AlphaGo is an artificial intelligence (AI) agent that is specialized to play Go, a Chinese strategy board game, against human competitors. AlphaGo is a Google DeepMind project.

The ability to create a learning algorithm that can beat a human player at strategic games is a measure of AI development. AlphaGo is designed as a self-teaching AI and plays against itself to master the complex strategic game of Go. There have been versions of AlphaGo that beat human players but new versions are still being created.

Go is a Chinese board game similar to chesswith two players, one using black pieces and one white, placing a piece each turn. Pieces are placed on a grid that varies in size according to the level of play up to 19x19 placement points. The goal is to capture more territory (empty spaces) or enemy pieces by surrounding them with your pieces. Only positions that are horizontal and vertical relative to the players need to be covered to capture; it's not required that they all be diagonals. Either pieces or territory can be captured individually or in groups.

Chess may be a more famous board game with white and black pieces but Go has a googol more possible moves. The number of possible positions makes a traditional brute force approach, as was used with IBMs' Big Blue in chess, impossible with current computers. That difference in complexity of the problem required a new approach.

AlphaGo is based off a Monte Carlo algorithm tree search based looking at a list of possible moves from its machine-learned repertoire. Algorithms and learning differ among the various versions of AlphaGo. AlphaGo Master, the version that beat the world champion Go player Ke Jie, uses supervised learning. AlphaGo Zero, the unsupervised learning version of AlphaGo, learns by playing against itself. First, the AI plays randomly, then with increasing sophistication. Its increased sophistication is such that it consistently beats the Master version that dominates human players.

Watch SciShow cover AlphaGo in the video below:

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What is AlphaGo? - Definition from WhatIs.com

A new exhibition draws on a massive collection of rare texts and early printed works to trace the dharma throughout the ages.

Buddhism has one of the richest textual traditions of any world religion. While many Buddhist teachings implore us to look beyond our language and concepts, the written word and awakening have been closely connected since the earliest days of the dharma.The British Library recently opened a major new exhibitionsimply called Buddhismthat explores this important relationship between textuality and spirituality with a collection that spans around 20 countries and 2,000 years.

We have designed the exhibit with everyone in mind, said lead curator Jana Igunma. We wanted to display the diversity of Buddhist art and, at the same time, show the strong continuity of the life of the Buddha and his teachings in scripture. Accompanying the librarys largest-ever display of Buddhist treasures will be a series of meditation classes and lectures on Buddhist art history, music, dance, ethics, the contributions of women, calligraphy, and more. The events program will conclude with a two-day international conference on translation, transmission, and the preservation of Buddhist texts and practices from February 78, 2020. Buddhism runs through February 23.

The exhibition begins by recounting the life of the Buddha and his past lives through scripture, sculpture, scroll paintings, and votive objects. From his enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree and first sermon at Deer Park to his passing away (mahaparinirvana) and the distribution of his relics, viewers will gain a fuller picture of how the Buddhas long career was artistically represented and understood within and outside the Buddhist world. We see the Buddhas miraculous birth at Lumbini Grove in a woodblock print from Eastern Tibet, his encounter with the four sights (Siddhartha Gautamas first inspiration to end suffering: an elderly man, a sick man, a deceased man, and an ascetic) in a hand-painted Chinese book, his renunciation of royal privilege and family life in a 7.6-meter-long Burmese accordion-style codex, and his temptation by the demon Mara is depicted in vivid colors in a Nepalese translation of the Lalitavistara Sutra.

Nearby is a 15th-century copy of the book Barlaam and Josaphat, a Christian romance inspired by the life of the Buddha, opened to a page with an engraving of Josaphat, the Christianized Prince Siddhartha (whose name is derived from the Sanskrit word for bodhisattva), giving up his worldly life. Printed in Germany around 1470, this story was the Middle Ages equivalent of a bestseller, and it saw many translations, including Arabic, Georgian, Hebrew, Slavic, and Ethiopic versions.

European encounters with Buddhism are not the main focus, but there are traces of British patronage and power throughout the exhibition. This is intentional, and part of a wider effort of British institutions to confront their colonial histories and explore alternative ways of exhibiting Asian objects, many of which were stolen or otherwise procured during the countrys imperial expansion.

A contemporary Thai-style thangka painting, for example, depicts traditional scenes from the Vessantara Jataka, one of the Buddhas birth tales in which he perfected generosity. Occupying the typical place for donors on the composition are William Shakespeare and English officialsa playful and somewhat satirical nod to the British Library, which commissioned the piece in 2019.

For many, the stories in these illuminated scriptures may raise the question of whether the Buddha was a historical or purely mythical figure. While interesting, this question is not the best way to approach the exhibit or the tradition itself, explained Vishvapani Blomfield, an author and Triratna Buddhist meditation teacher, during his inaugural lecture at the library on October 25. Instead, he argued, viewers should use their imagination to enter the mental world that these texts evoke and describe, so we can come closer to seeing them in their full context.

Some of the more remarkable texts invite us to stretch our imagination back to the early centuries CE. A collection of 2,000-year-old birch bark scroll fragments contain texts from the Tripitaka (the three baskets comprising the Theravada Buddhist canon) and are among the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts in the world. It was discovered inside a clay water vessel in the historical region of Gandhara (located in modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan), which was a vibrant center of cultural exchange on the Silk Road that enabled Buddhism to spread from India to East Asia. Other fragments from the Buddhist canon in the exhibit date back to the 5th century. Written in Pyu script and hammered onto gold sheets, extracts from the Vinaya Pitaka, excavated in Burma in the late 1890s, spell out rules of discipline for Theravadan monastics.

The Hyakumant Dharani or One Million Pagoda Dharani, dating 764-770 CE. Courtesy British Library Board Illustrated palm leaf Pancharaksha, from 12th-century Nepal. Courtesy British Library Board

Another emphasis in the collection is how the spread of Buddhist ideas and value systems across Asia impacted the development of new writing and printing techniques. The Hyakumanto Dharani, or One Million Pagoda Dharani [a chant or incantation] commissioned in the late 760s under Japanese Empress Shotoku, is one of the oldest existing examples of printing in Japan (and in the world). Likewise, the illustrated palm leaf Pancharaksha, a ritual text on the Five Protectors from 12th-century Nepal, testifies to the printing technologies being developed in the medieval period. There is even a station where you can touch some of the materials commonly used in manuscript production, such as palm leaves, mulberry paper, and silk. Made from paper, wood, cloth, mother of pearl, ivory, or gold, the 120 illuminated texts are exceptionally varied, but the care put into each work binds them.

