Do you really know?

What is Blackface? Thanks for asking! Blackface is a form of theatre which consists of non-black performers wearing make-up to represent black characters. These depictions were often based on racial stereotypes and caricatures, with exaggerated physical features used to ridicule black people. This form of entertainment rose to popularity in 19th century America. It also became prominent in the UK....

What is TikTok? Thanks for asking! Social network Tiktok allows users to publish short-form mobile videos. It’s been downloaded over 2 billion times since it was created in 2016, and its influence is growing bigger and bigger. That’s especially true within the music industry. There have been numerous success stories of new artists emerging on TikTok to become internet celebrities. The app has a re...

What is an ecocide? Thanks for asking! An ecocide is a term for an act that causes significant damage to the environment or ecosystems. It comes from the Greek word éoikios, meaning home, and the Latin word caedere, meaning kill. In theory individuals, companies and states could be brought to justice for committing such acts. It’s not recognised as a crime in many places, but France is currently l...

What is IQ? Thanks for asking ! IQ stands for intelligence quotient and is a test score which indicates a person’s level of intelligence. Some people are concerned that the average IQ is decreasing in Europe. The abbreviation IQ was coined by German psychologist William Stern in 1912, to name a scoring method for intelligence testing at the University of Breslau. Even before that, humans had long...

What is Fintech? Thanks for asking! Fintech is an abbreviation of “financial technology” It’s a new business sector which began developing during the 2010s. Fintech companies put technology to the service of financial activity. Finance can now be handled from the palm of our hands. If we forget about the tech part for a minute, we’re talking about the finance sector of traditional banking. Due to...

What is GAFAM? Thanks for asking! GAFAM is the acronym used to refer to American tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. Together, they hold five of the six top spots in a listing of the world’s most valuable public corporations. And their products are omnipresent in our daily lives. So why group these five companies together then?  Well, they are the most powerful players in th...

What is stigmergy? Thanks for asking! Stigmergy is a model of coordination and cooperation which was first observed in social insects, but also appears in human behaviour. It is appealing more and more to project leaders as a kind of open network organisation. Ants communicate by laying pheromones along their path, so that other ants can follow them to food or their colony as needed. This constitu...

What is ghosting? Thanks for asking!   Ghosting is a modern slang term for ceasing all communication without any warning or explanation. It’s likely happened to you in the past at some point, and you may well have also ghosted someone yourself! The term was first added to dating jargon in the 2000s, and has become more common with the rise of social media, online dating and casual hookup services....

What is vitamin D? Thanks for asking! Vitamin D was discovered in 1922 by American biochemist Elmer McCollum, who was nicknamed Dr Vitamin by Time Magazine. He found that cod liver oil could still prevent rickets in rats, despite its vitamin A having been removed. From this observation, he deduced that it contained a different substance which he called vitamin D. Why vitamin D is necessary? A suff...

What is a near-death experience? Thanks for asking!   American psychiatrist Dr Raymond Moody is considered to be the founding father of studies on near-death experiences, known as NDEs for short. Back in 1975, he was the first to shed light on the phenomenon in his book “Life after life”. In 1991 Dr Moody claimed to have had a near-death experience himself, after attempting suicide. According to h...

What is doomscrolling? Thanks for asking! The more bad news we hear, the more we tend to get consumed by social media feeds, incessantly scrolling through our apps. Americans have come up with a term for that phenomenon: doomscrolling. Spoiler alert: it’s not the best for your mental health. If you use Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, you definitely know the feeling. You open the app and start scro...

What is the New Cold War? Relations between China and the United States have been deteriorating for years, and the global COVID-19 pandemic isn’t helping. Each country blames the other for the situation and do not hesitate to brandish threats. Some analysts believe a new cold war is upon us.   The original Cold War was a period of confrontation between the US and the USSR, between 1947 and 1991. I...

