Writers & Photographers: Food, Fashion, Humor, Love, Politics, Movies and More. Distortions. Our minds are wired to select and interpret evidence supporting the hypothesis “I'm OK”. A variety of mechanisms: conscious, unconscious, and social direct our attention to ignore the bad and highlight the good to increase our hope and reduce our anxiety. We work hard to retain the belief that “I'm OK” even when faced with significant losses. Self-justification is deeply ingrained in each of us. Mental schema make it easier for us to perceive information that supports what we already know or believe. Unfortunately we often get it wrong. Our thinking is the result of our own perception, judgment, experience, and bias. Confirmation bias is the strong human tendency to dismiss or distort evidence contrary to our beliefs and readily seek out evidence that supports our views. Humility reduces our need for self-justification and allows us to admit to and learn from our mistakes.
Styles of Distorted Thinking The parable of the blind men and the elephant Some phenomenon are intrinsically dual. . Reclusland. (pulling this out of the comments in my last post , because it deserves better than that) Being in-the-moment can open up a dimension of timelessness that gives us a sense of the Infinitely-Full. And within/alongside that seems to be the partially full, into which we will likely drop back, again and again. To be partially full is to be caught in the attempt to “know” things and the striving-for-wholeness this engenders. Seeing this, I have to wonder: what if what I’m really looking for is a way to hold these both together in one loving embrace, to combine them more and more as my life goes on, and then to release it all and slip back into the Infinitely Full when the times comes to do so?
It seems as if this would create an ongoing, ever-changing, imperfect-but-always-reaching-toward-perfection striving THAT WOULD BE FUELED BY PERFECT FULLNESS. How joyful! Peter Kingsley in his “A Story Waiting to Pierce You” talks about waiting for the sun, and waiting for the moon . Flame Fractals. Art and mathematics have a long but somewhat strained history. Well, that’s not quite true. It isn’t the intersection of art and mathematics that’s problematic, but our limited ability to understand and appreciate that relationship. So images that are the result of mathematical calculations are immediately suspect as “not art”, and I’ll be the first to admit that Photoshop filters and Painter brushes that promise to make “paintings” out of photographs make this a very grey area (colorful, but grey). But the proof, as they say, is in the putting, and the deciding factor is your response to the images.
Fractals are part of a branch of mathematics that embraces infinity, dealing with infinite recursions, infinite depth and capable of generating images represent edges of infinite length, wrapped within themselves in exquisite crinolations. The term fractal, and the equations associated with it, are the work of mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot , who I wrote about back in June. The polymath blog. 7 Deadly Sins of Creativity. Email Creativity is not just for artists and poets. Everybody has the potential to exercise their creative mind – to innovate new ways of accomplishing things that will ultimately make life easier and more gratifying. Creativity magnifies the effectiveness of our natural talents, generating elevated levels of success and happiness by helping us discover more efficient ways to do what we love to do. Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. - Franklin D.
Roosevelt Acts of creativity can be found in every facet of life. Now, it’s to be expected that there will be ups and downs in our levels of creativity. 1. Knowledge and attention are absolute necessities. The first steps the brain takes when tackling a creative venture are actually governed by logic, not creativity. 2. Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of creativity. 3. 4. If you hope to exercise your creativity, you must get over your fear of failure. 5. 6. 7. Alt. Build Blog. Tempus Edax Rerum. 10 Blogs By Entrepreneurs You Should Be Reading. The 99 Greatest blogs you aren't reading :: 10,000 Words. What’s the best way to keep track of journalism and technology? Read non-journalism blogs. When I am asked how do I find all the cool and innovative sites and tools featured at 10,000 Words, I quickly reply that I subscribe to more than 150 blogs, using Google Reader to keep track of them all.