Other works, like the Jataka Tales from Southeast Asia, are filled with folk wisdom and lessons about virtuous qualities. The collection also contains rare copies of the Lotus Sutra found in caves near Dunhuang, China, and various translations of the Diamond Sutra from China, Tibet, and Koreakey Mahayana sutras that convey cornerstone philosophical tenets, including Buddhist teachings on non-attachment and emptiness.

Despite the exhibitions heavy focus on text, Buddhism is not all about doctrine. It has flourished over the millennia through the living practices of its devotees, and the final section of the gallery contextualizes this idea. Copying the words of the Buddha was and still is considered a highly meritorious act. Memorizing, chanting, and listening to the recitation of sutras remains a significant part of ritual life for monastic and lay communities worldwide. The library further encourages an experiential understanding of the displayed works through an accompanying soundscape, an ambient blend of birdsong, flowing water, and gongs.

Just before leaving, viewers will pass three short films by Hong Kong-based visual artist Stanley Wong that bring to life a popular passage from the Heart Sutra, one of the many sutras found in a body of literature known as the Prajnaparamita, or Perfection of Wisdom. With a calligraphy brush and wet ink, the artist paints the words form is emptiness, emptiness is form in large Chinese characters on paved ground. Once etched, the inscription quickly fades away.

The same principle can be applied to the words of the Buddha. Scripture from antiquity to the present may be preserved in libraries and museums, but, as the Buddhism exhibition makes clear through its collection, the enduring resonance of the Buddhas teachings comes from the way they are rewritten into peoples lives in each and every era.

Buddhism is on display at the British Library through February 23, 2020. Tickets for the exhibition and events program can be purchased here: http://www.bl.uk

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The Buddhas Words Open Up Ancient Worlds at the British Library - Tricycle

As is the case with all religions, practitioners of Buddhism sometimes suffer from addiction to drugs and alcohol. If this happens, experts agree that the best way to achieve and maintain long-term sobriety is to attend a treatment program where patients receive professional help and support. Luckily, there are many Buddhist drug and alcohol rehab options available, along with many other non-Buddhist programs that offer quality care and dedicated support to Buddhists seeking recovery.

Buddhism is a religion that promotes themes such as karma, reincarnation, compassion, and non-attachment.

Buddhism contain several principles that can help condition someone to abstain or reduce dependency on harmful chemicals. Like the 12 Steps, Buddhisms spiritual concepts can help teach someone about deeper values and accountability. In understanding how cravings and attachment work in a Buddhist context, individuals can apply these principles to substance use disorders and consider this in addition to detox and medications in treatment. Two collections of doctrines used to reduce suffering include the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.

The term dukkha represents suffering that is inevitable in humankind. To exist is to suffer, and it cannot be avoided.

We cause our suffering by craving and failing to be accountable. Oftentimes, we can blame others before taking accountability for our shortcomings and cravings. The Buddha believes the root of suffering is purely mental and clinging to things that hurt us.

Ending cravings starts with letting go of the things we are attached to. This can include unhealthy or healthy relationshipsand unhealthy substances, modes of thoughts, or habits. We can change our beliefs and the way we react to external events. Understanding that life is temporary can encourage us to release things which cause suffering.

One way to escape suffering and gain enlightenment is through the Eightfold Path. This is a set of principles which encourage a Buddhist lifestyle that can produce peace, balance, and self-control. The Eightfold Path, sometimes called The Noble Eightfold Path is as follows:

Attachment can manifest in trauma, self-destructive habits, or negative lifestyle practices. Buddhist non-attachment encourages peace of mind and self-preservation. Factoring the idea of non-attachment in alcohol or drugs with the awareness that meditation can bring peace is a powerful step in attaining positive change. Buddhism also mirrors spiritual themes in 12-Step programs such as embracing a higher power and taking control of ones life. Life can range from relationships, to the relationship with ones self and ones habits. For example, Step 1 of the 12 Steps admits to powerlessness. Understanding one is powerless can signal the suffering those battling withdrawals and cravings for harmful substances experience.

Taking inventory of ones thoughts, words and actions bear a similarity to mindfulness. This is the act of practicing self-awareness and observing thoughts, usually in a meditative state, and allowing them to pass without attachment or judgement. Once individuals seeking recovery in treatment facilities gain exposure to such ideas, undergo traditional treatment methods, and meditate, true change can begin.

Fighting addiction brings several discouraging and difficult symptoms; shame, guilt, and a loss of control are a few common side effects. Thankfully, there are facilities available to assist you in overcoming substance abuse problems with themes of meditation, mindfulness, and faith-based 12-Step programs. Take charge of your future, and contact a dedicated treatment professional today.

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Buddhist Drug and Alcohol Rehab - Addiction Center

Relax.

Buddhism is a religion that has been practiced for more than 2,500 years starting in northeast India, with over 450 million followers worldwide.

Buddhism is the act of people studying how to be patient and find complete zen. It focuses on the follower's spiritual development while showing true intuition in life.

Followers practice Buddhism through meditation to find their inner zen. Finding one's zen means being fully attentive to the world around you while maintaining a complete state of calm. This is the crux of zen meditation and the art of mindfulness.

Meditation is when an individual is focusing on a singular thought or idea and removing distractions of the mind.

RELATED: The Meditation You NEED To Be Doing Regularly, Based On Your Zodiac Sign

Some meditations are guided by an outsider. Some people enter a meditative state by focusing on their breathing. Doing meditation helps people be calmer and emotionally stable.

Many people use meditation to help with anxiety, stress, improve mental health, be more self-aware, helps be more of a kind person, and research has shown it can help lower blood pressure.

Zen is feeling relaxed and is very mindful of decisions because they think in a very calm manner, which is why Buddhists practice zen it via meditation.

There are many ways to meditate such as, concentration meditation, which is when the individual focuses on a single thought while repeating a certain phrase and staring at the flame of your candle.

RELATED: 5 Of The Best Meditation Apps For Instant Stress Relief (That You Can Keep In Your Back Pocket)

Mindful meditation is my personal favorite, as it is perfect for someone like me who has a wandering mind.

Mindful meditation allows the practitioner to be fully present. The practice of mindful meditation helps quiet thoughts in order to become fully zen.

RELATED: What Happened When I Tried Guided Meditation For Anxiety In A Room Full Of Strangers

Here are a couple of meditations to help you out and calm your soul!

Breathe and focus on one thought.

During the loving-kindness meditation, you are putting positive energy towards another person and you focus on other people, this helps one feel at ease and let go of our unhappiness.

Zen meditation is the most known form of meditation because you are sitting upright and just breathing.

