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After a bit of rethinking, I decided to make a second version! I think it’s a much better image. :) Inspired by the Dear Hank and John podcast.

Can you imagine AFC Wimbledon playing their first match on Mars when a T-Rex attacks!? Sounds like a box office success to me!!

edwardspoonhands

Word. Thanks for the hat!

Psychologist Barry Schwartz takes aim at a central tenet of western societies: freedom of choice. In Schwartz's estimation, choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied.

#psychology #choice #paradox #TED

#intelligent people problems

Why the benefits of sharper intelligence often don’t pay off in the long run.

I am intelligent. I’ve been told this so many times by so many different people that I can only assume that it is true. It’s also paralyzing. Let’s look at some reasons why. The paradox of choice You’re smart. You feel like you can master pretty much anything you set out to. You’ve never failed an entrance exam or been told you don’t have the right skills. So what do you focus on? Should you major in biochemistry or economics or architecture? Say you somehow make a decision and pick architecture. Do you then pursue a career as an architect or interior designer or project manager? As your options increase, the paradox of choice comes into play. In this excellent TED talk, psychologist Barry Schwartz explains the negative effects of too much choice. One effect is that it produces paralysis. With so many options to choose from, people find it very difficult to choose at all. The second effect is that even if we manage to overcome the paralysis and make a choice, we end up less satisfied with the result of the choice than we would be if we had fewer options to choose from. And indeed studies have shown this to be true. The Terman study was begun in 1921 to examine the development and characteristics of gifted children into adulthood. During the 1990s, the surviving participants were asked to look back at the events in their 80-year lifespan. Rather than basking in their successes, many reported that they had been plagued by the sense that they had somehow failed to live up to their youthful expectations. The fear of failure When you’re used to always “succeeding” it can sometimes warp into “not failing,” which isn’t really the same thing. No one takes you seriously when you say you might not do well and this, rather than reassuring you, just adds to the pressure. You are a person who doesn’t fail. If you do, what would people think? And what would that make you? So the risk aversion takes over. You feel like failing at something makes you a failure. The fear of failure leads to excessive preparation and it’s used as an excuse for not starting something. It also means that you only do things that have a surefire chance of success. Or worse, it terrifies you so much that you don’t even try. After all, you can’t feel bad about something not working out if you didn’t put much effort into it in the first place. The ironic thing is that if you would just go all-in, there’s a very good chance that with your intelligence you’ll succeed. The loss in translation When you get good grades at school, you’re labeled “smart.” But what does that mean? School life is very structured. You have a steady progression up the grades. To be promoted, you need to do one thing – not fail. You don’t need to exceed expectations, though many intelligent students will. You don’t need to compete with fellow classmates because you moving up doesn’t mean they won’t. You don’t need to convince your teacher that you deserve to be promoted; your work speaks for you. You don’t face penalties for making mistakes because that’s just how you learn. But the rules that work in the real world are very different from those that work at school. In fact, there are very few rules that work in the real world at all. At the end of the day, you want to be well educated, but you also want to be able to translate that education into real world success, because life isn’t a multiple choice test. But let’s end this on a positive note with a quote from Ernest Hemingway: “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” Or not.

#education #learning #intelligent #smart

If a tree falls in a forest and no one Tweets about it, did it happen?

Experiencing life no longer feels like enough without sharing it with those who follow us on social media.

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” is a philosophical thought experiment from the early 20th century that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality. Today I’m going to tell you a story. It’s about a chance encounter with someone cool. But it’s also about validation. I once drove out to pick up a couple of groceries. We had run out of milk and cheese, which meant I could eat neither cereal nor a sandwich, two of my favorite things. So I went to the grocery store. I got the milk and cheese, and I was walking back to my car when I noticed a man standing next to it. He was tall, taller than average, and lanky. Bespectacled, and had a mop of dirty blond hair. He looked a little nerdy, to be perfectly honest. I was sure it was him. I had seen his face every week for years now. But that didn’t make me any less tongue-tied. “Are you Hank Green?” I asked hesitantly. “Yeah, I am,” he replied, looking a little flustered, like he had been about to do something embarrassing before I interrupted him. I then noticed that he had a friend with him, who was jogging from across the street to join us. He had a camcorder in his hand and looked much happier than Hank. “Is this your car?” asked Hank. “Umm, yeah,” I answered, a little puzzled. And then Hank asked me something I’d never been asked before. And probably never will be asked again. “Would it be okay if I humped your car?” I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not, so I went for my stock reply – cue awkward laughter. I guess he took that as a yes, because the next thing I know he’s air humping the rear bumper of my car with a huge grin on his face, while his friend is recording the whole thing. It’s over before I can really register what’s going on. Hank thanks me profusely, the friend flashes me a smile, and they both walk away. And I get in my car and drive home, dazed, with a bottle of milk and a block of cheese in the backseat. But here’s the thing. There was no one else in the parking lot at the time. And I don’t have any photos. I didn’t send out any Tweets or record any Snapchat stories while it happened. So there’s basically no physical or digital evidence to examine, unless you get Hank Green to confirm or deny the story. So did it happen? And if it did, would you believe me?

