Subscribe Via RSS:
This blog is updated Daily.Subscribe by e-mail:
Top Posts
Categories
Category Archives: Psychology
First Principles: Internalization
As a 10 year old, I was barely taller than a washing machine and I weighed less than half as much.  But I was fast, so I played on a competitive soccer team.  Or, more accurately, I played when the bigger, stronger, … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Psychology, Self-Improvement, Tips
2 Comments
Cost v. Benefit
It turns out, crime does pay.  Just not very much: The basic problem is the average haul from a bank job: for the three-year period, it was only £20,330.50 (~$31,613). And it gets worse, as the average robbery involved 1.6 … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Choice, Food For Thought, Productivity, Psychology
Tagged Career Choice, Choice, Crime, Life, Opportunity Cost
Leave a comment
Scammer’s Logic
Why do “Nigerian” scammers say they’re from Nigeria? Â After all, if you were running a widely known scam, wouldn’t you vary the details so you had a better chance of fooling a wider audience? Probably not. Â In an interesting paper … Continue reading
Posted in Food For Thought, Marketing, Money, Persuasion, Productivity, Psychology, Rationality
Tagged Marketing, Psychology, Scam, Testing
1 Comment
Hard Work Is Never Wasted
In school, a lot of kids ask “When will I ever need to know this?” Â Why do I need to know how to solve for x? Â Who cares whether Amenhotep or Ramesses ruled Egypt first? Â When will I ever need … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Psychology, Rationality, Self-Improvement
Tagged Hard, Learning, Persistence, Work
1 Comment
Freedom, Responsibility, and Child Rearing
The New Yorker asks why American kids lack the responsibility so evident in children of (some) other cultures. Â The article concludes that an adolescence of parental fixing, making sure everything is perfect and the kid never fails, results in a … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Choice, Food For Thought, Leading, Psychology, Rationality, Relationships, Self-Improvement
Tagged Children, Parenting, Psychology, Teaching
Leave a comment
Magic Bullets
From an ESPN piece on Ryan Lochte, who is looking to spoil Michael Phelps’ final Olympics next month: “I’m not the most talented swimmer,” Lochte adds. “So I try to outwork everyone else.” It’s Sunday. A day of rest. The … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Productivity, Psychology, Quotes, Self-Improvement, Tips
Tagged Shortcut, Work Hard
Leave a comment
On Character
In Britain, it’s a crime to display a sign that is “threatening or abusive or insulting” with the intent to provoke “distress”, even if that sign is displayed in your own window. The local constabulary explained that citizens, “in the … Continue reading
The $144,146,165 Button
Tiny changes can have massive results. Need proof? Â Three buttons in a cab can increase tips 220%.
Posted in Art, Business, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Marketing, Persuasion, Psychology
Tagged Disproportionate Results, Persuasion
Leave a comment
Attitude
Attitudes are infectious. It’s why the happy, gregarious guy is always the life of the party and the center of attention. Everyone wants some of that happiness. It’s also why everyone avoids the depressed, quiet guy. It’s actually easier to … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Choice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Leading, Persuasion, Psychology, Rationality, Relationships
Tagged Happiness, relationships, Self-Improvement
2 Comments
Being Smarter Doesn’t Mean You Make Better Decisions
In fact, being smarter might actually lead you to make worse decisions. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and his scientists measured students on four different points of “cognitive sophistication”.  All four of those measurements were positively correlated with intelligence, meaning that the “more cognitively … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Choice, Food For Thought, Psychology, Quotes, Rationality
Tagged Critical Thinking, Daniel Kahneman, Rationality
Leave a comment
There Is No Speed Limit
Most of the world is designed for the lowest common denominator. Â Schools are designed to impart a set amount of knowledge to a diverse group of kids each year. Â It doesn’t much matter how smart you are, how interested you … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Choice, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Psychology, Self-Improvement
Tagged Derek Sivers, Goal, Life, Speed
Leave a comment
Spin
[Tom Sawyer] had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. – … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Art, Business, Creativity, Inspiration, Marketing, Negotiation, Psychology, Quotes, Rationality
Tagged Marketing, Psychology, Spin
Leave a comment
Story Basics, According to Pixar
Pixar story artist Emma Coats tweeted a series of “story basics” she had picked up during her tenure at Pixar. These were generously compiled by The Pixar Touch: #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Marketing, Persuasion, Psychology, Quotes
Tagged Creativity, Pixar, Writing
Leave a comment
Why Drama
Derek Sivers recounts the time Kurt Vonnegut explained why people concoct drama: People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let’s look at a very common … Continue reading
Posted in Choice, Food For Thought, Leading, Psychology, Quotes, Rationality
Tagged Drama, Life, relationships
Leave a comment
Eggs
How you eat your eggs is a good barometer for how you live your life. There are people who do nothing but grab a plain hard boiled egg as they run out of the house in the morning. Â Their eggs … Continue reading
Posted in Advice, Choice, Creativity, Food For Thought, Inspiration, Psychology, Self-Improvement
Tagged Choice, Cooking, Quality of Life
Leave a comment