A sound bath uses sounds like gongs, instruments, and bowls to put someone in a calm state.

You don't have to be Buddhist to do yoga. Many people do yoga in order to be in a serene state.

A guided meditation can be any audio recording letting your mind focus on a certain story, putting you in a peaceful mindset.

RELATED: Stop Stressing Out & Do These 31 Things To Find Instant Relaxation Instead!

Danielle Vickers is a writer who covers astrology, pop culture and relationship topics.

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What Is Buddhism & 6 Meditations To Find Your Zen - YourTango

In the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, traditional Buddhist culture has helped shape government policies on the environment and the search for human happiness. Should we all follow suit?

Its my fathers house, but I look after it while hes away. Hes been gone a long time now.

As she spoke, Mrs Chozams hands were awhirl with cotton threads and the slowly growing kira (traditional wraparound clothing of Bhutanese women) that she was weaving on a traditional loom. Pausing from her work, she waved a hand vaguely towards to the north: Hes meditating in one of the caves about four hours walk further up that mountain.

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In the direction she pointed, the mountain slope rose sharply upwards from the river valley. A few stone houses with brightly painted wooden window frames clung to the lower parts of the hillside. Yellowing heads of maize drying in the weak sun hung from roof beams and around each house were a couple of small, roughly terraced fields. Up above the last house though, nature reasserted herself. Forests of rhododendrons the size of oak trees and covered in fiery red and purple flowers mixed with straight-backed conifers. All were festooned in Spanish moss like a million tangled fishermens beards. All the way up the valley there was nothing but trees until, eventually, they died away among the empty scree slopes below distant snow peaks. It seemed like a pristine Himalayan environment. Mrs Chozam glanced pensively towards the mountains. He wont come back home now until he dies.

The Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan. Rare black-necked cranes overwinter on the valley floor and local people hold a festival to celebrate their arrival each year

DEEP THOUGHTS

Landlocked and sandwiched between India and China, the tiny (its about the same size as Switzerland) Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan treads a fine balance both politically and socially. Until the 1950s, the country was sealed to the outside world and was one of the least developed countries on Earth. At the time the average life expectancy was just 33 years old, there were only two doctors in the entire country and the GNP per person was a mere $51. There was no electricity. No telephones. No postal service. No roads. No cars. Things have changed since then.

It shouldnt have been at all surprising to hear that Mrs Chozams father was going to remain meditating in a remote cave until his death. Long periods of solitary meditation are common in Bhutan. Id already met a number of people whod recently emerged from meditation. But these werent casual, an-hour-or-so-before-breakfast meditators. Almost all of them commit to spending a solid three years, three months, three weeks and three days (3,333 being an auspicious number here) confined to a cave on a forested mountain slope. During this period they can have no contact whatsoever with the outside world.

A few days earlier Id met a monk whod recently re-emerged after just such a period of meditation. The thing that shocked me the most when I returned to the monastery were the telephones, he said. Yes people had them before I went to the caves, but now all the younger monks do is stare at their phones and play games on them!

But why do it? And how do the families of those left behind feel when people go off to meditate? Mrs Chozam answered that for me: My father is now 62. He went off to the caves for three years, came back for a few months and then went back to the caves. Hes been gone nine years now. Of course I felt sad when he went. We all did. Its like youre mourning the death of someone. But at the same time we are all proud. He is not meditating for himself. He is meditating for the happiness and peace of all sentient beings. People who go off to meditate do it for the good of all the people and all creatures on Earth. Its a thing of great pride for a family when someone devotes part of their life to this. One day I too will go and meditate, but not yet. Someone has to make dinner for the children!

A young monk of the Nyingma (Red Hat) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This is the predominate school of Buddhism in Bhutan

NATURAL HAPPINESS

When the country first creaked open its doors, peeked out at the rest of the world and contemplated how to catch up, it looked to its own culture and strong Buddhist faith for answers. The result was an emphasis not on GDP (though thats increased hugely, as has life expectancy and almost all other barometers of development), but on the health and happiness of the country and all the creatures that live within its diminutive borders. It was like the entire government was following the path set by Mrs Chozams father. The government called it Gross National Happiness (GNH), striking a balance, it says, between material and mental well-being.

There are four official pillars to GNH:

Sustainable and Equitable Socio-Economic Development Good Governance Preservation and Promotion of Culture Environmental Conservation

While most governments around the world protect the environment because it provides us with the essentials of life water, food and energy the official policy of Bhutans GNH is to protect the environment, according to the Centre for Gross National Happiness, because the environment is believed to contribute to aesthetic and other stimulus that can be directly healing to people who enjoy vivid colours and light, untainted breeze and silence in natures sound.

In many ways Bhutans environmental ethos evolved from the Buddhist concept of a sacred landscape. Buddhists believe that the forests, rivers and mountains should be left as nature intended. Such is this sense of the sacrosanct environment that Bhutans highest mountains remain unclimbed. Nor will they ever be summited. Mountaineering (but not trekking) has been illegal in Bhutan since 2003 for the express reason of preserving the sanctity of the summits where the gods reside.

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Young monks peer through a window at Punakha dzong, one of the most important religious centres in Bhutan

That concept of a sacred landscape means that in Bhutan a tree is more than just a tree. Its a symbol of long life, compassion and beauty. Needless to say, the Bhutanese love trees. In 2015, the country managed to plant 50,000 new trees in just one hour (breaking the world record in the process) and when the young, and much adored, king and queens first baby was born in 2016, the country celebrated by planting tens of thousands of trees.

But more importantly, because of the GNH policy and Buddhisms non-harm to all living beings attitude, this is a place that values its forests. By law, at least 60 per cent of the country must retain its natural forest cover for future generations, but right now an impressive 71 per cent of the country is forested (and its not like the remaining 29 per cent is urban or agricultural land. Large parts of upland Bhutan are above the tree line and are pristine alpine wilderness).

In terms of environmental protection Bhutan is way ahead of most Asian nations most nations of the world in fact. In 1999, long before it became fashionable, Bhutan became one of the first countries to partially (and now totally) ban plastic bags; its aiming to have 100 per cent organic farming in the coming few years, and, most impressively, its the planets only carbon negative country (although as development and the demand for cars increases this will become harder to maintain and so Bhutan is aiming to remain at the very least carbon neutral).

By 2030 the country also aims to be totally waste neutral. Almost half (47.3 per cent) of Bhutans surface area is classified (and thus protected) as national parks and sanctuaries. This makes it the fourth best protected country in the world. These parks are efficiently maintained and there are stiff laws in place for poaching or logging in such zones.

