There’s a new group blog out there, started by Stowe Boyd, devoted to figuring out the Operating Manual for Social Tools. Since I’m always interested in this stuff, I’m going to be following along closely to see what ideas they have. danah boyd asks a really good set of questions in one of her first […]
Category: thoughts
Conservatives vs. liberals
I’ve been forwarded or seen a bunch of different websites from liberals bemoaning the results of the election, from JesusLand, to Fuck the South, to Sorry Everybody. I particularly liked the rant at Urban Archipelago, because it tied in with some ideas that had been percolating through my head. And even though those ideas are […]
Coping
I’ve been meaning to write this post for several months (I referred to it two months ago over on Livejournal, so it’s older than that). It’s basically an exploration of how to deal with the situation where one’s personal values do not correspond to the values of an organization to which one belongs. I started […]
The importance of message
I wrote this in an email discussion today, where people were debating why the conservatives are so much more effective than liberals at getting their message out. One guy said that the left doesn’t lack for ideas, but thought that the messages was less important than making sure the ideas got out there, meaning we […]
Conservative selfishness
A couple weeks ago, I happened to hear Pat Buchanan on Fresh Air (scroll down). I don’t recall all of the details, and I don’t have the time to listen to the whole interview again, but I was struck with a thought while listening to him: the conservative viewpoint is all about selfishness. The things […]
The Animal Who Tells Stories
One of the issues brought up in response to my last post was that we, as humans, are really poor at statistically evaluating risk. We’re really good at remembering spectacular stories, or relevant anecdotes, but we’re really bad at taking numbers in the abstract and turning them into guides to behavior. And this isn’t just […]
The danger to ourselves
A flame war erupted on an email list I’m on when somebody decided to endorse Bush over Kerry, because Kerry wasn’t going to stand up to the terrorists. He went on to mention Kerry’s comment about 9/11 attacks being a “nuisance” (which is a mis-quote but never mind), and how awful an idea it was […]
Generalist
Beemer put up a thoughtful comment in response to my last post. To quote one part: Smart kids, especially the ones who go places like MIT, often get this idea that they need to be Einstein or Newton, which is frankly silly. Because that’s not how the world works — it’s the total contribution of […]
Management by conversation
I’ve been going in circles on my current assignment at work for close to a week. Somebody else was assigned to the project today, and we sat down and I started talking through what I thought needed to get done. And it all just flowed right out. It always kills me when that happens; I […]
Productivity and existentialism
I’ve been tossing this post around in my head for close to a month now, and it’s not coming together, so I’m just going to get down what I have and invite feedback to see what others think. Be warned, it’s a long one, with lots of whining. It starts with my tendency to procrastinate. […]
