2021: Our obsessions

Our favorite emails from the past year In 2021, there was a lot to obsess about: The beats that make disco, the concept of buying books and never reading them, and atheism, to name a few. We’ve compiled our favorite obsessions from the past year for you.Let’s recollect. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( [Quartz Weekly Obsession] 2021: Our obsessions December 29, 2021 What we obsessed over in 2021 --------------------------------------------------------------- In 2021, there was a lot to obsess about: The beats that make disco, the concept of buying books and never reading them, and atheism, to name a few. We’ve compiled our favorite obsessions from the past year for you.Let’s recollect. 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Giphy Disco --------------------------------------------------------------- The [rhythmic backbone of disco’s sound]( is a 4/4 beat that the bass drum holds throughout a song—four evenly spaced beats without syncopation, like a steady march: one-two-three-four. Known as “four on the floor,” it’s simple, even boring before other sounds are layered on top. That steady beat also happens to be perfect for dancing. Famed Philadelphia drummer [Earl Young]( is credited with originating disco’s four-on-the-floor sound in the 1973 song “The Love I Lost” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, though a 4/4 time signature is one of the most common in music in genres from country to the Lindy Hop. Disco’s four-on-the-floor bass beat, though, is foundational to rhythms later [adopted in house]( and EDM music. Four-on-the-floor time has one other important application: CPR. The steady, even rhythm, plus the relatively fast tempo (more than 100 beats per minute) of most disco songs make them ideal timekeeping measures for pacing chest compressions. The Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” has been [recommended]( during CPR trainings. By the digits Preprints --------------------------------------------------------------- [56,000:]( Number of biomedical preprints—or [research that is made public]( before getting peer-reviewed—published in all of 2019 [59,000:]( Number of biomedical preprints published in just the first half of 2020 [15%:]( Percentage of covid-19 preprints released in the first seven months of the pandemic that were later published in peer-reviewed journals (pdf) [58%:]( Percentage of covid-19 news stories based on a preprint that emphasized the preliminary, uncertain nature of research that hasn’t been peer-reviewed [3,432:]( Median word count of a covid-19 preprint [6,143:]( Median word count of a non-covid-19 preprint [14%:]( Percentage of covid-19 preprints that shared open data, allowing other scientists to repeat their analysis [15:1:]( Odds of a covid-19 preprint being viewed compared to a non-covid-19 preprint We got a little obsessed with our new podcast… --------------------------------------------------------------- 📐 Six Sigma. GE [was the poster child for Six Sigma](, but as its fortunes diminished, so has interest in the theory. 🪑 Office chairs. Ever since Charles Darwin added wheels to his armchair, we’ve been [searching for the perfect butt perch for work](. 🥃 Japanese whisky. It’s all the rage, but [there’s just one problem](: There’s no technical definition of Japanese whisky. 💎 Rare earths. These 17 elements mostly hang out at the bottom of the periodic table, but without them, we [wouldn’t have smartphones](, batteries, and more. 🌿 Kudzu. The [invasive vine]( can teach us a lot about climate change. 🥛 Oat milk. It’s the latest star in the [alternative milk scene](, but can it withstand big dairy’s muscles? ✈️ Business class. While crucial to airlines, business class can also bring with it an [outsized carbon footprint](. 🎧 Afrobeats. The beat-heavy, electronic music from Nigeria has been [gaining a global fan base](. 🤖 CAPTCHA. Are those internet security tests [making it harder]( to prove our humanity? 🎲 Randomness. Most things [we call random]( aren’t truly random. 💵 Cash. Despite the rise of mobile payments and the [ubiquity of credit cards](, it’s still king. 