WEC Articles

The Power of Boredom Boredom often gets a bad rap, but research shows it can be truly beneficial, fueling creativity, original thinking, and even mental wellbeing. When there are no distractions, our minds start to wander, giving us the chance to daydream and invent new solutions. Many real-world examples show just how powerful boredom can be. For instance, Chef George Crum invented potato chips after a boring moment and playful experimentation with sliced potatoes. Similarly, Art Fry created Post-it Notes because he was bored and needed a better way to keep paper in place, an idea sparked during a dull church service. Even the magical world of Harry Potter wouldn’t exist if J.K. Rowling hadn’t allowed her mind to drift while stuck on a delayed train. Studies have found that people who engage in boring tasks, like sorting beans by color, later perform better in creative idea-generation challenges than those busily occupied the whole time. Psychologists explain that boredom helps us dev...

The Paradox of Trust: With a Wink, a Pause, and the Slow Art of Hesitation Trust rarely arrives with grand declarations or fanfare. Instead, it creeps quietly into our lives, often born in hesitation the small pause that comes before we say yes or no. This pause is where true consent is born, a critical moment that guards us from mistaking blind compliance for genuine trust. Hesitation is not a sign of weakness; it is a deeply human way of testing the waters before diving in, like gingerly dipping a toe into a pool we hope isn’t filled with piranhas. Trust demands more than blind faith, it requires research and reflection. Before we place our faith in a fact, an idea, or a person, we instinctively weigh words against silences, compare actions with promises, and seek trustworthy signals. Trust is less about absolute certainty and more about learning to live with uncertainty, choosing to believe anyway. Culturally, this pause for reflection takes many shapes. In Japan, there is the conce...

Exploring the Pros and Cons Artificial Intelligence is changing our world in ways we could only imagine a few years ago. But is it making life better, or are there hidden dangers? Let’s look at both sides and see how AI affects everyone, including minorities and people who often feel left out. The Pros: How AI Is Helping Us Efficiency and Convenience: AI can make daily tasks faster and easier. For example, smart assistants help us manage schedules, and AI-powered translation apps break down language barriers. Reducing Human Error: Machines don’t get tired or distracted, so AI can perform calculations and repetitive work with fewer mistakes, very important in healthcare or engineering. Creativity and Innovation: By automating boring tasks, AI gives people more time for creative or meaningful work. It also helps scientists solve big problems, like predicting diseases or fighting climate change. Accessibility: AI-powered tools can help people with disabilities, such as voice recognition f...

From 'creepy' to awesome: 'Old guy rental' service in Japan changes lives It has been 13 years since Takanobu Nishimoto launched an “old guy rental” service in Japan, aiming to improve the social image of middle-aged men, often called “ossan.” Nishimoto, now 57, believes, “Old guys are actually amazing!” The service rents out middle-aged men to people who need someone to talk to or a helping hand with daily tasks.  On the website, each “ossan” is introduced with unique selling points, such as “a former politician ossan,” “an IT ossan who can play the violin,” or “an ossan who listens with a smile.” For 1,000 yen per hour, clients can hire an ossan for various activities - going to an izakaya, cleaning, or just chatting. Nishimoto, a fashion stylist from Kansai, was inspired to start the service after hearing young people criticize middle-aged men as “creepy” or boring. He wanted to change these negative stereotypes. At first, Nishimoto was the only ossan, and most requ...

The modern history of Iran, from the aftermath of World War II to the present, is marked by dramatic shifts in governance, ideology, and regional influence. The country’s trajectory has been shaped by both internal dynamics and persistent foreign intervention, with consequences that continue to reverberate across the Middle East and beyond. In the immediate postwar years, Iran became a stage for Cold War rivalry. One lesser-known episode was the 1946 crisis in Azerbaijan and Mahabad, where Soviet-backed separatist states briefly emerged in northern Iran. With American diplomatic pressure, the Soviets withdrew, and Iranian forces reasserted control, but the incident underscored Iran’s vulnerability to foreign interference. This vulnerability was exploited again in 1953, when the CIA and British intelligence orchestrated a coup to remove Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh after he nationalized Iran’s oil industry. The coup restored the Shah’s autocratic rule and left a legacy of deep mist...