In May 2019, a UN report stated that one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction and that nature across the world is declining at speeds never previously seen. The reasons? Our need for ever more food and energy. The report went on to state that these trends could be halted but that it would take a transformative change in every aspect of how humanity interacts with the natural world. One of the ways the report suggested that things could change is for the world to move away from the limited paradigm of economic growth, i.e. to stop using GDP as a key measure of economic wealth and instead move to a system that measures the quality of human life and our long-term effects on the environment. That sounds a lot like Bhutans Gross National Happiness scale.

Masked dancers at one of Bhutans tsechus. These religious festivals are renowned for the elaborate costumes and masked dances

CRANE DANCE

A week or two after my meeting with Mrs Chozam I was walking across the hills that ring the glorious Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan. At the crest of one hill colourful bundles of prayer flags fluttered in the breeze. My guide pointed into a cluster of trees on the opposite hillside. There are mediation caves among those trees, he informed me.

Just then a distinct, raspy squawk echoed across the skies above us. A flock of black-necked cranes circled once, twice and then a third time before landing in the marshes below the large Gangtey Monastery. My guide smiled. The cranes are back, he said with a degree of pleasure. Every autumn they come from Tibet. They always circle the monastery three times. Theyre doing a Kora (religious circumambulation). The people here will be happy. Theyll hold a festival in a few weeks time to welcome the cranes back to the valley.

In a 2016 TED Talk, the then prime minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobhay, ended with a challenge to the global community: I invite you to help me, to carry this dream beyond our borders to all those who care about our planets future. After all, were here to dream together, to work together, to fight climate change together, to protect our planet together. Because the reality is we are in it together.

Meditating for the benefit of all life on Earth, protecting the natural world just for the inherent pleasure it can bring to us, and holding festivals to welcome migrating birds. As the cranes settled down to feed I couldnt help but think that this little-known nation has much to teach the world.

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Sen. Cory Booker is down in the 2020 polls and yet has long seemed poised for a breakout moment. He is more qualified than some frontrunners, quite popular among Democratic activists, and the last black candidate with a decent shot after Sen. Kamala Harriss withdrawal. Hes an acceptable choice to many people across the partys big ideological divide.

Hes also been somewhat difficult to peg on the ideological spectrum. Slates Jordan Weissman, who plans to vote for either Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders, recently called him the best moderate in the field. But is calling him a moderate right? Its true that Booker has a record of centrism on some economic issues, particularly relating to education and finance, but he also co-sponsored the Green New Deal resolution. Hes the most progressive candidate in the field on criminal justice, and a vegan who recently proposed legislation aimed at shuttering factory farms.

I decided to call up Booker and find out what he really believes. But instead of talking about policy specifics, I engaged Booker on his big-picture view of the world. Does he think liberal democracy is under threat in America? What does he make of the rise of socialism on the American left? Are critics right that Democrats are focusing on identity politics too much? How does his veganism fit into his broader worldview?

Booker described a vision centered on the political value of justice, drawing on both Jesse Jacksons 1988 presidential run and Obamas 2008 victory as models. Booker emphasized what he terms the intersectionality of all life: the idea that humans of all backgrounds, as well as non-human animals, are bound up in webs of mutual interdependence.

We share a common destiny, Booker says. You cannot have one sector of our country held down without the whole country being lowered as a result.

What follows is a transcript of our conversation, which ranges from problems of short-termism in American capitalism to W.E.B. DuBoiss psychological wage to philosopher Peter Singers theory of the expanding moral circle. Its been edited for length and clarity.

I want to start with a question thats been bothering me for a while: Can we talk about the GOP as a party thats committed to core basic values like democracy, individual rights, and the rule of law?

I have been very confused by the modern Republican Party, especially now in the time of Donald Trump, where a lot of the values that they speak to seem to be being butchered by the policies that are coming out, and even the rhetoric now thats coming out. It is very difficult for me to even think of the Republican Party as having any kind of governing philosophy that is informing policy and decisions, when in the time of Trump, it just seems to be more transactional and corrupted by the interests of large concentrations of wealth.

The problem is that this kind of thing tends toward some kind of autocratization, right? Look at a country like Hungary, where you have institutionalized corruption as a means of propping up a ruling elite. How should we think about similar threats to American democracy?

I have deep, deep concerns about the shifting toward oligarchic power, especially after decisions like Citizens United that are allowing even more exertion of power and corruption within our political system. We see that these corrupting forces are already having a pretty significant effect on our democracy.

The powerful corporate interests now are actually undermining the very ideals of capitalism and entrepreneurship. New business starts are going down in our country; short-termism within our [economy] is allowing forces of greed to even undermine the interests of capital allocation.

We have now seen an economy where someone who is being born now has less of a chance to make it. Ninety percent of baby boomers did better economically than their parents. Now its down to 50-50 for a millennial.

So can you see why a lot of people in my generation are starting to become more sympathetic to socialism?

Gosh, I know that and we could discuss the word socialism if you want.

As a guy that lives in a black and brown community, the framing from my culture and my community is just one of justice.

From my perspective, one of the biggest economic instruments of suppression in our country has been the criminal justice system that Michelle Alexander rightfully calls the new Jim Crow. Blacks are stunningly disempowered in the electoral system. And voting rights and criminal justice issues, all of these things are also wound into economic rights. Villanova researchers did a study about America having 20 percent less poverty [had mass incarceration not occurred].

These are justice issues [more] than the issues that often are bandied about by political elites.

These are issues of economic justice, of environmental injustice, of criminal injustice, of equal access to health care, to education, disparate treatment in everything from school discipline to hiring practices in this country.

This justice framing is really interesting to me, especially as a counterpoint to language like socialism. It seems to sidestep or play into depending on who youre talking to a style of politics thats been derisively referred to as identity politics by critics on both the left and the right.

What do you make of the discourse surrounding identity politics and its role in the current Democratic coalition?

My talking about justice is not in any way a politics of identity. Its a politics of trying to create again this understanding that were all in this together that you cannot have a nation thats [divided] along racial lines and think that you are going to have a nation of strength economically, morally, and competitively on a global context. Were a nation that does best when we tear down walls of division or inequity and build larger coalitions.

The Democratic Party is a party that does best when it revives what Jesse Jackson called the Rainbow Coalition, what many people now call the Obama Coalition.

So you reject the argument that focusing on and highlighting the marginalization of minority groups is divisive in any way? Because a lot of the critics say, Well, you cant have the shared politics of national unity that youre describing so long as you continue to talk about specific groups through the lens of their particular, non-universal experiences.