For the first time, here is a list of many of those blogs and sites, edited for relevance. Most of these blogs have little relation to journalism and cover everything from technology to design to photography and everything in between. You’ll find my absolute favorites and suggested reads at the top of the list and even more great sites following after. 1. Advice and opinion on the art and business of photography 2. Tips on how to become a better blogger FFFFOUND! 4. FlowingData explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand ourselves better – mainly through data visualization. 5. 6. information aesthetics 7. kottke.org The best linkblog on the net 8. 9. 10. 4chan. Doubt Will Set Ye Free. Mysterious Universe. Mosquito Cloud. Front Porch Republic. The Mirror of the Cosmos. Skeptical Swedish Scientists | Skeptical, Critical and Optimistic Thinking about Science from Sweden.
Oftwominds. Robotic Nation Evidence. Afraid To Trade - By Corey Rosenbloom. Project Syndicate - A World of Ideas - the highest quality commentaries and analysis from distinguished voices. ScienceBlogs. Naked capitalism. Exchanges vs. Clearinghouses (This is Important)
(I wrote this post a while ago, but for some reason I never got around to publishing it. I was reminded of it when I read Felix Salmon's post on derivatives reform from this morning, in which Felix gives a quick-and-dirty explanation of clearing vs. exchange-trading. I was going to write a take-down of Bob Litan's recent Brookings paper on derivatives reform, but it's honestly not even worth my time. Litan makes a compelling case for derivatives reform in a derivatives market that simply does not exist. The number of basic factual errors is overwhelming, and if Litan advocates for a reform you also endorse, it's likely by coincidence. Suffice to say, you rely on it at your own risk.) Repeat after me: a clearing requirement and an exchange-trading requirement are NOT the same thing.
They are very, very different. A clearing requirement is a requirement that all eligible derivatives be cleared on a central clearinghouse (also known as a central counterparty, or CCP). White Collar Fraud. Mark's Daily Apple. King of All Trades | An Online Community of Investors & Financial Experts. The Big Picture. The Accidental Hunt Brothers. BlogPulse. BlogCatalog. Palscience - State Of The Art Science. Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. The Absolute - truth, thinking, philosophy, genius. The Massive List of Genius – People With the Highest IQ | One Man's Blog. 33.8K Flares Google+ 27 Twitter 109 Facebook 1.6K Reddit 11 StumbleUpon 32.1K Pin It Share 4 4 LinkedIn 9 inShare9 33.8K Flares × The other day I sat down to watch The Princess Bride for about the 10,000th time.
Man that is a great movie! Anyway, when I was watching the part where Vizzini, the Sicilian, was answering the question as to how smart he is, he said: “Let me put it this way. So, I decided to mosey on over to the Interwebs and find a list of people with the highest IQ ever measured, and lo and behold I couldn’t find one! Background Info In order to establish a baseline knowledge, IQ (intelligence quotient) is a score derived from attempting to measure the actual mental horsepower of any given individual. The “average” IQ is by definition 100, so if you score below that you are dumber than average, and above it means smarter than average. Commonly acknowledged IQ Score Ranking System: I’d like to stop for a second and inject a little philosophy before we go on. People Still Alive. Smartest Man in the World Espouses Virtues of Eugenics | One Man's Blog. 50.7K Flares Google+ 19 Twitter 23 Facebook 830 Reddit 3 StumbleUpon 49.8K Pin It Share 1 1 LinkedIn 1 inShare1 50.7K Flares × Chris Langan is the World’s Smartest Man.
That’s not an opinion, it’s a statement of fact. Mr. Langan’s IQ is nearly 200. Oh, and he’s spent 20 years being a bouncer at a bar. This guy has had a rough life. “Smart people are vastly outnumbered by average people. Here’s another way to think about this. An average person’s IQ is about 100, and that really retarded person is maybe 65 for a measly 35 point difference. Now, imagine if you were that much smarter than every single living person around! Anyway, having said all that, one problem I’ve noticed with extremely smart people is that they begin thinking that their one brain is actually more powerful than all the other brains around them combined.
