The pain threshold for fame

The platform formerly known as Twitter has become a lot more entertaining since Rocket Man bought it.   The other day during a 10-minute scan, a video of a woman dancing scrolled into my feed.   I recognized her as a master troll. Between the video of her being goofy … Keep reading

The true power of free will

One of my “secret weapon” beliefs:   Freedom of the will exists and it’s part of the fabric of reality.   I used to believe those scienticians going on that “willpower is a limited resource”.   Looking back on it now, they didn’t have the first idea of what the … Keep reading

Getting unstuck from painkiller mindset

Kids live in a world of placebo effects. Stub your toe? Graze your knee? Minor cat-scratch? Kid on the playground give you the evil-eye?   Get the biggest baddest band-aid from the bathroom.   And just you try explaining that it makes no objective difference to the injury or the … Keep reading

Discredited psychologists spread lies about willpower

Back around 2011 or so psychologists began screaming at the top of their lungs that “willpower is a limited resource!” They cited all this research showing that making decisions is tiring. And the more tired a person got, the harder it got to make choices and stick to them. Check … Keep reading

Toga-wearing party-pest explains why people do dumb things

In Plato’s dialogue Protagoras, we find Socrates giving his usual party-ruining lecture. This time, he’s going on about people who know what is best to do, and then don’t do it. Even though Socrates is an obnoxious troll, he often brings up a good point. In this case, he’s talking … Keep reading

Upscale buffet almost forces local man to stuff his face

We went out to lunch yesterday at a local buffet for a family birthday. This is dangerous. A good buffet tempts the senses with an abundance of culinary delights. It’s nigh on impossible to eat a reasonable amount of food. I know this. I consciously understand this. I have living … Keep reading

3 good reasons to say “No” more often

Rarely a day goes by that I’m not struck dumb by someone, somewhere, going on about how important it is to reach an agreement. You’d get the feeling that if you just talk enough, have enough meetings, send enough memos, make enough rules, that things will all workout. Somehow. I’ve … Keep reading

Alexander Karelin’s PhD in suplexology

The other day I realized I don’t know enough about Alexander Karelin’s approach to training. Karelin was a beast of a man back in the 80s and 90s, Russia’s three-time Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling. His signature move was lifting and tossing 300 pound men. While researching his training, … Keep reading

Why it never makes sense to line up for a job

The way most people go about finding jobs frankly baffles me. They look through job listings, apply through a list of requirements and conditions as obscure as Byzantine theology, and then cross their fingers and hope real hard, saying “pick me pick me pick me!” Competing for attention with tens, … Keep reading

Airhead “trophy wife” curses mankind for all eternity

There’s an old Greek myth, you might have heard it, about the Titan Prometheus who stole the divine fire from the gods and gave it to the young human species. Myths aren’t simple stories. Ancient peoples didn’t tell these tales for entertainment, like we’d read books or watch movies. Myths … Keep reading