John Stewart Carves on Confederate History Month

April 11, 2010

John Stewart has a field day with the lunacy and stupidity of “Confederate History Month.” The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Virginia’s Confederate History Month & Griffin Mascot www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

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Health Reform is Bad Except that it’s Good. Why and how we are Prisoners of Narrative

March 28, 2010

We love a good story. There are lots of reasons this is true. For example . . . We’re raised listening to stories, some read, some told. Most of the media we consume is narrative based. Culture is communicated, instilled, and passed along through stories. We use narrative as a mechanism for processing stimulus and [...]

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The Perils of “Groupness”

March 13, 2010

Decision-making is the means by which we most directly shape our lives. Some decisions we make consciously; many more are “automatic” decisions made in response to stimulus. The first type of decision-making is a distinctly human domain. Other species don’t have the same breadth of cognitive tools, and therefore can’t be described as true decision-makers. [...]

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Watch Barry Schwartz Talk About Moral Wisdom

March 9, 2010

A fine video on the topic of practical wisdom by Barry Schwartz.  I was particularly taken on his point of view on “practical wisdom.” “Practical wisdom,” Aristotle told us, “is the combination of moral will and moral skill.” A wise person knows when and how to make the exception to every rule, as the janitors [...]

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Why Joe and Mary Don’t Have Health Care (Or a Job): A Parable

February 25, 2010

Bill Smith has a nice Main Street business. He is the third generation of his family to run the company. The government is his biggest customer.  He’s a member of the community and his employees are too.  His employees pay taxes but Bill doesn’t because he made a sweet deal with the city fathers to [...]

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When Too Much Choice is Too Much

February 1, 2010

We are all like Goldilocks when it comes to choices. For most of the things in our lives, we have too many choices and the differences are miniscule.  Walk down any aisle in your favorite supermarket, warehouse club, or electronics store if you need an example. We hate making choices in situations like these.  There [...]

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A Piece of Art That Will Change How You Think

January 4, 2010

This is a must watch. You have never seen anything like it. It was forwarded to me by a colleague. This video shows the winner of ” Ukraine’s Got Talent”, Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World [...]

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Obama’s Paradox

December 5, 2009

With great care I draw your attention to an article by Lee Siegel called The Zero-Sacrifice Presidency. Obama tells us that we can have quality, universal health care without increasing the deficit. He tells us that he intends to have the 9/11 detainees given a fair trial in a civilian court but assures us that [...]

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Thoughts on Better Decision Making

December 4, 2009

Decision making is a distinctly human activity: it is more than an instinctive “stimulus/response.”  Decisions aren’t found under a rock.  They are the result of cognitive processes that we can control.  They are what make us human. Because we are human, and because decision making is a distinctly human activity, decision making is subject to [...]

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Classic Decision Trap: The Market Is Up So Everything Must Be Okay. Right?

December 2, 2009

Disclaimer:  I am not an investment adviser and I don’t give investment advice.  My expertise is in decision making and I am using the information quoted here to make a point about decision making, not about investment strategy. One of the things we talk about when teaching decision making is that decision making is a [...]

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