On post-modernism, Mr. Potato Head, and All in the Family … In the early months of 2021, Americans of a certain age had our childhoods canceled. In late February, Hasbro rebranded its “Mr. Potato Head” line of toys as “Potato Head”. Although the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head figures hadn’t been changed or renamed at […]
Three-step system to increase off-holiday food supplies … In the summer of 1972, researchers from the Department of Psychology at New York University stole radios right in front of people on a beach. And by changing just one thing they did, they drastically raised the percent of observers who tried to stop them — from 20% […]
It’s not because they don’t want it… “Why didn’t he ask for help first? If we had only known, we would have done anything. Anything!” Nobody wants to be the one to say those words. And when we say them, we mean them. We mean them with all our heart and all our soul. But […]
Telling yourself “Don’t ever do that” isn’t mindfulness… Did you know, the Buddha wasn’t a vegetarian? Well, it’s true. The early Buddhists, including Siddhartha Gautama himself, were mendicants, eating whatever people gave them. In fact, one of the few biographical details credited by most historians about the Buddha is that he died at age 80 […]
The purpose, pleasures, and pitfalls of sitting… The first thing to know is that meditation is training. Gentle training, but still training. So while it won’t change who you are, it will change you. (It’s tempting to go into it wanting the opposite.) I started sitting in the early 1990s with a martial arts group, […]
How quieting the brain sharpens your mind … A while back, Fast Company ran an article featuring the “secrets of the most productive people”, a productivity how-to from 11 big hitters spanning industry, politics, media, tech, design, and entertainment, headlined by Oprah Winfrey. (Spoiler, if you don’t already have a kick-ass personal assistant, you’ll want […]
2 key points determine what others remember … Whatever interaction you’re in, 2 points will largely decide how the other person feels about it later — and neither one is the first impression. You’re eating a bunch of grapes and there’s one bad one. Which grape do you hope it’s not? Obviously, the last one. It’s better […]
When expertise can drive massive failure… Take a look at the photos of the men just above. How much DNA do you think they share? You might guess they’re related. Brothers, perhaps, maybe cousins. But there are obvious differences between them. The man on the left has a narrower head and neck, and less developed […]
Merely beating the average for 10 years makes you a superstar … One of the largest studies of stock trading was carried out through the 1990s and early 2000s by Brad Barber of UC Davis and Terry Odean of UC Berkeley. Millions of trades pointed to one conclusion — it’s all a giant crapshoot. Odean and Barber […]
Because you have to be where your customers are … On a cool Wednesday morning in April of 1982, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones showed up at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles to tape a new song with Paul McCartney. It was the opening session for what was to become the biggest selling album […]