Chris Langan: People who wanted to have children would apply to make sure they have no diseases. Interviewer: But who? Well, I’d be perfectly willing to do it myself. Accelerating Future. The Rational Ape. Rain City Story. 2leep.com: Connecting Bloggers. It Figures - Figures of Speech. No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge") Be sure to check out my follow-up to this post, clarifying and addressing a few misinterpretations that have been making their way around the internet.
Feeling Like a Fraud Have you ever received praise, or even an award, for being great at something despite having no clue what you’re doing? Do you feel like a fraud, wondering what sort of voodoo you’ve unwittingly conjured up to make people think you know what you’re doing, when the reality is quite the contrary? I recently had a conversation with my girlfriend (going to school for her nursing degree) when she expressed her confusion with some praise she had received from her professor. Her professor had told her that she was the best nursing student she had had in years.
I could see she was distressed. How could I win such an award, being in a room with so many great entrepreneurs and so many exciting companies and business ideas? The answer to that question is the title of this post. The 3 Types of Knowledge Here’s the secret though. Stuff Asian People Like — This blog is devoted to stuff that asian ... Featured Post #127 Spitting Here is another contribution from Eurasian Sensation, who wrote Cheesy Ballads a few weeks ago.
We hope you enjoy it, as it reveals one of Asia’s dirtiest habits, spitting. There are many sights and sounds that evoke memories of one’s travels through Asia. Some are pleasant, such as the noisy hustle and bustle of the [...] Read More... #141 – The Colbert Report / Conan O’Brien Show Posted January 23rd, 2014 by Peter · 1 Comment I recently came across a hilarious article by the Atlantic about how another Chinese production studio has copied verbatim a United States intro sequence. BEIJING — He may be an award-winning satirist in the United States, but in China, even Stephen Colbert is not beyond parody: A provincial TV channel in the country has produced a show that borrows rather liberally from the popular American program. The Banquet, broadcast on Ningxia Satellite TV, lifted the entire opening credits and other graphics from The Colbert Report. Tags: People. The Mark of a Great Leader - Marshall Goldsmith. By Marshall Goldsmith | 3:31 PM February 19, 2010 Years ago, when most organizations were based on the hierarchical business model of the Industrial Age, great leaders were those who were unemotional, rational, even mechanistic.
Those days are gone. Today’s leader, especially one who is in charge of a dynamic, global organization, finds himself or herself in desperate need of one key trait — self-awareness. An organization’s success today depends on such a variety of talents and skills that no one leader could possibly be gifted in simultaneously. There are technological issues, global issues, financial issues, human resource issues, leadership issues, employee issues, legal issues, and more. This sort of personal mastery entails having a heightened understanding of one’s own behavior, motivators, and competencies — and having “emotional intelligence” — to monitor and manage one’s emotional responses in a variety of situations. Have you ever worked with a micro-manager?
Zelij – a Morrocan artform. Progressive U | The new media voice for students. The Baseline Scenario. Learn online, French, English, German, Math, Spanish courses at Optimnem. Unqualified Offerings. iTulip.com - The Contrary Market View - For Independent Financial Advisor, Currency Online Trading, Commodity Online Trading, FOREX. Worldwide Success. The Bird That Gave Birth to the Moon. Click for Sterlingware Parameter File There is a new legend that tells how a bird gave birth to the moon. For thousands of years the bird had laid eggs and all of them had been eaten by animals in the forest.
The bird started by laying eggs on the ground, which were of course quickly found and eaten. Next the bird laid her eggs under the ground. Some of these were dug up and eaten by animals on the ground and others were found by animals inside the ground. But the rest that stayed hidden, died and rotted in the ground. Finally the bird laid her eggs in a tree. For a thousand years the bird laid no more eggs because she was sad. The bird, who had now grown to a giant size, flew up to the top of the sky and instead of laying many eggs, laid a single enormous egg then returned to her tree to see what would happen to it.
The bird replied to her children's killers, "Say goodbye to your easy hunting in the nighttime. GeorgeSoros.com. Unconventional Ideas.