Exploring our curious fear of a simple number and what it reveals about human psychology Left: A hotel elevator with the "missing" 13th floor. Right: Jason from Friday the 13th, the horror franchise that capitalized on our fear of the number. Take a careful look at the elevator panel in the image above. Notice anything unusual? Despite giving away the answer in the title of this post, it's worth pointing out explicitly: there is no...
"If we are to believe the latest conclusions of Tony Wright (speaking above in a National Geographic documentary) the left brain hemisphere has not simply dominated a more passive right; rather, over time, it has changed our neurochemistry and neural structures to support its own ascent. In his new book, Left in the Dark, Wright argues that "humanity is suffering from species-wide brain damage" and this damage is the "root cause of our obvious insanity."...
My notes from the video: Don't write books to make money 170,000 books published every year and less than 1,000 make money Books spread ideas with authority, and they are souvenirs of ideas. If you can open the door for somebody and help them think a different way, and cause a positive change in the world, that is a good day's work. Zappos.com is a service company that happens to sell shoes. Zig Ziglar story...
"If you want to hire people to do a job, to be cogs in the system and to do what they're told, you might want to focus on people who don't think very highly of themselves. People with low self-esteem might be more happy to be bossed around, timed, abused, misused and micromanaged, no? And the converse is true as well. If you want to raise your game and build an organization filled with people...
"Consider the mosquito borne disease malaria. This year, malaria will kill over one million people, over 80% of which will be children. Great Britain used to have malaria. In North America, malaria was epidemic and there are still a handful of infections each year. In Africa, malaria kills over 100 people per hour. In Russia, amidst the corruption of the 1990s, malaria re-established itself. What is the difference between these cases? We know how to...
Reflections on the Highs and Lows of Relationships I've been reading articles from one of the Focus on the Family blogs for a while. I recently read one about marriage being a roller coaster was finally something I've decided to add my “two cents” on because I thought it was true, and I have some experience in that area. What I neglected to mention is roller coasters are meant to be fun, so don't forget...