Well, I think that the capacity of our country to understand that addressing injustice and inequity in certain racial groups is a national cause. I just think we underestimate that, and our history speaks to a different understanding. You had the abolitionist movement based upon this ideal that the dignity and humanity of black Americans who were slaves cannot be denied without it somehow affecting the humanity of white Americans. You had incredible sacrifices by Quakers who were willing to put their very lives at risk to help build coalitions with black slaves and escaped slaves to build the Underground Railroad.

Were not defined by the wretchedness and bigotry and hate that weve seen in every chapter of our politics. We are always defined, I think, by the willingness and ability of our country to create coalitions to overcome that. I think that you do not make this a better America when you try to sweep injustices, whether they be racial or religious injustices or gender-based injustice, under the rug. I think you actually weaken America when you dont speak to that truth.

I think a lot about W.E.B. Du Boiss concept of the psychological wage of whiteness. You know, the theory that people derive psychological satisfaction and benefits from being members of the dominant group. How do you deal with that as a problem out there among the electorate? Or do you think thats the wrong way to think about things?

I think its just too simplistic of a description of our society as a whole. It seals people within permanent boxes of judgment, as opposed to understanding that we are all people in evolution.

You and I, right now, are two men having this conversation. [One could] say the totality of our being is binary, either we are sexist or we are not. Thats opposed to recognizing that you and I must wrestle with the sexism that is within the larger society consistently, or we are contributing to it, or complacent in the face of it.

People are not binary. People are all always in development, always in struggle. We are a nation always struggling to manifest the best of our ideals.

[House representative and civil rights icon] John Lewis once told me the story of a man who actually beat him up during the civil rights movement coming to his office with his child and asking him for forgiveness. Lewis told me that he did so, and how important it is to extend to people forgiveness in a recognition of their humanity and their ability when they are willing to own up to their injustice, their ability to grow and how, in many ways, his humanity and that mans humanity were interwoven and interdependent.

This is why I caution the Democratic Party, who wants to put every Trump voter in some kind of binary box and cast a condemnation upon them, as opposed to recognizing not just their dignity and humanity, but how our well-being as a country is interdependent, and how we need each other. As we descend as a culture into deeper and deeper tribalism, where we hate each other just because we vote differently, that in itself could be our demise unless we start finding ways to reignite in our culture those ideals of grace and forgiveness and truth telling. That is ultimately the pathway for our salvation.

When you talk about that, I actually think of a concept developed by one of your constituents, the Princeton philosopher Peter Singer and his idea of the expanding moral circle, that over the course of time we can open and broaden our minds through moral improvement as not just individuals, but as a collective, to giving status and standing to different groups.

Now, youre a vegan. Do you think, as Singer does, that the next frontier in our fight for equality is the moral status of animals and improving them on a social level?

Your animal question is so ... God, I would love to do a whole [interview] on this.

I dont think people understand how destructive corporate multinational animal agriculture is to our environment. Its the main reason for rainforest destruction and the poisoning of our water systems. The way we are doing it is so divorced from our heritage of animal agriculture in this country.

Its not just these massive CAFOs [concentrated animal feeding operations, a.k.a. factory farms] and the treatment of animals, which would shock the [conscience] of anybody in our country. But its also our own survival as a species being deeply compromised by the way that animal agriculture has now evolved into corporate culture, affecting everything from fast fashion all the way to the corporate monopolies that are driving down relative wages in this country.

I believe that our food systems can be made more robust, that farmers can be the pathway out of climate crisis that theres so many ways to do this right that can elevate human well-being with a consciousness toward our treatment of animals and our treatment of the environment as a whole.

There are two issues here that are sort of connected because theyre about the moral frontiers of our politics. One is about the way that we treat each other and the way that hostile partisanship has taken hold over our minds, and the other about how we can expand our circle of moral concern to nonhuman animals.

What can we do concretely as a polity to deal with these kinds of issues of moral status and consideration for each other and other beings? Is it just a rhetorical thing? From our leaders, I mean, not just civic organizations. Or are there policies that can change the very way that we think about our moral world?

Its not either-or, its all of the above. Ive seen this on multiple occasions: The more we know, the better we do.

[Think of] the concept of bycatch in the world of fishing, these massive nets picking, killing, and casting back into the sea 50 percent of what they pick up. The CAFOs right now in places like Duplin County [in North Carolina], which are causing out-of-control respiratory diseases and cancers in low-income communities. I mean, the more we know, the more these practices are exposed, the better we will do. So yeah, leaders that can help to expand understanding are often the leaders that help better motivate change.

I just think that all of the things that you talked about really keep speaking towards not just the intersectionality of humans, but the intersectionality of every aspect of our planet. If we are going to sustain ourselves as a species and this is both our economic prosperity as well as our very lives and existence we have to start having policies that are far more conscious to that intersectionality of life itself.

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Cory Booker on socialism, identity politics, and animal rights - Vox.com

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 12: Quarterback Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens drops back ... [+] to pass against the defense of the New York Jets during the game at M&T Bank Stadium on December 12, 2019 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

There is an undeniable exhilaration in watching Lamar Jackson play quarterback.

Part of it is the human response to observing someone expressing themselves so completely in their work: his amazing speed and elusiveness; his unconventional but increasingly deadly throwing ability; his irrepressable competitiveness and joy.

But its also more than that. Maybe watching Jackson and the juggernaut Ravens power through their 10-game winning streak and lead the NFL in scoring is seeing a once unsolveable riddle answered with dumbfounding simplicity.

What kind of player is the ideal quarterback?

Hes the best athlete on the field.

Its that phrasing analysts have used to explain how the likely 2019 NFL MVP overcomes the defenses ability to set the edge or pressure up the middle. They say it knowing even casual fans understand how unusual it is that the teams best athete is also the one commanding the huddle and calling out the signals.

Usually, the honor is reserved for the wide receiver Jackson would be throwing to, the cornerback who is covering, or the running back who sold the fake handoff to set up the playaction pass.

But why shouldnt the quarterback be that gifted? Doesnt that make sense? Is it really so revolutionary that the Ravens have taken the most important position on their roster and filled it with a player who possesses the most all-around athletic talent? Isnt that how it goes in pretty much all other sports?

In a word: Duh!

Jackson and the Ravens may be giving football fans, coaches and talent evaluators that feeling of sudden, earth-shattering clarity when a seemingly obvious truth reveals itself. Its like when your friend who always struggled at dating comes out of the closet, or when your mom reveals your misfit brother is adopted.

As mentioned already, football is pretty much alone in pushing its superior athletes away from the games seminal position, beginning in Pop Warner and continuing all the way through the pros.

