This is probably about the fifth post I've written that refers to the word serendipity. It's no surprise given how much I surf the web, and end up clicking on random links that pop up. Today's serendipitous moment started while watching ESPN's Gameday show, which was set at Penn State (where they are having one … Continue reading Serendipity, Stupidity, and the Web
A few years ago I wrote a post, "Look for the Helpers", which was my review of the wonderful documentary about Mister Rogers - “Won’t You Be My Neighbor”. The post title is in reference to one of Mister Rogers well-known quotes: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the … Continue reading Look for the Helpers – Part Two
The Annenberg Civics Knowledge Survey, conducted since 2006, focuses on the American public’s understanding of the Constitution of the United States. Since 2013, the civics knowledge survey has been conducted annually for Constitution Day (Sept. 17) as the Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey. The latest results from the 2021 survey, while encouraging, are also, in … Continue reading Americans Should Be Embarrassed
Facebook has built a system that has exempted high-profile users from some or all of its rules, according to company documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Known as “cross check” or “XCheck,” the program was initially intended as a quality-control measure for actions taken against high-profile accounts, including celebrities, politicians, and journalists. Today, it … Continue reading I’m Less Important to Facebook Than a Dog
The past few days have seen many musical tributes in honor of 9/11, so I thought I would add my own. The Rising appeared on an album of the same name that Bruce Springsteen created shortly after 9/11. Based in large part on Springsteen's reflections during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the album … Continue reading Music Monday: A Song for 9/11
According to Mindful.org, mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. When we’re mindful, we reduce stress, enhance performance, gain insight and awareness through observing our own mind, and increase our attention to others’ well-being. Mindfulness meditation gives us a … Continue reading Forget Mindfulness. Say Hello to Automaticity.
The Mindset List, aka the “always/never” list, is a compilation of key points about incoming college students. Created at Beloit College in 1998 to reflect the world view of entering first year students—and to help faculty understand incoming classes—the list started with the members of the class of 2002, born in 1980. In 2019, the … Continue reading Introducing! The Class of 2025!
I am happy to see that Dan Ariely still has his biweekly column in the Wall Street Journal, so I guess no fallout yet from the issues I had written about before. Even better from my perspective, this week's column introduced a new psychologic term I had never heard before - the End of History … Continue reading The End of History Illusion
An international team of researchers, in a study of hundreds of older people, found two key brain functions which improve with age. For their study, the team looked at three separate components of attention and executive function in 702 participants ages 58 to 98, when cognition often changes the most. The brain networks are involved … Continue reading So It’s Not All Downhill Once You Turn 58
The old adage of "take two aspirin and call me in the morning" may soon be replaced with a "nature prescription." With the COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the health benefits of spending more time outdoors, a growing faction of the U.S. medical community is prescribing time outside the same way they would traditional medication. The idea of writing … Continue reading Take 4,000 Steps and Call Me in the Morning
Borden's Blather 