Better Ballots, Fostering Wonderment, Tax Cuts Impact

Designing better ballots (9:48) Michael Byrne, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology and of Computer Science, Rice University. His areas of Interest include Human factors/human-computer interaction, computational modeling/artificial intelligence, statistics, cognition, decision-making, memory. With all the focus on the Russian interference in the 2016 election, there is a growing concern for the integrity of future elections. One threat that is receiving more attention is voting system usability. Does what actually gets recorded on to the ballots accurately reflect the will of the voters? Dr. Bryne explains his research into this problem. Why "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is the wrong question (46:37) Amy Schaffer is the creative director and co-creator of The Wonderment, a nonprofit digital platform and global community-based in Salt Lake City where thousands of kids from over 25 countries have taken creative action to connect and impact communities all over the world. Growing up, teachers and parents always asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Even when we are adults, many of us still feel like we haven’t found what we want to be when we grow up. Amy Schaffer, who has given a TED talk about this question, claims that it is the wrong question to ask kids and that instead, we should be asking, “What do you wonder about?” She shares about why a sense of wonder is an essential trait not only for children but also for everyone. Impact of the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (1:26:42) Ryan Alexander, the president of Taxpayers for Common Sense with us, Taxpayers for Common Sense is a nonpartisan budget watchdog with a goal of promoting fiscal responsibility and opposing wasteful tax and spending policies. Ryan Alexander discusses the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act and how it can impact each of us.