Content tagged with "society"

Adam vs Danny
Blog Post
April 11, 2009
308

A showdown is looming on American Idol which I think is going to be pretty interesting to watch. The top two contenders – the two I firmly believe will fight it out in the last episode – could not be more opposed in terms of lifestyle. We have… Danny Gokey, a widowed church music director from…

Diplomas and Value Judgments
Blog Post
June 28, 2006
442

Not graduating from high school causes people to judge you, for all sorts of reasons.

“Downtown, where all the lights are bright.”
Personal Blog
Blog Post
December 26, 2008
1218

If we had to re-make cities from scratch, would they have downtowns?

Effort and Potential
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 15, 2014
1070

Almost everybody has heard of “The 10,000 Hour Rule,” which says it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master anything. I actually read the original study last year. But I’ve often wondered about the limits of this theory. Does there exist people who simply will never master something, no matter…

Gratifying Narrative Syndrome
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 6, 2014
825

As human beings, we chronically suffer from what I call “Gratifying Narrative Syndrome,” or a desire to confirm narratives that we find emotionally or psychologically gratifying. You see these all the time – stories and paradigms that click with us for some reason, and that we very much want to be…

The Human Connection and the Lack of Corporate Morality
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 13, 2014
1529

I own 25% of Blend Interactive, which is a significant percentage. This chunk of ownership binds me to this company, in the sense that I see the company as a sort of extension of myself in many ways. I’m not a minor owner – I’m a significant part of the day-to-day operations, and my input goes a…

I Miss You
Personal Blog
Blog Post
April 13, 2019
1826

Thoughts on middle-age male friendship, or the lack thereof.

Needless Sex in Film and TV
Personal Blog
Blog Post
January 8, 2009
451

I’m not against nudity in media, so long as it has a point.

Of Tumors and Borders
Personal Blog
Blog Post
June 17, 2006
339

The human condition is universal.

On Moral Hazard
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 19, 2019
696

As I write this, America is embroiled in the Ukrainian impeachment crisis. The claim is that Donald Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in exchange for a political favor – he wanted them to investigate Joe Biden’s son, who is likely to be Trump’s democratic opponent in the 2020 election. The…

Solving the Working Poor
Personal Blog
Blog Post
April 15, 2006
721

Improving the plight of the working poor can be a trickier problem than you think.

The Unbundling of “Marriage”
Personal Blog
Blog Post
May 12, 2010
928

Marriage is a bundle. It is, all at once, a contract, a romance, and a spiritual institution. But I don’t think it’s going to stay this way. Marriage is actually three structures, layered on top of one another. As it’s most basic level, marriage is a contract. When you get married, you are entering…

The Validity of The Lesser of Two Evils
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 2, 2014
486

Here’s an article which has reinforced a paradigm that I think gets ignored too often by the environmentally conscious: when considering an optional you find lacking, always consider the alternative or the default, and weigh the option against that. Because, no matter how much you don’t like what’s…

Why Marketing Bothers Me
Personal Blog
Blog Post
October 9, 2014
305

I was thinking about marketing this week while I was on a trip, and two things occurred to me that I find distasteful about the discipline. I’m not claiming all marketing is like this, but I’d call it a majority, certainly. Marketing is often about lying. A lot of marketing is simply overstating…