Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• What Defenders and Critics Get Wrong about the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ – Quillette. “So free, open discussion is supposed to fix everything. The ‘town square’ should suss out charlatans, and let the best ideas rise to the top. At least, that’s the idea underpinning many of the world’s liberal democracies. But as Jason Stanley observes, there are two kinds of discourse: ‘Descriptive speech’ which ‘occurs when words are communicated precisely in their logical or semantic sense.’ On the other hand, non-descriptive speech is rhetorical, ‘not used simply, or even chiefly, to convey information but to elicit emotion.’ This goes a long way to explaining the challenges of free speech in the Internet era, which has all the downsides of oral interaction without many of the upsides.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Your Professional Decline Is Coming (Much) Sooner Than You Think – The Atlantic. “This isn’t an article on automation, or AI, or the usual techno-utopian stuff I share with you two weekly. It’s a missive on aging, with some deep thoughts, good science, a resignation, and even a legit guru. I found it spiritual, moving, and worth pondering as I creep up on my later years.” (Alistair for Mitch). 
• Scientists, Stop Thinking Explaining Science Will Fix Things – Slate. “Turns out nobody wants to know.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The Rise of Junk Science – The Walrus. “Letting anyone publish has its downsides, apparently!” (Hugh for Mitch).
• A Philosopher on Brain Rest – The New York Times. “What happens when a philosopher gets an (unwanted) whack on the side of the head? Here is a fascinating piece on figuring out who you are, when that’s your job but your brain is no longer complying the way it used to. Oh, and wear a helmet… always.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• The Wild Ride at Babe.Net – The Cut. “The darlings of new media. Multi-million (sometimes ‘billion’) dollar valuations. All of the brand money is pouring in their direction. But, what is actually going on the behind the scenes when these new media platforms start growing by leaps and bounds? This is a compelling story and a cautionary tale. As my old martial arts instructor used to say: experience is something you get shortly after you need it. What a wild ride, indeed…” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.