#culture #technology #validation #social media

Live every day as if it were going to be your last; for one day you're sure to be right.

Breaker Morant

#MQM #Breaker Morant

Broken links and empty spaces: A gallery

More thoughts from abandoned places, both physical and virtual.

There are many reasons for unfinished business: It fails

Build it and they will come – a communist take on capitalism. The New South China Mall has the dubious distinction of being the largest abandoned mall in the world. Although “abandoned” is perhaps the wrong word to describe this place, as nothing was ever here to begin with. A 1% occupancy rate has remained constant since it opened in 2005. It wasn’t meant to be a place at all

The Salton Sea was accidentally created by the engineers of the California Development Company in 1950. For some time it was a popular tourist destination, but then it fell into disregard once the salinity got too high. It doesn’t look abandoned at first glance

This massive dragon-shaped shopping center stretches out for a kilometer, with almost 4,000 stores housing the largest number of Chinese traders outside China. While the main street is always packed with people, meander into one of the aisles and it turns into a ghost town. You’re more likely to find trash, a flower, or an unfortunate rodent than a customer. You get busy

YouTube is a repertoire of unfinished business. Being a prominent young adult fiction author can be a demanding job, and sometimes your personal YouTube channel has to take a back seat. Top: Ransom and Tahereh by Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi. Bottom: sparksflyup by John Green.

You get bored

There are also countless projects that its initiators fall out of love with. Just as we may find a half-empty scrapbook or an unfinished Lego model in the attic, so too do we find abandoned channels on YouTube.

Someone else does it better

Dft.ba was a link shortening service created by Sam and Alan. The name is a reference to the acronym, “don't forget to be awesome,” as popularized by the Green brothers on their YouTube channel vlogbrothers. But there are tons of URL-shortening services out there, and I guess the world didn’t need another one, even if it was one that reminded you to be awesome. You don’t need it anymore

Internetainerpreneur (yes, that’s a thing) Hank Green and co. created the Photomatron app for use in the music video of his song about Farmville. It was also used to make a (very trippy) birthday video for his brother, John, in 2010 but hasn’t been used since. Photos courtesy Vagabond Journey, Ransom Riggs, YouTube, and my iPhone.

#culture #technology #abandoned #broken links #photos #gallery

As they say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome.

Katie Else, Vlogbrothers, Crash Course et al.

#DFTBA #johngreen #hankgreen #crashcourse #nerdfighteria

Broken links and empty spaces

Thoughts from abandoned places, both physical and virtual.

They say that being ignored is a fate worse than being reviled. Perhaps this is true. But abandoned places in the physical world have a strange charm. Urban explorers travel there to explore and try to figure out what happened. Often, there are lots of opportunities to take photos; to look at old furniture, papers, machinery, or anything that catches their eye. It’s a challenge to discover and visit these places, and the explorer is rewarded with a snippet of a past glory, a whiff of life without humans. And indeed, neglected sites often inspire our work – In John Green’s novel Paper Towns, clues lead Q to believe that Margo may be hiding out in one of the many abandoned subdivision projects around Orlando; in Ransom Rigg’s brilliant short film The Accidental Sea, he explores the post-apocalyptic landscape of the Salton Sea. Abandoned places on the internet, on the other hand, don’t usually inspire anything other than frustration. What do you do when faced with a broken link? Go right back to where you came from. There’s nothing to see, nothing to explore. Often no clues as to what happened or why. Not only are they harder to find, but they are also harder to understand. I’m intrigued by the shift in our lives toward the virtual world. What does this mean for our neglected spaces? Perhaps one day, all our unfinished business, all our abandoned endeavors will only live online. Rather than crumbling walls, it will be broken links that tell our stories of failure and resignation. An urban wasteland of HTML. Will they tell as compelling a tale? I guess we'll find out.

#culture #technology #abandoned #broken links

Where you were born makes all the difference.

#vox #death #country

Point, shoot, upload, repeat.

In our efforts to continually update our virtual lives, we end up sacrificing our real ones.

