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Have a Nice Day
I was talking with my son today, and I started by asking him, “How’s life treating you?”. A rhetorical question like “How’s the weather?” launched us into a stream of consciousness discussion about things people say without really meaning it. Take the expression “Have a nice day!” you hear it many times a day from…
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To believe your own thoughts
I am listening to an audiobook by Adam Savage of MythBusters fame. He quoted a famous American essayist and philosopher. “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, — that is genius.” Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1841 essay “Self-Reliance” When…
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What passes for “debate” these days
In the past people would debate ideas, with the goal being the search for the truth or for the better idea/solution. Today it’s just about winning. It’s no longer a debate, it’s an argument. And nobody wins an argument. The approach taken has one, or if needed, two, steps: If they do continue and try…
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Is the Glass Half Full, or is it Half Empty
I’m listening to an EconTalk podcast with Annie Duke, author of “Quit” and the (great) host Russ Roberts. At the 0:30:00 mark, they discuss the cognitive state of “being in the losses”. We have a physical and mental ledger. For example, what’s the difference between completing a half marathon vs. only running half of a…