When I was twelve, my father recommended I read a book. It is the only book one I can think of that he has ever made to me. But, I have to say, it was probably the best recommendation anyone has ever made to me. See, when I was a kid, I loved space technology…
Our attention is the product for Facebook and Twitter. They make money by selling advertising. The more time we spend on the site, the more ads they put in front of us, the more money they make. Outrage makes them the most money. We are more likely to share what outrages us. We have tribalized…
Talking about gun regulation causes increased gun sales. People buy out store stocks seeking to get them while they still can. So in that regard, President Obama was terrific for gun stores and manufacturers. For all the talk needing to do something, there was little done. The talk was enough to spike gun sales. “Sales…
The better metric for tracking how much I have read, in my opinion, is the number of pages. The number of books is okay, but the reality is reading a 50-page novella is not nearly the same commitment as a 1,500-page tome. (I might prefer a statistic for words when looking at my daughter’s reading…
Listened to a video about a potential candidate for National Science Advisor where Dr. David Lewis mentioned his belief in the Golden Rule will help him in the job. Thankfully, he stated it immediately after just as I was thinking, “Wait, which one?” Whoever has the gold, makes the rules. Wizard of Id Do to others…
A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn’t supposed to say. —  Michael Kinsley I often wonder what I’d do if there weren’t any books in the world. —  James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.…
Common sense is not so common. At least not in the sense that what we think are common sense behaviors are universal agreed upon across all of humanity. An example: In a western culture, we tend to value the individual, so we think it common sense that we do things that benefit us. In an…
In my opinion, the person who discovers a problem deals with the problem. A law enforcement officer sees someone aim a gun at another. The LEO is off duty or out of jurisdiction. Societal expectation is the LEO will intervene. The same applies to me being an employee. If I discover a problem, then it is…
As a self avowed loner, this research showing personal connections are important to a long life bothers me. I had hoped that Cacioppo’s writing in Loneliness that we each have differing levels of engagement that are necessary would apply. Having a lower threshold might protect against depression, anxiety, and suicide that plague men. Pinker seems to be saying that having…