Finding Clarity in an Ambiguous World
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The Seduction of Arrogance
There are two lies you can believe in the world that will get you into trouble. The first is that you’re not enough. The second is that you’re something special. – My dad When we believe lies, we have a hard time seeing through them. We must recognize and claim some other truth to be…
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The Benefits of Ruts
Variety is the spice of life, that’s true. We only notice things that change, things that don’t simply fade into the background. Change creates the flavor that piques our interest and makes us want to take another bite, but if there is too much spice, not so much. This is the side effect of variety.…
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The Difference Between Precision and Accuracy
Much of the work that I do has all sorts of approximations and guesses. Most of it is done on a computer and one really nice thing about a computer is that it will generate a great degree of precision. Want to know how many Watts that new device is going to use before it’s…
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It Never Just Happens
Create several different teams consisting of several members. Have each team solve a problem and collect their answers for “grading”. Now, randomly tell half the groups that they did well and the other half that they did poorly and ask them to discuss how their team worked well or didn’t work well. Researchers conducted this…
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The 3oz Rule and Superstitions from Action
A man goes through the security line at the airport. Security looks at him suspiciously and asks him abruptly, is this your bag? He nods and the security guard interrogates him: do you have any liquids or gels in your bag? The man tells him he is bringing back homemade jam from his grandmother for his family. Sorry, this looks like more…
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The Complaints of Youth?
Yesterday on the subway, a two-year old was whining over wanting his mother to sit next to him on the train. It’s easy for us to judge children as they complain about the trivial things in life, but how often do we do the same. Every age of life has its own challenges and difficulties.…
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What We Take For Granted
One of my good friends grew up in El Paso, but had lots of family across the border near Juarez. Before he was born, his mom had bought some land in Mexico and some of his family setup some buildings with whatever material the could find and made a camp on the land. He used…
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Why Milestones Matter
A friend of mine who recently found a job was reflecting on whether it was the right position for him. Could he commute everyday for the rest of his life? His wife reminded him that he had made such a commute in the past for a few years and it was okay, and that he…
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Where do superstitions come from?
Designing computer chips is a fairly complicated affair. One of my friends who does this described the job this way: Imaging being 4-inches tall and climbing into the cockpit of a 747 — you sit down and look to the left and it is a sea of switches and knobs. You look to the right…
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The Standing Desk Disconnect
Recently, I started experiencing some back pain and started thinking about improving my work ergonomics. I had never tried a standing desk but noticed a number of the people I worked with had them and I’ve wanted to try it ever since reading about the perils of sitting to much. Fortunately, I was able to…
Got any book recommendations?