By Amrit Mohan Lucknow, May 8 () Confined to their homes due to the coronavirus lockdown, bored Lucknowites have suddenly found a passion for kite flying, adding a good dash of colour to their city's skyline. More so in the old city areas of Chowk, Wazirganj, Thakurganj, Rakabganj, Yahiyaganj, Aminabad and Nakhhas, where it is easy to buy kites and spools of thread. "The sky is so clear these days," says Mohammed Hussain, who is in his 80 and has grandchild Iqbal by his side. "The lockdown has pushed everyone indoors. But my rooftop is there, open to all who love to fly kites," he tells . "In the good old days, kite flying was an addiction. Alas, no longer now," he says, complaining about video games, mobile phones and computers which turn children into couch potatoes. Once a traditional sport, kite flying is seen these days mostly during festivals like Makar Sankranti in January, Basant Panchami in February and Jamghat, the day after Diwali. Kites are also flown during the annual Lucknow Mahotsav. Over the years, their look has undergone a big change, Hussain says. They now come in shapes of birds, animals, insects and cartoon characters like Chhota Bheem and Spiderman. 'Kankawwa', the Lucknow style of kite in the form of wings of a bird, was perfected during the days of the nawabs. It is quite heavy and tests the skills of the kite flyer. Kite flying was a sport, particularly among the nobility, during the time of the Mughals. And the nawabs of Lucknow had their kites trimmed with gold and silver. In "patang baazi", kite flyers aim to snag and cut the strings of other each others'. Sometimes, there is betting between teams competing in these aerial dogfights. Children – when there is no lockdown, of course – wait for a kite to fall and take home as a trophy. Yakub Khan, a kite-seller in Nakhhas area, says the fighter kites are usually smaller in size, made of thin paper and diamond shaped, for greater manoeuvrability. While a "patang" is the common kite, "guddi" is the tall one with a small tail, he explains, proud of his knowledge in the field. "Making a kite requires great accuracy and care, it is an art in itself," he says. Khan also claims skill in making high-quality threads. 'Sadda' is plain cotton thread, 'manjha' the lethal cotton thread coated with powdered glass, good to cut the strings of other kites. Another piece of vital is equipment is the wooden spool – traditionally made of bamboo splits, wooden discs at each end and protruding sticks as handles – which is deftly manoeuvred in a kite fight. "The game of yesteryears has again come alive, thanks to the lockdown," Yakub says. Another old-timer Waris Mian says history has it that Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula's kites were decorated with gold and silver trimmings, and in the time of Amjad Ali Shah the "guddi" became popular. The origin of the kite is disputed, but it is widely believed to have been in China. In Indian literature, it is mentioned in the poetry of the 13th century Marathi saint-poet Namadev, and later in "Ramcharitmanas" of Tulsidas, who writes about Hanuman retrieving Lord Ram's kite that had flown to Indralok. AM SMI DIV ASHASH