🎧 Binge all of [season one’s episodes]( before season two drops in early 2022. Listen on: [Apple Podcasts]( |[Spotify]( |[Google](. Marchetti’s constant --------------------------------------------------------------- How far are you willing to travel to work every day? Chances are you’ll find that your commute has averaged about 30 minutes each way. We know this because in 1994, Italian physicist Cesare Marchetti [identified a nearly universal rule of human behavior]( (pdf): People tend to travel for about one hour per day, in total. This concept is known as [Marchetti’s constant](. Commute times of course vary. The US has lagged behind other wealthy countries in adopting high-speed trains, but a long-planned project linking Houston and Dallas finally looks [ready to move ahead](. Inspired, Quartz reporter Camille Squires looked for other pairs of US metro areas whose locations and population sizes would make them excellent candidates for a similar service. She found 13 potential routes. [Read more](. [A map showing potential high-speed rail routes in the US that are similar to a Houston-Dallas route. The Acela already serves East Coast cities from Washington to Boston, but there are several other similar routes that could connect Chicago, Detroit, and DC with Midwest cities and Los Angeles with San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.] Giphy Atheism --------------------------------------------------------------- To the untrained eye, the linguistic origins of “atheism” are obvious, as it appears to follow the [ancient Greek use of “a-” as a negating agent](: a-theism, or without theism (religion). But the word [atheism actually predates the word theism](, and is believed to be derived from the French, athéisme, which in turn comes from the Greek, [atheos, or “against deities](.” The -ism suffix renders it as “teaching against the gods,” or a doctrine of godlessness. Why does it matter? Some modern atheists prefer a less confrontational definition of atheism, as simply being without religion, as opposed to a definition based on the affirmative argument that there is no god, goddess, or other deity. As philosopher and one-time atheist [Antony Flew wrote]( (pdf), “I want the word to be understood not positively but negatively… In this interpretation an atheist becomes: not someone who positively asserts the non-existence of God; but someone who is simply not a theist.” Friends Pop Quiz! What percentage of Obsession readers always watch the opening titles to a TV show? 15% 10%52%33% Correct. For 33% of Quartz readers, intros are always part of the TV experience. Incorrect. Skip ahead. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. 2x2 matrices --------------------------------------------------------------- A 2×2 matrix is sometimes called a model or a method, but when put on display it’s an [organized way to present information](, in rows and columns. One example: How people’s feelings about [common grocery items]( have changed as a result of the pandemic. This kind of visualization works because it appeals to the brain’s bent toward shortcuts. It’s a simple and elegant way to show complex relationships between various ideas. “The brain retains that information better,” says Scott Berinato, author of [Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations](. Giphy Tsundoku --------------------------------------------------------------- Tsundoku—[the Japanese concept of buying books and never reading them](—has left many searching for the best way to dispose of books. Your first and best option to get rid of books is to try to donate them to a library or local charity. Sites like [Better World Books]( and [Discover Books]( accept donations of used books in good condition. You could also try to sell them online to a used bookseller (here are [some tips](). Or, if you have the space, put up a [little free library](. Books are [notoriously difficult to recycle]( because they’re made of mixed paper, a material less likely to be resold after recycling than, say, newspaper and cardboard. This is particularly true if they’ve aged, and gone brown, or are wet. Books in this state have to be discarded with your regular trash. Earth911 has [some crafty suggestions]( for upcycling hardcover books including turning them into a ✏️ desk organizer, 📔 book journal, 🌵 succulent planter, 🌼 vase, or 📸 photo frame. Giphy How did you feel about Obsessions this year? [Click here to vote]( I learned a lotI learned a littleHonestly, I’m tired of learning 💬 Let's talk! In last week’s poll about [Christmas markets](, 50% of you said your first buy would be a souvenir ornament, 32% would purchase your weight in Stollen, and 18% would opt for a charming nutcracker. A very happy New Year from all of us here at Quartz! ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20Christmas%20markets%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s collection was brought to you by [Camille Squires](, [Oliver Staley](, [Lila MacLellan](, [Katie Palmer](, [Jackie Bischof](, and [Ana Campoy](, and was produced by [Morgan Haefner](. [facebook]([twitter]([external-link]( The correct answer to the quiz is 33%. Enjoying the Quartz Weekly Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! Want to advertise in the Quartz Weekly Obsession? Send us an email at ads@qz.com. Not enjoying it? No worries. 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