café in America and you’re almost sure to receive that coffee in a paper cup. Americans like getting their coffee to go. Whether they are on their way to school, work, or simply taking a walk through the city, many of them often take their coffee with them.

Order a coffee in any European café and you’re sure to get that coffee in a ceramic (陶瓷的) cup with a package of sugar (and possibly a cup of water and a chocolate, depending on where you are). Many cafes only offer paper cups for special occasions when more people than chairs are expected.

Europeans generally don’t have coffee “to go” since they consider coffee drinking to be more of a social activity. If you go to a café in Europe, you will find that people drink their coffee with ease. Some have conversations while others read the daily newspaper.

Most American coffee shops provide a broad range of choices that satisfy different customers (顾客). In Europe, you aren’t given as many choices because locals are all about several basics.

Waiters in the U.S. are careful to keep a close eye on their tables to provide quality service. Travelers will be surprised to find European waiters a little less attentive. If you want something, you have to flag down your waiter. It doesn’t mean that European waiters are impolite; it’s quite the opposite. They are simply giving you space to enjoy your meal. Americans often pay attention to good service, while Europeans pay attention to the social aspect of the meal.