Lockdown brings kites back to Lucknow skies

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28786346.cms" /> Here comes one of the key festivals of 2014, the <keyword id="90750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uttarayan">Uttarayan</keyword> or the <keyword id="42174" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Makar-Sankranti">Makar Sankranti</keyword>, and several <keyword id="1453380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="brand-marketers">brand marketers</keyword> have launched interesting campaigns to <keyword id="382268" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="leverage">leverage</keyword> the <keyword id="33914" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="festive-occasion">festive occasion</keyword>. When you take a closer look at these campaigns, you realise that different <keyword id="31174" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="brands">brands</keyword> have different objectives – a few are eyeing an increase in sales via <keyword id="112217" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Discounts">discounts</keyword> and bonus packs; some companies are trying to socialise their products and key messages with consumers; a few are strengthening their <keyword id="35657" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="brand-equity">brand equity</keyword> and others are focused on enhancing <keyword id="1284549" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Customer-Experience">customer experience</keyword>. Another interesting observation is – all types of brands (local, national and multinational) are running campaigns across different <keyword id="2014275" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Media-platforms">media platforms</keyword>. But the clear choice is the <keyword id="6354632" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Social-media">social media</keyword>, followed by the print, <keyword id="12905" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Radio">radio</keyword> and the <keyword id="2014281" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="OOH">OOH</keyword>. <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword> emerges as the leading market for promotions, followed by <keyword id="13126" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Maharashtra">Maharashtra</keyword>, <keyword id="6355588" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajasthan">Rajasthan</keyword>, <keyword id="6354953" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Punjab">Punjab</keyword>, NCR and others. 
 <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> is one of the major national advertisers during this festive season, promoting its <keyword id="1200039" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tab-Banking">Tab Banking</keyword> to facilitate new account opening from the comfort of your home or office. The bank has been advertising in newspapers, on the <keyword id="6357247" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Internet">Internet</keyword> and on billboards placed at strategic locations. The visual on the creative shows a diligent executive helping his customer open a bank account while the customer is enjoying the Uttarayan festival. The ad copy outlines a consumer-centric message with the help of a heading and a brand-centric message with the help of a sub-heading. The body copy explains a bit more about Tab Banking and provides a call-to-action. The <keyword id="529279" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="brand-positioning">brand positioning</keyword> statement has been reinforced in the closing line. Overall, all the elements look finely blended! 
 
 <img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28786350.cms" /> 
 
Another print advertisement that recently appeared in <keyword id="5065" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ahmedabad">Ahmedabad</keyword> Times is that of <keyword id="6354923" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vodafone-India">Vodafone India</keyword>. The company is promoting its <keyword id="1404687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="3G-dongle">3G dongle</keyword> as the one that offers fastest download @ 21.2 Mbps and encouraging consumers to download their favourite movies. The creative uses a kite that has <keyword id="1718" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bollywood-stars">Bollywood stars</keyword> on it. Although the visual element is not as well blended as in the previous ad, Vodafone has managed to address the Uttarayan spirit. A local <keyword id="2014292" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Eye-care-brand">eye care brand</keyword>, <keyword id="2014295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="R-Kumar-Opticians">R Kumar Opticians</keyword>, has also positioned the <keyword id="757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sunglasses">sunglasses</keyword> as an essential <keyword id="2014296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Safety-accessory">safety accessory</keyword> while flying kites. 
 
 <img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28786430.cms" /> <keyword id="150673" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dell-India">Dell India</keyword> has announced 100% <keyword id="470101" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cashback">cashback</keyword> for lucky winners who purchase a <keyword id="2014299" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dell-Inspiron-11">Dell Inspiron 11</keyword> this Sankranti. The company is primarily running its campaigns in the <keyword id="45104" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Print-Media">print media</keyword> and on the Internet. Several other smaller and local brands have also announced limited period offers to lure customers. 
 
 <img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/28786501.cms" /> 
 Finally, a leading <keyword id="10689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="radio-station">radio station</keyword>, <keyword id="9734" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Radio-Mirchi">Radio Mirchi</keyword> (Ahmedabad), has come up with a <keyword id="1486610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="social-initiative">social initiative</keyword> to protect two-wheeler riders from the brutal <keyword id="2014307" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Patang-manjha">patang manjha</keyword> (thread) by distributing free life-saving neck safety belts in various parts of the city. In an interview, <keyword id="103028" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sumit-Aggarwal">Sumit Aggarwal</keyword>, cluster head of Radio Mirchi in Gujarat, said, “In addition to bringing <keyword id="4578" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="entertainment">entertainment</keyword> to the Amdavadis, we intend to evolve as a responsible media company and this activity is a step in that direction.” The campaign has received good response and commuters have been queuing up to collect the safety belts. This initiative by Radio Mirchi is presented by <keyword id="907098" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="CIMS-Hospital">CIMS Hospital</keyword>, in association with Sanghi Cement, The Grand Bhagwati and Boulevard9 Luxury Resort &amp; Spa. 
 
