Life experiments

Positive Thinking and No Complaints

With all the negativity about the election and the economy, it’s easy to get down in the dumps. On a bad news day, I end up surrounded with negativity — Radio, new sites, TV, blogs, and twitter. All bearing bad news, prophecies of coming doom, and discussions of who,… Full article…

Time, life, and more hours in your day

Monday power quote:

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

.
Old Ben had it right.  Time.  It goes by so fast (geez, another year nearly at an end?), and there’s so little of… Full article…

Do you laugh alone?

I was listening to an episode of RadioLab about Laughter recently. As usual, they did a fascinating job of covering the topic from multiple angles. One item stood out for me, though.

Girl laughing 300They said laughter is a social thing, and that people don’t laugh alone. They don’t mean when you’re home alone watching Letterman, or goofy YouTube videos…

Solving problems in the sandbox

I just ran across a cool tool — the “Big Dig” over at Idea Sandbox. They describe this as a set of thought starters and problem solving techniques, collected from great thinkers and writers.

If you’re feeling stuck on a particular problem — whether a business issue, personal matter, or writer’s block — you can dig in their sandbox, and it comes up with a suggestion…

Memories of things you can’t remember

The safest memories are those in the mind of someone who can’t remember.

.
No, I didn’t make that up! It’s the astonishing conclusion of a scientist who was part of the Radiolab episode on memory and forgetting.

In case you haven’t discovered Radiolab, it’s a fascinating podcast, exploring a variety of subjects (like memory, time, or life) from different angles. Very well done, always intriguing…

So there I was… campaigning for president

I gave my big speech last night — the culmination of my entire campaign to be president of the United States.

And now I’m a Competent Communicator! I know, that sounds like something your kindergarten teacher would write, right? Really, that’s the new name for the level you reach at Toastmasters when you do your 10th prepared speech…

Happiness via mind control

What is happiness, and how can we all get some? In this video, a French scientist turned Buddhist monk answers these questions.

Matthieu Ricard has devoted his life to studying this subject, and his answer blends elements of faith and science: We can train our minds in habits of happiness…