Why Bill and Melinda Gates think time and energy are global superpowers.
Bill and Melinda Gates released their annual letter. Get excited.
Bill and Melinda Gates were chatting with high schoolers when they were asked, "If you could have one superpower, what would it be?"
Their answers to that question may seem pretty simple (and even a little bit boring). But don't be fooled ... they were more clever than they seem.
Melinda said she would want to have more time, and Bill said he would want more energy.
Of course, those super powers could apply to having, say, an additional hour to unwind at the end of a stressful day in Melinda's case or getting an extra energy boost at 3 p.m. (without relying on a third cup of coffee) in Bill's. But, as the duo explained in their foundation's annual letter, which was released this week, it would be great if their superpowers were also applicable to the whole world.
Being time poor (as one might call it) can change the trajectory of a person's whole life.
Yes, food, water, and shelter are all very important (obviously). But it's easy to forget that having access to energy — to charge your phone, wash your clothes, cook your food, get online — has an enormous impact on the time you spend every day simply trying to survive.
When people have more access to energy, that means people have more time, which Bill and Melinda explain will dramatically increase the quality of life for those in developing countries. It is these two interwoven factors — time and energy — that the Gateses focused on in their foundation's annual letter, and these three eye-opening infographics they chose to highlight show we definitely have room for improvement throughout the world:
1. Girls and women spend far more time doing unpaid work — especially in developing nations.
And "it's not just about fairness," according to the Gateses; as the letter reads, "assigning most unpaid work to women harms everyone: men, women, boys, and girls."
On average, women globally spend four and a half hours doing unpaid work — stuff that needs to get done by somebody in order for a society to function (caring for their children, preparing meals, etc.). For men, it's less than half that amount of time.
Graph via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, used with permission.
Time poverty is a problem in two ways: It's sexist, and it especially hurts people in poor countries.
Take water, for instance. In most places in America, getting clean water is as easy as turning on a faucet. In poor countries, people — often young girls — spend hours every day walking miles to fetch it from a well. For a young person in a poor country — again, more times than not we're talking about girls — fetching water is more important than going to school, getting a job, and (eventually) living financially independent.
"Unless things change, girls today will spend hundreds of thousands more hours than boys doing unpaid work simply because society assumes it’s their responsibility," the Gateses wrote in their letter.
This not only hinders women on an individual level, it hinders a country's overall economic potential. When a woman is stuck fetching water instead of, say, opening a business, it's a bad thing for everyone.
And that brings us to energy.
2. In order to power the world, we need more clean, cheap energy.
Remember that woman who's fetching water? She'd have more time to go to school or start a business if she had access to tap water in her own home. Or an electric stove to prepare meals. Or a car to drive into town.
Having access to an energy source "means you can run hospitals, light up schools, and use tractors to grow more food," the Gateses wrote. And that makes a huge difference when it comes to quality of life.
It's not just enough to have access to energy; energy needs to be clean and cheap. The cheaper the energy, the more people who can afford it, and the cleaner the energy, the better off we'll all be tomorrow.
The good news? The world is slowly losing its dependence on carbon-emitting energy sources.
The bad news? We've got a long way to go.
Graph via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, used with permission.
Some sources like the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the International Energy Administration put the percent of world renewable-resource energy as high as 13% as of 2012, but still — not that great, right?
It may not seem that important that our new energy sources are clean, seeing as poorer countries are in dire need of it. But it is vital we stay away from oil and coal looking forward because poor countries are actually hit worst when the world spews carbon into our atmosphere.
Which brings us to the point raised in the next chart:
3. The world became increasingly addicted to fossil fuels throughout the 20th century, and poor countries paid the most.
The more fossil fuels we burn, the more carbon is in our air, thus making the planet warmer. And in case you haven't heard, it's been pretty hot out there recently (and it has been for awhile).
See how much the line below spikes upward between about 1950 and 2010? Yeah, not good.
Graph via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, used with permission.
Probably the most unjust thing about climate change, however, is that the people who contribute to it the least — those in underserved countries, who've used relatively little energy — have been affected the most.
Many people in poor countries rely on agriculture to survive. And when temperatures fluctuate or farmers get too much or too little rain, crops don't grow. When people live directly off the land in their own backyards, they're far more vulnerable to a changing climate.
What's more, a warming planet means more devastating (and frequent) storms. Poor countries don't have the infrastructures in place to be able to recover quickly from, say, a destructive hurricane, so their economies and livelihoods can be drastically affected by just one natural disaster.
But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We're finally reducing our collective carbon footprint in substantial ways because world leaders have prioritized clean energy in recent years. In fact, 2015 may just be the first year that the global economy has grown while carbon output plateaued (or even declined). Things (not temperatures) are looking up.
Now Bill and Melinda want to know — what would be your superpower?
Something that helps eradicate disease? Provides more access to clean water?
Join the conversation and answer the question "What can you do to improve the world?" by tweeting and posting with the hashtag #SuperpowerForGood.
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.