So while you enjoy the KaiPoChe cheers around and while you are busy admiring your kites flying high, brand marketers are holding the firki and giving dheel to the kite. 
 
About the author: Ami Shah is the co-founder and creative director of IntelliAssist. You can contact her on <a href="http://twitter.com/amishah0505" target="_parent">Twitter</a> | <a href="http://in.linkedin.com/in/amishah0505/" target="_parent">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="mailto:ami@intelliassist.in">ami@intelliassist.in</a>

How
Brand Marketers Are Engaging With Consumers This Uttarayan

<keyword id="20225310" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Raksha-Bandhan" source="keywords">Raksha Bandhan</keyword>, often called <keyword id="6373020" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rakhi" source="Orion">Rakhi</keyword>, is a cherished Hindu festival that honours the special bond between brothers and sisters. Celebrated on the full moon day of Shravana, typically falling in August, the festival’s name translates to “the knot of protection”. The central ritual involves sisters tying a sacred thread, or rakhi, around their brothers’ wrists, symbolising their prayers for their brothers' well-being. In return, brothers vow to protect their sisters throughout their lives. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Historical origins of Raksha Bandhan" comment="subhead" text="Historical origins of Raksha Bandhan"><keyword id="22804959" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Historical-origins-of-Raksha-Bandhan" source="Orion">Historical origins of Raksha Bandhan</keyword></cmsannotation> Raksha Bandhan's roots are deep within ancient Hindu scriptures and folklore. Two prominent tales illustrate the festival's significance: Krishna and Draupadi: One of the most well-known stories comes from the Mahabharata. When Lord Krishna injured his finger, Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, tore a piece of her saree to bandage his wound. Moved by her selfless act, Krishna vowed to protect her—a promise he fulfilled during the infamous incident in the Kaurava court, where he miraculously extended her saree to safeguard her dignity. Lakshmi and King Bali: Another important legend is that of Goddess Lakshmi and King Bali. After Lord Vishnu defeated Bali, Lakshmi tied a rakhi to the king, symbolically making him her brother. In return, Bali granted her a wish, allowing Vishnu to return to his divine abode. This story highlights the rakhi's role in forming protective and familial bonds beyond blood ties. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Cultural significance of Raksha Bandhan" comment="subhead" text="Cultural significance of Raksha Bandhan"><keyword id="22804958" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cultural-significance-of-Raksha-Bandhan" source="Orion">Cultural significance of Raksha Bandhan</keyword></cmsannotation> Raksha Bandhan extends beyond the traditional brother-sister relationship, embodying love, duty and protection across various relationships. It is celebrated not just in India, but also across South Asia, including in Nepal, where it is known as Janai Purnima. Each community has added its unique customs to this tradition. The regional variations exist within India as well. In West Bengal, it is known as Jhulan Purnima, a time when prayers are offered to Lord Krishna and Radha. In Maharashtra, the festival coincides with Narali Pournima—a day dedicated to the sea god Varuna, when offerings are made to the sea. In North India, kite flying becomes a popular activity during Rakshabandhan, symbolising the joy and exuberance of the occasion. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="112530289" title="Raksha Bandhan 2024: 5 fun sibling challenges" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>The festival strengthens family and social connections, prompting people to express their love and commitment to one another. In modern times, Raksha Bandhan has evolved to include cousins and even friends, highlighting platonic love and mutual respect across different communities and religions. More than just a festival, Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of relationships. Its origins, steeped in ancient traditions and stories, continue to inspire millions, making it a beloved occasion that reinforces familial and social bonds across cultures. The festival’s true essence lies in its power to unite people, transcending blood ties and fostering a spirit of togetherness.