What is chlordecone? Thanks for asking! Chlordecone is a highly toxic pesticide which is known for being an endocrine disruptor. That means it can interfere with hormones and cause disease. It has been described by the World Health Organization as “potentially carcinogenic” and causes liver tumours in lab mice. Although it’s been banned for nearly three decades, it’s still causing controversy in t...

What are influencers? Thanks for asking! Influencers are people who are capable of impacting consumption habits among their followers on social media. Brands are relying more and more on influencers as part of their communications strategies, but are sometimes duped by fake influencers. You could be forgiven for thinking influencers were invented in the 2010s. In reality, it stems from a theory di...

What is brand activism? Thanks for asking! Brand activism is when companies seek to have an impact on a social, economic, environmental, or political problem. It’s increasingly common, especially at the moment, but it can have negative consequences. In many cases, companies are called out for being hypocritical when engaging in brand activism. Cynics often see it as opportunistic marketing. Even w...

What is free software? Thanks for asking! Despite what it might sound like, free software isn’t necessarily free of charge. Here, the word is used with regards to liberty, not price. That’s also why it’s sometimes referred to as “libre software”, to avoid any ambiguity. Perhaps more significant than its definition is what free software stands for. It’s a social and political movement which aims to...

What is speciesism? Thanks for asking! The assumed superiority of humans over all other animals is often unspoken. Without necessarily wishing any harm on animals, we take it for granted that we are more complex beings and therefore have greater moral rights. So much so that most of us are not even aware of the concept of speciesism, which is an increasingly complex ethical issue. Speciesism refer...

What is Starlink? Thanks for asking! While the Space Race makes us think back to the 20th century, some billionaires are dreaming of ruling space in 2020. In particular Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, who’s planning to send tens of thousands of satellites into orbit in coming years. The name of the project is Starlink and the goal is to deliver high-speed broadband access across the globe. Behind Sta...

What is femicide? Thanks for asking! Many countries reported increased gender-based violence during recent coronavirus lockdowns. Femicides are the most extreme form of such crimes against women, and they have been on the rise for many years now. The term dates back centuries, but has taken on a new meaning in recent decades, with feminists placing emphasis on the specific nature and intent of fem...

What is non-binary? Thanks for asking! Non-binary is an umbrella term to describe people who don’t identify within the traditional gender binary of male or female. This is also known as enby for short, or genderqueer. There isn’t a whole lot of reliable data about the number of non-binary people in the world. But the general trend is gradually more people are identifying as such, bringing into que...

What is cross immunity? Thanks for asking! Until recently, it’s been assumed that nobody had pre-existing immunity to COVID-19. Experts and world leaders such as Angela Merkel warned that the virus could go on to infect up to 70% of a country’s population, if it wasn’t eliminated. But studies are suggesting some people may already be resistant. We’ve already talked about herd immunity in a previou...

What is the female gaze? Thanks for asking! The term “female gaze” has been used in recent years to describe art that subverts the male perspective. The concept is seen as a response to Laura Mulvey’s 1975 essay about the so-called “male gaze”. Historically, this has been the dominant way of viewing art forms, with the male creator and male characters catering to male viewers. The rest of the char...

What is white privilege? Thanks for asking! Like a lot of things, the concept of white privilege comes from the USA. It means that simply being white gives a person additional benefits or rights compared to those of other skin colours. Why are we talking about white privilege right now? The notion has increasingly been brought into the spotlight in recent years by movements like Black Lives Matter...

What is CrossFit? Thanks for asking!   CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen which combines weightlifting, gymnastics, endurance and other forms of physical conditioning. The name comes from the constantly varied nature of workouts, which change every day to suit each individual. The methodology was developed from the 1970s onwards by American college gymnast Greg Glassman, who would go on to foun...

What is jiko sekinin? Thanks for asking! Jiko sekinin is a Japanese term which more or less translates as “individual responsibility”. It’s more than just an expression. It represents a culture or even ideology of duty and guilt in the Land of the Rising Sun. Rather than attracting pity, the likes of homeless people, the chronically ill and even hostages are considered responsible for what happens...