Month: April 2011
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The Sublime Joy of the Subtle
I initiate the ritual by ordering my cappuccino. The barista pounds out old grounds, the grinder whirrs to life and professional hands expertly level and tamp the grounds. The espresso pump shoves hot water through the fresh coffee and the barista froths the milk into a creamy foam that floats in the cup. The expectation…
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Leveraging the Asymmetry of Order
A riddle: What do the filibuster, the bus drivers of Morelia and hunger strikes have in common? While strolling the streets in downtown Chicago, I considered the incredible buildings that took decades upon decades to create. Even in the last decade, things continue to change and evolve. The great Chicago fire wiped out much of what…
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My Failure To Communicate
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw Ann and I were sitting at a Starbucks having a Define-The-Relationship conversation. Like so many others falling in love, I wanted to define our relationship without needing to use the standard terms – dating, courting, going-out, etc. I…
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The 50/50 Fallacy
The ability to distinguish sensations resulting from our own actions from those with an external cause is a fundamental aspect of human behaviour. This distinction is in some cases reflected directly in perception: for example, tickling oneself produces a less intense sensation than being tickled by someone else. – Predictive attenuation in the perception of…