Raksha Bandhan 2024: The history and cultural significance of the Rakhi festival

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e70e6d0c485404ceb700205-1857/working from home stressed.jpg" alt="working from home stressed" />Kite_rin/Shutterstock<ul class="summary-list"><li>As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">countries around the global fight the spread of the novel coronavirus</a>, a new report by Imperial College London suggests social distancing may be needed until a vaccine is available.</li><li>The report by 30 researchers, analyzing the spread of the virus in the US and UK, found that social distancing and quarantines could halve the global death toll.</li><li>But in order to work, they say, we would have to suppress the virus - through social distancing and quarantines - for 18 months or more, which is the amount of time projected for a vaccine to be produced.</li><li>The report has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-abandoned-coronavirus-strategy-that-would-cause-250000-deaths-2020-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">prompted leaders in the US and UK to dramatically change their management strategies</a> to more effectively mitigate the virus. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>The new report that has inspired both the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump to take drastic measures to control the novel coronavirus suggests <a href="https://www.insider.com/coronavirus-what-is-social-distancing-self-isolation-quarantine-2020-3">social distancing</a> and quarantine efforts should last well into 2021.The report from Imperial College London's COVID-19 Response Team found that deaths from the virus could be cut in half if communities are able to isolate all confirmed cases, and ban public gatherings to prevent further spread.However, the 30 researchers who authored the report said these measures would have to stay in place until a vaccine is developed to prevent a second wave of infections.That process <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-treatments-and-vaccines-gileads-remdesivir-moderna-2020-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">could take 18 months or more</a>, experts say."The major challenge of suppression is that this type of intensive intervention package will need to be maintained until a vaccine becomes available (potentially 18 months or more), given that we predict that transmission will quickly rebound if interventions are relaxed," according to the report. As an example, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinas-coronavirus-quarantines-other-countries-arent-ready-2020-3#the-country-postponed-non-urgent-medical-care-and-moved-many-doctors-visits-online-not-all-patients-were-given-the-critical-care-they-needed-during-the-outbreak-though-8">China's extreme measures to control the virus</a>, including rerouting public transportation, walling off hospital wards, and using technology to track as many cases as possible, has been found to work in the short-term but it's unclear what the consequences may be over time."It remains to be seen whether it is possible long-term, and whether the social and economic costs of the interventions adopted thus far can be reduced," according to the report. <h2>World leaders have dramatically changed their management strategies in response to the report</h2>Governments in the UK and US abruptly changed their approach to manage the thread of coronavirus after the report was released Monday, March 16. UK <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-abandoned-coronavirus-strategy-that-would-cause-250000-deaths-2020-3?r=US&amp;IR=T">Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Monday</a> that the government would be implementing stricter containment measures after the report indicated the existing strategy could result in up to 250,000 deaths. In the US, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-encourages-people-avoid-gatherings-10-people-coronavirus-2020-3">President Trump</a> responded by recommending people avoid nonessential travel and public outings like restaurants and bars, homeschool, and limit any gatherings to fewer than 10 people. Read more:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-drive-through-coronavirus-test-site-new-york-2020-3">New York just opened its first drive-through coronavirus test facility at the site of a major outbreak</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/holding-breath-10-seconds-drinking-water-wont-cure-diagnose-coronavirus-2020-3">Holding your breath can't help you self-diagnose the coronavirus. Here's what you should do instead.</a><a href="https://www.insider.com/5-things-boost-immune-system-coronavirus-sleep-exercise-vitamin-d-2020-3">5 things that can help to boost your immune system during the coronavirus outbreak, and 5 that won't</a><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5cf6b11111e205471c5718a4" alt="Digital Health Pro" style="width: 100% !important" /></a>Featured Digital Health Articles: - <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a> - <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a> - <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a> - <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a> - <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-myths-debunked-wuhan-china-2020-2">Pathologists debunk 13 myths about the coronavirus, including why masks won't help</a></h3> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/UUczMr9v-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>

People may need to work from home and limit socializing for more than a year until a coronavirus vaccine is available, researchers say

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/531a1c856bb3f7f1660acca3-917-687/jk-rowling-reading-harry-potter.jpg" border="0" alt="JK Rowling Reading Harry Potter" />Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla</div></div></div>Sometimes a book is so good, it not only sticks with you long after you put it down, but it alters the way you view the world going forward.
On <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1zfgll/what_book_absolutely_blew_your_mind/">a recent Reddit thread</a>, readers commented on this very phenomenon.
Asked about the most mind-blowing books they'd ever read, users brought up dystopian novels like "1984" and "The Handmaid's Tale." But books that engender hope for the human spirit like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Kite Runner" also made the list. 
Here are 25 of the most gripping books based on Reddit responses.

