Not all words are created equal — In 2010, a viral article exposed how Jane Austen’s rough drafts were shockingly crude. Blots, crossing outs, and blatant grammatical errors made commentators question whether she had mastered the English language. As news spread through the writing community, authors everywhere reminded each other to begin with shitty first drafts. But…

To see a democracy that actually works, look no further than the nearest beehive — Sometimes, a beehive becomes so overcrowded it must split in half. Worker bees will pick an infant and begin feeding it a generous serving of royal jelly until it develops into a second queen. Once the new queen is ready for duty, half of the colony will set out to…

If you’re out of ideas, you’re probably suffering from a Western mindset — In 1950, columnists across America ridiculed psychologist Edmund Bergler for his latest theory — something he called “writer’s block.” The editor of the New York World-Telegram insisted writer’s block was nothing more than “curious absent-mindedness.” A columnist for The Daily Mirror called it an excuse for laziness. …

Marketers use a clever tactic to influence your behavior — but there’s a catch — One of the most subtle methods advertisers use to influence their target audience is by employing words so deliciously smooth you can’t resist saying them. Google, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Apple, Facebook. Did you notice how your tongue and teeth made tiny movements just now? …

Be wary of top writers who have no incentive to help newcomers climb the ladder — Switzerland boasts 889 Nobel prizewinners — an impressive number for a country with just eight million people. Meanwhile, thirteen of China’s 1.4 billion citizens have a Nobel prize. Dr. Franz H. Messerli from Columbia University began investigating this discrepancy and discovered that in countries with the most Nobel prizes, the…

The first rule of marketing: Don’t — Oobah Butler had a nontraditional side hustle. For $13, he’d write fake reviews for restaurants on TripAdvisor. Many of these businesses had been destroyed by a few disgruntled customers. Butler would write several reviews and publish them slowly. Within a few weeks, their ratings would recover. One day, Butler had…

Wouldn’t it be nice to get discovered without working impossibly hard? There’s a catch — In 1988, first-time author Joe Simpson landed a contract with Random House. He was ecstatic — until the book performed so poorly everyone soon forgot about it. Ten years later, Simpson received an urgent call from his agent. Touching the Void was not only back in print, but Random House…

How one man infiltrated Japanese culture, altered a century-old tradition, and rescued a dying industry — In the late 1980s, Bjorn Olsen traveled to Tokyo and requested a meeting with the most prominent executives of Japan’s seafood industry. There, he unveiled the future of sushi — salmon. The crowd burst into laughter. Who had ever heard of salmon sushi? Olsen’s fish was the wrong color, and…

Research shows pessimists earn more and grow faster than optimists — In 2012, Tony Robbins organized an hour-long firewalking ritual. Through “unleash[ing] the power within,” participants would overcome hot coals using nothing but their bare feet. The event did not go as planned. “I heard wails of pain, screams of agony,” one witness recalled. Paramedics rushed to the scene, treating twenty…