Category: Living in trouble
-
Make a plan to think better
Cars (and before them, horses) reduced some people's ability to walk long distances. Unless they had a plan to avoid the degradation of that capability. I think we all need a plan to think even when we don't have to do so. Svblte: Thoughts on thinking, 2025-May-16 by Dustin Curtis The irony is that I…
-
Made me laugh, and made me think, too!
I have to share this quote which struck me as SO funny and SO insightful. We "know" things based on our experience. And yet, our experience is not universal. The best way to make it more universal is to share it. Think about it! How many times have you swallowed your opinion when you ought…
-
Empathy can be a Weapon as well as a Comfort
Empathy can be as simple as a speaking glance that says "I heard you." Or it can begin by asking someone Why do you feel that way?, then listening without making them feel judged. We usually use empathy to acquire allies, but it's equally important to understand the feelings of our competitors and enemies. If…
-
Taste and Complexity
W. David Marx is doing an excellent job of explaining diversity of taste. When I take a relatively uneducated friend to an art museum, I'm often stumped to explain my taste. Culture (An Owner's Manual): Three Ways of Enjoying Music (and the Reverse Snobbery of Ultra-Poptimism), 2023-Feb-21 by W. David Marx Educated listeners grow bored…
-
I’m not hiring. Scammers are using my name.
I've seen a job listing saying that I'm hiring… it's a scam! Please do not click the links. ProPublica: Scammers Are Using Fake Job Ads to Steal People’s Identities, 2021-Oct-26 by Cezary Podkul The U.S. Secret Service, which investigates financial crimes, also confirmed that it has seen a “marked increase” in sham job ads seeking…
-
Building empathy as a skill
I have always thought about empathy as a trait people have in varying degrees, but now I see that it really is a skill you can build by being curious, then connecting with people who are different from yourself. Adweek: Advertising Has a Crisis of Apathy and Otherness, 2020-Jun-8 by Yusuf Chuku The answer to…
-
To make a contribution: don’t try to fit in
I love the idea of being the lone dissenter so other people have an opportunity to dissent as well. The Atlantic: The Perks of Being a Weirdo, 2020-Apr by Olga Khazan Psychologist Solomon Asch is famous for his 'conformity experiments,' but he also studied how dissenters influenced group behavior…. Having just one person who broke…
-
What kind of mistake do you want to make?
Mistakes are a chance to collect information. Plan them carefully. New Statesman: It’s impossible to live in a state of error-free perfection: the trick is to make the right mistakes, 2019-Jan-29 by Ian Leslie On an individual level, it can be liberating to accept that the whole trick of life is deciding how, not whether,…
-
Considering where to learn about startup success
Since I've started joining startup communities, I've be deluged with opportunities to hear how founders "made it," as well as offers of mentorship from people with a lot less experience than myself. Granted, I'm not a successful entrepreneur, but I have a deep and flourishing understanding of how businesses succeed. And it's not by imitating…
-
How to be a pragmatic dreamer, from Tanvir Aman
Here's a really good trick for making sure that you're chasing the right dream. Think about something you'd love to do, but ALWAYS ask does it solve a problem? Whose problem? How would that work? Tanvir has a cool new company called Dunyha, an innovative real estate firm that integrates home sharing and home ownership.…
QVIews 