25 Books That Will Blow Your Mind

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5db73acfdee019298248001b-1424/rts15f6v.jpg" border="0" alt="Bill Gates" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Rick Wilking" data-mce-caption="Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates talks with a colleague before the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. May 6, 2017." />REUTERS/Rick WilkingBill Gates.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Bill Gates turned 64 on Monday. </li><li>The author interviewed Bill Gates for Business Insider in 2016.</li><li>Gates displayed vast knowledge.</li><li>And he showed how to combine different themes to arrive at takeaways.</li><li>This is part of what it means to be an expert generalist.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summarymary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>I had 20 minutes, to the second, to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-interview-energy-miracle-coming-2016-2">interview Bill Gates</a>. This was in the spring of 2016, and he was in New York for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-meet-bill-gates-2016-2">press rounds</a> supporting his Annual Letter for the Gates Foundation, which was centered around clean energy. It was at 2 p.m. when I met him in a super-lux midtown Manhattan hotel. I shook hands with Gates and a handler who would be tracking the time.In person, he was much like you'd imagine from the endless reports on him: appreciably geeky, pleasantly courteous, and intensely intelligent.When he spoke, Gates made broad gestures with his hands, seemingly sculpting clean-energy solutions with his hands while reeling off global development statistics, like how tiny China's philanthropic class is (under .1% of the overall economy), how huge the energy market is ($3 trillion a year), and how humanity went from 33% of children dying by age 5 to below 5%.That was what was so spectacular about talking to the man, now freshly 64 years old. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of so many things, appropriate for a guy <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-17-surprising-facts-2016-12#3-gates-also-read-the-entire-world-book-encyclopedia-series-during-his-teenage-years-3">who plowed through</a> the entirety of "World Book Encyclopedia" as a teen, and he holds in mind the way fields interact with one another. Let's consider, in its lengthy entirety, his response to my first question, What are the most exciting things happening right now in clean energy?His reply: <blockquote>A lot of it is pretty early stage. The most straightforward path would be if we could bring the cost of solar electric and wind down by another factor of say, three, and then have some miraculous storage solution, so that not only over the 24-hour day but over long periods of time where the wind doesn't blow, you have reliable energy. That's a path. But energy storage is hard. That's not a guaranteed path.In fact, batteries haven't improved over the last 100 years as much as they would need to in order to make that happen. So I'm invested in a lot of battery companies - and there's a lot that exists I'm not in. They're all having a tough time achieving it. We need to look at less obvious paths, things like the wind in the jet stream, which is very high up. The material science of what type of kite string you would need to connect up to that. That's still at the basic research level.That's the part where the governments have a unique role, and then when it progresses well enough, then existing companies or new startup companies should take it. In the $3 trillion a year energy market, the rewards will be quite fantastic.At some point, that risk-taking private capital can take over, and have patents and trade secrets and things that let them lead the way, which happened with the steam engine and some other things, although with energy, the time of adoption is a lot longer than it is with, say, IT products or even medical advances, like drugs and vaccines.Other paths would include making nuclear fission cheap enough and safe enough that people broadly embrace it, so that could be scaled up. Or, if you really could take the CO2, when you burn hydrocarbons - coal, for example - if you could really capture the carbon and sequester it - they call it CCS - if the extra capital cost, energy cost, and storage costs over time didn't make it super expensive, then that's another path that you could go down.I could name about a dozen paths, and you'd like to have a whole bunch of research on all those paths, and then, eventually, at least four to five companies with really significant financing try and get to big scale, going down and really trying to prove it out.Then, in the same way that when the car got going, people thought it would be an electric car, people thought it would be a steam car. Actually, the dark horse in that race was internal combustion, but because of the energy density of gasoline and discovery of oil in large amounts at that point, in first Pennsylvania and then Texas, it won out over those other two, to the point that those other two are actually viewed as obscure footnotes in history.