“Let’s play a game!” If you’re like me, these are the worst words to hear. I know how this ends: I start to lose, and then lose my senses. It’s pathetic. Monopoly boards topple. Trivial Pursuit Cheeses roll. Pucket pieces fly. Losing sucks. Someone — someone who isn’t me — has demonstrated their authority. There …
Bad Workmen
A bad workman blames his tools, apparently. It’s one of those aphorisms that may do more harm than good. I get it, of course I do. A good workman (work-person?) doesn’t make excuses. They are adaptable. They ‘Get The Job Done’. Given that, who wouldn’t want to be a good workman? (Or, indeed, work-person.) But …
Survivorist Bias
History — as is often noted — is written by the winners. Or at least, about the winners. I’ve recently read two memoirs on winners: Shoe Dog, about the founding of Nike; and Rocket Men, about the Apollo 8 mission to the moon. These have plenty in common. For one thing, there’s an emphasis on …
Brute Force Rabbit Hunt
Brute Force is often looked down upon. We sneer at it. Trial and error? Why bother when you can use sweet, sweet logic? Brute Force runs through walls, when there’s a perfectly serviceable door nearby. To me, Brute Force is epitomised by the X-Men character Juggernaut — ripped arms, wide helmet for ramming, no brains. …
Milk Jug Anxiety
Few modern devices give me the anxiety jitters quite as much as the dreaded milk jug. You know the one — that metal dispenser you find at the end of every queue in your local Costa or Starbucks or Cath’s Cafe. The exclamation point on every up-til-then successful drinks order. It’s there, waiting to pounce. …
Behavioural Everything
Richard Thaler’s excellent book Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics has inspired me. Thaler is a founding father of Behavioral Economics (he won the Nobel prize in 2017) … but also one funny guy. Because of him, I am now seeing Behavioral possibilities everywhere. I see Behavioral Everything. What is Behavioural Economics? My layman’s understanding …