Youd be hard pressed to find any player in MLB who didnt spend a considerable stretch of his youth career pitching or playing catcher, shortstop or center field. Those who can catch, play short or center at a big league level stay there. Those who cant but can still hit big league pitching get moved to the corner infield or outfield spots.

In soccer and hockey, those capable of combining technical and athletic talent get to touch the ball or puck most often. Those who have a deficit in one or the other are more often asked to defend.

And in the NBA, the combo guard/forward is most coveted the player with enough elusiveness to create and convert his own shot, and enough vision to set up someone elses. Think MVPs of the last decade: LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Essentially, Jackson is footballs answer to the combo guard, a runner and passer of equal aplomb who sees what the defense defends and then attacks the opposite. And its impossible to believe hes the only person who has ever possessed that skillset who wanted to play quarterback. Michael Vick already did so at the NFL level, but wasnt fortunate enough to have a team construct its offense around his stengths.

But most players of that profile havent been afforded the opportunity, for any number of reasons. Theres the evolution of quarterback as an increasingly important position over time, conscious and subconscious racist beliefs about the intelligence of black players, rational and irrational fears over a mobile quarterbacks health, and the lack of margin for error in a season with so few games.

With Jacksons arrival, we may be seeing the destruction of all of those arguments, and in their place the construction of a new paradigm, that footballs best athletes should be groomed for the sports most important position. It all sounds so simple. Exhilaratingly so.

Originally posted here:
Lamar Jackson Is The Best Athlete On The Field Oddly, Thats Revolutionary - Forbes

Stunning! is the first word that comes to mind when walking into Richard D. Weis exhibit at the stART Space gallery in Manchester.

The color and light of his gestural paintings fill the space. Weis fascination with Asian brush drawing, which is evident in the exhibit, goes back to his time as a student in Bemidji, Minnesota where he grew up and also attended university. The 29 works on display for the first time are the result of his life-long commitment to the study of various painting techniques, from the Old Masters to his most recent experiments with new media.

Figure: Dancing with Matisse and Wanna Dance? are both works that burst with movement. The Matisse piece makes reference to the cutout shapes that Matisse used in his later work, and although quite abstracted, the sense of a colorful dancing figure fills the canvas. Wanna Dance? was inspired by watching a couple at a Stone Valley Arts event. The bold red and black have a Spanish feel and give the impression of a Spanish dancer with romantic veils and a swirling skirt.

Northwest Passage, with its deep hues of various shades of blue, has a feeling of broad, open water. Diagonal strokes of red punctuate the painting and set up a dialogue with terse strokes of a rich primary yellow, providing an unexpected zing. Its an unusually textured composition, and Weis talks about painting over canvases that hes not entirely happy with. In this case, the hidden underlying forms really serve to enhance the piece.

Weis sometimes breaks his paintings up into grids, as in Border Crossings: Undercurrent and Unbound. The latter is a composition of six canvases that combine painting and collage. Bold brush strokes in black, purple and yellow combine with torn swatches of newspaper in an intriguing study of patterns. A red circle integrated into the painting is actually Weis name in Korean. In 2003, Weis spent six months in Daejon, South Korea at Hannam University, which gave him time to reassess his work and to explore his lifelong love of brush painting.

Weis drew the title of the exhibit Beyond Words from his favorite poet, Auden, who wrote, to discover what it is to be human now is the reason we follow this star. For Weis, painting is the way to express what is most difficult to verbalize. His daily practice of painting attests to his deep commitment to the process of making art, and following his own star.

When I visited his studio on the top floor of the 1906 Journal Press Building in Poultney, I was struck by the sheer number of canvases, ranging from smallish to over six feet in height. Weis is a complex, and very honest artist who is constantly experimenting and attempting to keep the work fresh. He talks about painting being a trace of the journey that the painter has gone through to produce the work an essentially mysterious process. I ask him some questions about his artistic practice in creating the works that now form the Beyond Words exhibit.

B.A.: What criteria did you use when choosing the works for this show? I know that youve said that most of them had never been shown before.

R.W.: Hmmm great question. The works in this show are just a small part of what I have done in the past 18 months, and I wanted the show to be mostly of new work that has not been exhibited before. My basic process is to set a lot of work out in the studio all at once and see how they talk to each other.

The quality and interactive coherence of the works is of importance. I consider the exhibit itself a work of art in a way, and I want the exhibition to have a life that goes beyond individual pieces.

B.A.: What have been the major influences on your work? What was the effect of your Fulbright at Hannam University in South Korea on your evolution as an artist?

R.W: I had very little exposure to art or artists as a child in northern Minnesota. My greatest influence was Keith Malmquist, my junior high art teacher. After serving a stint in the army he went off to study with Josef Albers and returned to teach at Bemidji State College where he introduced me to the Bauhaus, color theory, and artists like Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Later, living in Washington D.C., I haunted the Rembrandt room in the National Gallery, reexamined my early interest in Asian brush painting, and discovered artists like Robert Irwin. I am intrigued by the way different artists think, the variety of ways people perceive the world and express their thoughts in visual terms.

During my Fulbright in South Korea, I arranged meetings and studio visits with about 75 Korean artists. Many of these artists had been to the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont and we had a lot of fantastic discussions. Even though the work was quite diverse, I began to see that there was a cultural underpinning, or foundation in their work that was reflected in their heightened sensitivity to the qualities of the materials they were using. I came back with a renewed sense of the important relationship between craftsmanship and expressive form.

B.A.: Why do you involve yourself in every step of the process, choosing a particular weave of canvas, stretching it, making frames, etc.?

R.W: It started simply when, as a young artist I didnt have the resources to buy ready-made materials, so I learned to make the most of what I did have available. The materials themselves sometimes suggested avenues of exploration. I began to really appreciate how the artists understanding of materials, at all levels, related to the expressive quality of the work. Being conscious of ones materials, their potential and limitations, is important.

B.A.: You taught for 21 years at Green Mountain College. What is the relationship between teaching and your own art practice?

R.W.: The strongest relationship between teaching and my own practice is what I learned from the students. Each day we were together, talking the game, talking about art and what we were doing. This forced me to reevaluate my own practice on a regular basis. I really liked teaching in the liberal arts program, working with students with a variety of interests who were coming from a variety of backgrounds. The broadened insight I gained from this was helpful in my own work.

B.A.: Do you have a favorite medium? Is it difficult to combine different media as you do in many of your works?

R.W.: Each medium has potentials and limitations that others do not have, so what is my favorite probably depends upon what I am working with at the time. I switched to acrylic for much of my work because of the health dangers of traditional solvents. I do still use oils on occasion, but am exploring the new water-cleanup oil mediums. For drawing, I really like ink/wash drawing using bamboo sticks as a drawing tool. Sometimes I combine media so I can make the most of the unique qualities each media provides.