</blockquote>The first thing you notice is that those are ready-to-be published paragraphs coming out of his mouth; it's a Sunday op-ed coming off the top of his head. But consider the many threads interwoven in his comment, which reveal one of the unique forms of genius he has.First, Gates runs through the state of energy storage, which has lots of potential but is very hard to pull off. (The national capacity has <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/ls-power-advances-ny-state-s-renewable-energy-goals-with-ravenswood-battery-energy-storage-project-1028616122">quadrupled</a> over the past five years, however.) Then battery technology. Then the role of government in innovation, and with that, private capital. Then nuclear fission. Then carbon capture. Then how that new market would begin to mature.And then, the bit I find especially charming, regarding the intellectual humility needed in a revolution, since you don't know how a revolution is going to pan out. People thought the electric car was going to be the killer app, and then the steam car, and gasoline was the actual dark horse. And that itself was powered by the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania and Texas. So, adding to the state of many arts in the technological race for clean energy, Gates delivered a bite-sized lesson in how technological shifts actually happen and the nature of innovation. That brings us back to the encyclopedias that Gates gobbled up as a Seattle-area adolescent. The word "encyclopedia" has a rather poetic etymology, "enkuklios paideia," or all-around education. This is what Gates displays in conversation, a stunning understanding of how everything relates to everything else. Gates is the billionaire version of what University of Texas psychologist Art Markman calls an <a href="https://99u.adobe.com/articles/7269/picasso-kepler-and-the-benefits-of-being-an-expert-generalist">"expert generalist."</a> Someone who doesn't just know a little about a lot, but a lot about a lot. Like Picasso getting into African art and initiating cubism. Gates has studied energy and materials and public health and a thousand other things. He is such an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/magazine/so-bill-gates-has-this-idea-for-a-history-class.html">evangelist</a> of intersectional knowledge that he's pushed the discipline of so-called <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/bill-gates-favorite-online-class-big-history-by-david-christian.html">"Big History,"</a> which seeks to tell "the story of the universe from the big bang to the first signs of life to today's complex societies," per a 2018 Gates <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Origin-Story?WT.mc_id=20180529134311_SummerBooks2018OriginStory_BG-FB&amp;WT.tsrc=BGFB&amp;linkId=52301001">blog post</a>. Thanks to Gates and his peers, we live in a world of information, as the cliché goes. You can ask Siri or Alexa for just about any particular fact, and they'll give it to you without you even needing to look at your phone. But what Gates has is more powerful than information - he possesses knowledge. A breadth of it. Research on learning suggests that the more you know, the easier it is to find and retain new knowledge, in a process called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/memory-skills-2015-10#elaboration-connect-new-ideas-to-what-you-already-know-2">elaboration</a> - you're tying the new thing to what you already know. So if you already have a ton of nodes to tie things to, it'll probably be easier to get new insights about material science, or whatever, to actually stick. It's compounding interest but for knowing stuff. "The more you learn," Gates said in <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3009718/why-bill-gates-bought-da-vincis-notebooks">another profile</a>, "the more you have a framework that the knowledge fits into."This post extensively expands on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-meet-bill-gates-2016-2">an earlier piece</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taylor-swift-net-worth-singer-millionaire-makes-spends-money-wealth-2019-4">Taylor Swift is the world's highest-paid celebrity. Here's how she makes and spends her $360 million.</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/xPKNAYF8-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

You Searched For "kite thread" and got 7 results

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PTI

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It's Bill Gates's birthday. When I interviewed him, he showed me how his brain works so differently than anyone else I've ever met.

Drake Baer