Tag Archives: community
Are people good or bad? It's literally a self-fulfilling expectation.
I’ve noticed that underlying a lot of political discussions is a fundamental belief about human nature. Some people believe people are fundamentally self-interested. They won’t work unless paid, and helping the downtrodden is something one does to impress one’s friends. … Continue reading
Why do we feel so economically squeezed?
Last night I wandered into a bookstore by mistake and ended up sitting through a fascinating talk by economist Jared Bernstein. He was discussing the economic trends that have us feeling overworked, underpaid, and anything but upwardly mobile. Unlike most … Continue reading
Who's surprised by compact car sales? Spotting trends. In advance.
The New York Times reported that sales of smaller compacts and subcompacts are on the rise, now that we’re in a gas crunch. Industry analysts (who are young enough that they don’t remember the 70s) are calling this “a first.” … Continue reading
Science has worked so well that superstition now reigns supreme
I grew up in the era of the Apollo moon launches. One of my earliest memories is traveling to Cape Canaveral and watching from the beach as one of the missions was launched towards the moon. It was pretty incredible. … Continue reading
Using Twitter as a research tool! Follow me…
What a great idea! Twitter is a little one-to-many text messaging tool. I can send out a text message to Twitter, and everyone who has elected to “follow” me gets the message. The intent of Twitter is that you send … Continue reading
More social networking?
My goodness. Now “Plaxo Pulse” wants me, and it insists on updating me daily that my friends and acquaintances added each other as friends, or poked someone, or whatever verbs Plaxo monitors. All I know is that if all these … Continue reading
Overload is built in to our economy. Poor us.
A post popped up on Inspiration Nation discussing the article on Overwhelm I wrote in 2005. If you haven’t tried it, I also created a free companion email overload assessment to figure out how many sushi dinners worth of time … Continue reading
How can we spend more time as our 'heroic selves'?
Every year, I staff Otherworld, a yearly adventure weekend that lets participants spend a weekend adventuring as their “heroic selves.” As a participant, Otherworld was one of my funnest weekends ever. As a staff member, it’s been fantastic as well. … Continue reading
The Eleventh Commandment: Thou Shalt Kill
Amazing. Utterly amazing. The New York Times is reporting that Churches are now attracting teenagers to the church by having “Halo” nights. That’s when teenage boys get together and play a videogame that’s rated “M” for mature (which means teenagers … Continue reading
Omigosh, IHOP so totally doesn't get it
An International House of Pancakes recently opened in Harvard Square. Harvard Square is in the midst of Harvard University, and is populated mainly by college students. It was once a really hip, cool shopping area, and is now occupied almost … Continue reading