B.A.: I notice titles like Present Tense, The Sorting of the Day and Morning Muse. Are these reflective of your daily painting practice and working methods?

R.W.: Sometimes I have a grand idea that has been fermenting for a long time before I actually approach it in a painting. Often though, I use what the day will give me. I am constantly trying to be aware of the world around me and use the art as an exploratory tool for things that catch my attention or shape my life on a daily basis. Sometimes these explorations, the very process, will take me places I hadnt expected, and I find that really exciting. I think of the paintings as artifacts of the journey I am taking.

Go here to see the original:
'Beyond Words': Richard D. Weis explores 'what it is to be human' - Rutland Herald

If you have to force yourself up off your couch to try to get in some physical activity, rest assured, you are not the only one in this situation. For decades, communication campaigns have encouraged us to exercise, yet an estimated 30% of adults arent active enough. And this inaction is constantly increasing everywhere on the planet.

France is no exception to this rule. If doing more physical activity is classed in the top five good resolutions for the New Year, 75% French people are not sufficiently active. And yet according to the World Health Organisation, each year 3.2 million deaths can be attributed to this lack of physical activity, that is one death every 10 seconds.

This observation raises the question: why are we incapable of being physically active even when we want to?

To understand this battle between our positive intentions and our contradictory impulses, scientific theories such as dual process models have been developed. In these models, the mechanisms that explain our behaviour are divided into two categories: the rational mechanisms, managed by the reflective system, and the emotional mechanisms, managed by the impulsive system. The latter organises the automatic and instinctive part of our behaviours. It can facilitate or, on the contrary, prevent the reflective system from putting our intentions into place.

This second instance has been clearly illustrated in a study we have conducted. Its goal was to understand the conditions of efficacy of the messages promoting physical activity. In other words, we wanted to find out if reason can win out over our impulses when it comes to motivating ourselves to be more physically active.

First, participants had to attend a presentation outlining the recommendations in regards to physical activity that is beneficial to their health (30 minutes of daily exercise, spread out in sessions of 10 minutes minimum). To measure their impulsive tendency to approach sedentary behaviours, they were asked to perform an experimental task, the manikin game.

This game consists in moving around an avatar on a computer screen using a keyboard. In one of the conditions of the experiment, the participant has to move the avatar as fast as possible toward images representing physical activity (walking, biking, swimming) and move it away from images representing a sedentary activity (television, hammocks, escalators). In the other condition, it is the opposite; the avatar has to be moved toward images evoking sedentary activities and moved away from the exercise images. The faster the participant is to approach sedentary images versus moving away from them, the more their impulsive tendency toward a sedentary lifestyle is considered to be high.

After this task, participants were given an accelerometer destined to record their daily physical activity and were sent on their way home. A week later, the debriefing took place.

First, results revealed that participants who received the message promoting physical activity expressed an increased intention to exercise. Thus, well-formulated health messages prove to be effective in triggering an intention. However, having the intention of exercising does not mean that we will actually do it, and all participants did not succeed in converting their intentions into behaviours.

Only those with a low impulsive tendency to approach sedentary behaviours were successful. Conversely, participants with a high tendency were not able to transform their intention into action. In other words, the conscious intention of being active lost the battle against the automatic tendency to seek sedentary behaviours.

Why are these sedentary behaviours attractive when they are harmful to our health?

If this attraction toward sedentarity seems paradoxical today, it is logical when examined in the light of evolution. Indeed, when it was difficult to gain access to food, sedentary behaviours allowed for the saving of energy that was crucial for survival.

This tendency to minimise unnecessary effort could explain the current pandemic of physical inactivity since the genes allowing individuals to survive are more likely to be present in the next generation.

In a recent study, we aimed to assess if our automatic attraction toward sedentary behaviours is engraved in our brains. The participants in this study also had to play the manikin game, but this time, electrodes were measuring their brain activity.

The results of this experiment show that to get away from sedentarity images, our brain has to deploy a greater amount of resources than to get away from physical activity images. In daily life, getting away from the omnipresent opportunities to be sedentary in our modern environment (escalators, elevators, cars) would therefore require us to beat this sedentary attraction that is ingrained in our brains.

Nevertheless, it should not be believed that we have solely evolved to minimise unnecessary effort; we have also evolved to be physically active. Nearly 2 million years ago, when our ancestors were adapting to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, physical activity became an integral part of their daily life: they travelled on average 14 km per day.

Natural selection thus favours individuals that are able to amass a large quantity of physical activity in an energy-saving way. These individuals were the ones whose physical activity was associated with the secretion of pain relieving, anxiolytic, or even mood-enhancing hormones.

The good news is that these hormonal processes are always present within us and they are only waiting for one thing: to be solicited. The first step toward an active lifestyle is to become aware of this force that is driving us to minimise effort. This awareness allows us to resist the countless sedentary opportunities that surround us.

Moreover, much like our ancestors, the majority of us engage in a physical activity only when it is fun or necessary, so the best way to promote physical activity is to make it pleasant. It is therefore necessary to (re)structure our environment to favour it, especially during our daily trips.

Public policy should for example develop safe and well-maintained infrastructures and open public spaces, in order to favour access to places that are suitable for walking, biking and any other physical activity. New buildings architecture should also encourage our physical activity during the day by prioritising access to the stairs, or standing desks, etc.

It is then up to us to know how to take advantage of these opportunities to reduce our sedentarity Come on, lets get on our trainers!

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We are programmed to be lazy - The Conversation CA

The meeting in which the new image that Juventus would present to the world was first mapped out took place in a small ground-floor office at the club's former headquarters on Corso Galileo Ferraris in central Turin in the spring of 2016.

In attendance were Giorgio Ricci, Juve's head of global partnerships and corporate revenues, brand development manager Luca Adornato, head of brand, licensing and retail Silvio Vigato, brand manager Daniele Lunazzi,head of marketing and digital Federico Palomba and head of communications Claudio Albanese, along with representatives from New York-based brand consultancy Interbrand.

As rain drummed against the windows outside, the Interbrand team delivered a 20-minute presentation, during which they shared their vision of how to rebrand the club. The wide-ranging pitch featured a slick reworking of the Juventus logo as a simple, stylised letter "J."

Juve's officials were struck by the boldness of the proposed revamp. Although they were conscious that moving away from the existing crest would risk angering longstanding supporters, the radical redesign chimed with their desire to extend the club's reach into new markets.

