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[Essay] Going Soft

Future-proofing the American worker

by Lily Scherlis,

Current Issue April 2025

[Fiction] The Keys to Veracruz

From the unfinished novel The Woman from Nowhere

by Charles Portis,

[Miscellany] The Last Detail

On patrol with the Guardian Angels

by Kent Russell,

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an average American attended a party on any given weekend in 2004 : 1 in 16

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of people in a U.S. household in 1970 : 3.1

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of unoccupied bedrooms in the United States has increased since 1970 : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which U.S. deaths are projected to begin exceeding births : 2033

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of years by which people diagnosed with ADHD have shorter life expectancies : 7.7

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American man convicted of a crime was older than 50 in 1990 : 1 in 25

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of violent crimes in New York City that are committed on the streets : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of crimes committed in the New York City subway for every million hours people spend there : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who say that corporate DEI programs have had no effect on their careers : 53

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that these programs have benefited their careers : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they expect to drink alcohol almost every day in 2025 : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of microplastics, in grams, in the average American’s brain in 2016 : 4.7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who cannot distinguish between right and left : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they rely on a “hand-related strategy” to do so : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. engineers with Ph.D.s who were born abroad : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of job-seeking Harvard Business School students who were unemployed three months after graduation in 2022 : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2022 in job turnover among U.S. CEOs : 80

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of funds deposited into online gambling apps that come from the top 3 percent of bettors : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an online gambler has ever withdrawn any winnings : 1 in 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase over the past year in new American learners of Mandarin on Duolingo : 216

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of monthly users of character.ai, a website that offers AI-generated conversation partners : 20,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Number of minutes per day that the average user spends on character.ai : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage chance that an American is able to identify whether a poem was written by Shakespeare or by ChatGPT : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who, in a blind comparison of poems by Shakespeare and by ChatGPT, find the latter more beautiful : 61

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Gen Z Americans whose favorite movie is Avengers: Endgame : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Average length, in minutes, that Americans think a movie should be : 92

[Harper’s Index]

Average length, in minutes, of a movie nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards : 150

[Harper’s Index]

Number of minutes that the average American says they would spend watching movies or TV on a perfect day : 186

[Harper’s Index]

Number of perfect days the average American says they had last year : 12

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that a large asteroid will strike Earth on December 22, 2032 : 1 in 32

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage decrease last year in global champagne sales : 9

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an average American attended a party on any given weekend in 2004 : 1 in 16

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of people in a U.S. household in 1970 : 3.1

[Harper’s Index]

Factor by which the number of unoccupied bedrooms in the United States has increased since 1970 : 8

[Harper’s Index]

Year in which U.S. deaths are projected to begin exceeding births : 2033

[Harper’s Index]

Average number of years by which people diagnosed with ADHD have shorter life expectancies : 7.7

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an American man convicted of a crime was older than 50 in 1990 : 1 in 25

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated percentage of violent crimes in New York City that are committed on the streets : 43

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated number of crimes committed in the New York City subway for every million hours people spend there : 1

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Republicans who say that corporate DEI programs have had no effect on their careers : 53

[Harper’s Index]

Who say that these programs have benefited their careers : 26

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage by which Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they expect to drink alcohol almost every day in 2025 : 30

[Harper’s Index]

Estimated amount of microplastics, in grams, in the average American’s brain in 2016 : 4.7

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who cannot distinguish between right and left : 15

[Harper’s Index]

Who say they rely on a “hand-related strategy” to do so : 45

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of U.S. engineers with Ph.D.s who were born abroad : 56

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of job-seeking Harvard Business School students who were unemployed three months after graduation in 2022 : 1/10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase since 2022 in job turnover among U.S. CEOs : 80

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of funds deposited into online gambling apps that come from the top 3 percent of bettors : 69

[Harper’s Index]

Chance that an online gambler has ever withdrawn any winnings : 1 in 10

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage increase over the past year in new American learners of Mandarin on Duolingo : 216

[Harper’s Index]

Minimum number of monthly users of character.ai, a website that offers AI-generated conversation partners : 20,000,000

[Harper’s Index]

Number of minutes per day that the average user spends on character.ai : 90

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage chance that an American is able to identify whether a poem was written by Shakespeare or by ChatGPT : 42

[Harper’s Index]

Percentage of Americans who, in a blind comparison of poems by Shakespeare and by ChatGPT, find the latter more beautiful : 61

[Harper’s Index]

Portion of Gen Z Americans whose favorite movie is Avengers: Endgame : 1/4

[Harper’s Index]

Average length, in minutes, that Americans think a movie should be : 92

[Harper’s Index]

Average length, in minutes, of a movie nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards : 150

[Harper’s Index]

Number of minutes that the average American says they would spend watching movies or TV on a perfect day : 186

[Harper’s Index]

Number of perfect days the average American says they had last year : 12

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Harper’s Art Desk

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AI City, a painting by Inka Essenhigh, whose work is on view through April 17 at Victoria Miro, London © Inka Essenhigh. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

The Material World, a painting by Emma Webster, whose work is on view through April 12 at Petzel, New York City. Courtesy the artist and Petzel, New York City

“One Hollow to Another, 2022”, a photograph by Hannah Altman, whose book We Will Return To You, will be published this month by Saint Lucy Books © Hannah Altman/Saint Lucy Books

AI City, a painting by Inka Essenhigh, whose work is on view through April 17 at Victoria Miro, London © Inka Essenhigh. Courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro

The Material World, a painting by Emma Webster, whose work is on view through April 12 at Petzel, New York City. Courtesy the artist and Petzel, New York City

“One Hollow to Another, 2022”, a photograph by Hannah Altman, whose book We Will Return To You, will be published this month by Saint Lucy Books © Hannah Altman/Saint Lucy Books

Chance that a large asteroid will strike Earth on December 22, 2032 : 1 in 32

March 25, 2025

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Microplastics were found in sixty-two of sixty-two human placentas from a biobank in Texas.

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