“I am never going to be finished getting to know people, and I probably wouldn’t want it any other way,” says British researcher and author Camilla Pang.
Pang was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. For her, this comes with its own advantages: “My autism had the advantage of making me immune to peer pressure.”
As a doctor of bioinformatics Pang researches “how human psychology can meander beyond the norm.”
When confronted with problems, she advises: “Carry on – it will be worth it.” And if you’re challenged by the system? “That’s just a reminder that you’re built to make a new one.”
With her book “Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships,” Pang wrote “the manual I always needed to understand human behaviour.” The book won the Royal Society’s Science Book Prize and was named one of the best natural science books of 2020 by "The Guardian". In a video, Camilla Pang explains how she wrote the book "unintentionally”:
Today, Pang works as a researcher for a pharmaceutical company. During the pandemic she has been volunteering with the UCL lab to help research Covid-19.
Future Meetups: How We'll Get Together From Now On
Infographic: Meeting places of the future (part 1)
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted our social lives. Any close contact is potentially dangerous. But what are the alternatives? New opportunities for meet-ups are emerging that are safe and cost little. A GDI infographic shows how we will meet in the future. The future of meet-ups was also the central topic at the GDI Trend Day on 10 March 2021.
Sarah Kenderdine: "We hope this will change the nature of museum-going forever"Museums, theatres, concert halls: wherever people came together to enjoy culture, there is now a yawning emptiness. How can museum-going be revolutionised? Sarah Kenderdine, a professor at EPFL Lausanne, provides the tools for innovation.
Noreena Hertz: "Social media is the tobacco industry of the 21st century"Even before "social distancing", people were becoming more and more distant from each other, says Noreena Hertz. The British economist and thought leader warns of a lonesome society and talked about it at the GDI Trend Day on 10 March 2021.