"The idea of the rebrand was to reposition the club in the wider entertainment industry as a brand that was able to deliver lifestyle experiences," Ricci, who is now Juve's chief revenue officer, told Bleacher Report. "It was about being able to be identified as something wider than a pure football brand."

The reworked logo would ultimately form the centrepiece of the striking new visual identity that Juventus unveiled in Milan in January 2017. The glitzy launch event, attended by 500 guests, took place during Milan Fashion Week, which was no coincidence. The venue was deliberately, even a little provocatively, chosen to show that the new Juventus would cross boundaries in unexpected ways and that, while rooted in Turin, it was a club eager to do business with the whole world.

The goal of the facelift was to make Juventus appeal to what the club's marketing men termed "entertainment enthusiasts": global consumers of different ages and backgrounds who could be persuaded to buy into the Juve brand because it held the promise of new and exciting experiences, in the same way that people associate themselves with Red Bull, Ferrari and Harley-Davidson even if they have never drunk an energy drink, driven a sports car or ridden a motorbike.

"We needed to create an attitude brand: a brand that would capture the imaginations of people who were not necessarily into football," said Manfredi Ricca, Interbrand's global chief strategy officer, who played a leading role in the rebrand.

"We needed to look at the great, fast-growing global brands that are able to synthesise and personify an attitude. We needed to look at the Nikes and the Adidases of this world, at the Chanels and the Louis Vuittons and the Guccis. Those are the brands that stand for a clear feeling and attitude and emotion.

"If you look at the identity of Juventus, the stark simplicity of it lines up much better with a Gucci monogram or a Nike swoosh than it does with very elaborate, legacy-driven [football] crests."

The new-look Juve did not take long to move into new territories. In the three years since the rebrand went live, the club has starred in a Netflix documentary, launched a cartoon series on YouTube Kids, co-hosted a New York club night with online music platform Boiler Room, collaborated on a clothing line with London-based skate brand Palace and even supported an exhibition of innovative pipe joints at Milan Design Week. The goal of all these new activities (known in the industry as "brand stretching") has been to transform Juventus into a global brand that transcends football.

"Their ambition is to go from a very successful Italian football team to one of the biggest sporting brands in the world," Misha Sher, vice-president of media agency MediaCom Sport and Entertainment, told Bleacher Report. "It's about having relevance and profile in what is a very cluttered entertainment world."

Juve's innovative marketing manoeuvres have accompanied the club's attempts to move to the next level on the pitch, where eight years of unbroken dominance in Serie A have been offset by recurrent failures to go all the way in the UEFA Champions League. The twin objectives of on-pitch success and off-pitch growth coalesced perfectly in the summer of 2018 when Juventus succeeded in signing Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid for an Italian-record fee of 100 million.

In addition to his on-pitch impact, Ronaldo's presence has been strongly felt at commercial level, with Juve's merchandising sales almost doubling in his first full season and the club's digital following swelling by over 50 percent to around 90 million followers.

Allied to the rebrand, the arrival of one of the most marketable figures in world sport has further served to enhance Juve's appeal to the young populations found in key growth markets such as China and the United States. Juve cannot compete with the television revenues enjoyed by their competitors in England and Spain, but as a slew of new deals with brands such as Budweiser, Coca-Cola and Japanese video game manufacturer Konami demonstrate, a player like Ronaldo can unlock commercial opportunities all on his own.

"There's more eyeballs on the club with Ronaldo," said Sher. "And if there's more eyeballs on the club, their ability to generate commercial revenue goes up significantly."

One challenge facing Juventus is how to durably secure the affections of the predominantly young supporters who have only started following the team's fortunes since Ronaldo joined. The Portugal superstar turns 35 in February and will not remain in Turin forever, but Juve's marketing team is confident that many of the relationships being built with the club's new fans will survive his eventual departure.

"The most important KPI [key performance indicator] that we're monitoring now is not the number of followers or fans within our media platform, but the level of engagement. And the level of engagement is higher than what we had 18 months ago," explained Ricci.

"It means that we're not only bringing people onto our platform, but we're engaging them. We're engaging them through content that is not only based around Cristiano, but based around our story, the club and the engagement activity that we're doing. This is basically our strategy. With this we're building our future."

Securing Ronaldo's commercial legacy forms part of a five-year business development plan that covers the period between 2019 and 2024. The plan details some of the key trends that Juve's marketing executives believe will shape the immediate future of the football industry, which include: greater crossover between sport and lifestyle branding; an increase in the prominence of individual players' media profiles; the continued growth of women's football (Juve launched a women's team in 2017); and the ongoing development of esports (an industry that Juve entered recently in partnership with Konami).

The most significant trend pinpointed in the plan centres around the evolution in the way that young people consume football. Ricci offers a stark assessment that "young generations are no longer interested in live matches," which is moving Juve to plough resources into developing other kinds of content, such as highlights packages and behind-the-scenes footage.

To that end, the most significant portion of the investment allotted to the business development programme has gone into the creation of a powerful CRM (customer relationship management)platform, which will enable the club to engage with supporters even more directly than it does currently.

"We're investing a lot in our digital platform," Ricci said. "We're building our own communication platform, which will be able to deliver content directly to our fans without being mediated by the broadcasters. This is the key trend that will completely change the football industry over the next five years."

Juve's domestic dominance on the pitch may be under threat from Inter Milan and Lazio this season, but in off-pitch matters, they continue to soar. Turnover jumped from 172 million in the 2010-11 season to 621 million in the 2018-19 campaign, with the club's value rocketing from 162 million to 1.47 billion over the same period. Following lucrative renegotiations over the last 12 months, the club's partnerships with kit manufacturer Adidas and principal sponsor Jeep are now collectively worth over 100 million a year. And the club is hungry for more.

"We must view 2019, 2020, this season,this assembly, as a new year zero for Juventus," president Andrea Agnelli told shareholders in October. "It is time to think big."

On a global scale, Juve still lag behind European football's true heavyweights and slipped to 11th place in the most recent edition of accounting firm Deloitte's Football Money League, which ranks clubs according to annual revenue. But while the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United remain the front-runners, Juve are convinced that by harnessing the opportunities created by their rebrand, by piggybacking on the massive global appeal of Ronaldo and by consistently thinking outside the box, they can begin to close the gap.

"In order to reach the current level of clubs like Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona, we cannot follow their course," Ricci said.

"They're part of a completely different domestic system and they're leveraging the strength of their system a lot. They've done it over the last 10 years, most importantly. But we feel like we're younger. So what we're doing is trying to reach the same level of those clubs, but by following our own way."

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Rebranding Juventus: How a New Logo and Ronaldo Have Changed Everything - Bleacher Report