Back in the day of film cameras, you couldn’t take an unlimited number of snaps (unless you wanted to lug around extra rolls of film) and you couldn’t delete photos (♫ negatives are forever ♫). This meant that you had to actually pause to consider whether you wanted to take a particular shot. Do you really need one more selfie to show off your new haircut? Yet another photo of your baby/pet? The shoes you bought yesterday? The dinner you’re about to have? Film cameras also meant you couldn’t post to Instagram or Twitter with a tap of your finger. My social media feed is flooded daily with new experiences. None of these new experiences are my own, yet I’m forced along for the ride. What time and where does Avicii play during the summer? I can give you exact coordinates courtesy a friend’s check-in. What does watersports’ newest craze, flyboarding, feel like? All I have to do is watch the 30-second video posted by a friend thirty seconds after he tried it. Can’t afford to dine at Albert Adrià’s award-winning Tickets Bar? Not to worry; just follow the dish-by-dish photo commentary so kindly provided by a friend. I think it’s safe to say that our obsession with updating our Instagram and Twitter accounts borders on the extreme. But it’s not just recipients of the updates, like me, who are disgruntled. I would argue that the post-ers themselves are losing out; they just don’t realize it. Don’t people go on holiday to get away from daily life? To escape stress at work or home, to experience something new, to go on an adventure? ‘Cause all I see is people rushing to keep their virtual lives up to speed with their own. I was in Ibiza last summer with friends, and we went to the infamous F*** Me I’m Famous night. The dance floor was packed by the time we got there, so we stayed on the upper floor, where we had a good view of the DJ and the crowd. Given that the mosh pit is usually the most energetic, I was surprised to see that people weren’t really absorbed in or dancing to the music. When David Guetta asked people to put their f***ing hands up, everyone’s hands duly shot to the sky, but with smartphone in hand to take photos and videos that could be uploaded to their Facebook and Instagram accounts in real time. What people seem to have forgotten is that memories can be triggered by visual cues such as photos, but can’t be created from them. You don’t want to be so caught up with ‘capturing the moment’ that you miss it altogether. After all, if all you want out of the experience is a good photo, just check out your friend’s Instagram instead.

#culture #technology #social media #facebook #instagram #twitter

See which country most closely matches your drinking behavior from beer and wine to milk and juice

So apparently I drink wine like a Lithuanian?!

#time #drink #country

As romance gets swiped from the screen, some twentysomethings aren’t liking what they see.

"People are gorging. That’s why it’s not intimate. You could call it a kind of psychosexual obesity."

#tinder #dating #culture

Five reasons (not) to get an MBA

Some good reasons to get an MBA. And some not-so-good ones.

I recently decided to get an MBA. I knew going in that it wasn’t the smartest decision from a professional or financial standpoint. It was more of an opportunity to learn and expand my horizons than any sort of preparation for the next steps in my career. Which is fine, and I acknowledge (and am incredibly grateful) that I’m able to enjoy such freedom as the result of a healthy dose of privilege. But for anyone who is considering going back to school, don’t do it: To change your career path

Business schools will often sell prospective students on how an MBA will help them change careers. Similarly, MBA applicants will often list career switching as their main motivation for pursuing the degree. Does an MBA equal career change? It depends. An MBA can certainly help open doors and hone technical skills. However, what I’ve found is that nothing beats having relevant past work experience, and it’s a tough sell (though not impossible) to convince a potential employer to take a chance on you. To quit your job

I just can’t take it anymore! Arghhh! – Is not a good reason, not just with regard to an MBA but anything really. Are you running toward something or away from something else? If I’m being honest, I was definitely running away. I was completely burned out from my job, things were stressful at home, and confrontation-avoider that I am, I promptly checked out. My boss didn’t want me to leave, and suggested time off or a potential transfer to another department that was more in line with my long-term career goals. I had already made up my mind, so this was all “too little, too late”, but it did make me realize that I should have just been more forthcoming with my concerns and that would’ve taken some of the pressure off. To build your network If you’re going to business school to acquire a network, you’re ignoring the fact that you probably already have one – alumni from your undergraduate institution, current and former colleagues, professional organizations, and all sorts of Internet communities. That said, you will greatly expand that network, especially if your class, like mine, is very diverse. And I’ve found this network to be extremely helpful, whether it’s putting me in touch with a potential employer, or offering me a couch to sleep on when I’m in their city. To explore the world Because there are many, many cheaper ways to explore the world than pulling yourself out of the job market for two years and taking on hefty loans to go to school. Of course, once you’ve made the decision to do an MBA, by all means take advantage of being surrounded by like-minded people with the time and ability to travel and enjoy yourself thoroughly. To change yourself Business school might improve your quantitative, presentation, and communication skills. It might even get you thinking more critically and strategically. But two years of case studies aren’t going to magically turn you into a great leader. There’s no changing your personal charisma or gut instinct. But you will learn about yourself. You will understand what you are, and what you are not. And for me that’s been just as important.

#MBA #education #learning #list

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness, And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

#the prophet #kahlil gibran

Me: I'm mad at you! Cat:*no reaction* Me: I don't care if you're sorry! Cat:*no reaction* Me: Aww it's ok. I love you. Cat:*walks away*

Me and the cat #STS

#cat

Why cats are better than babies

Why cats rule and babies drool (like, literally).

I’m not ‘crazy cat lady’. I like kids and may have my own someday. But babies? I’m definitely not their biggest fan. It’s any number of things – the way they all look the same to me, their fragility, their deafening howls. Once that little bugger turns two I’ll be all over him or her. But until then, I’m quite happy to hang with my feline friend. So here’s why I think cats are better than babies:

They don’t cry as loudly. The cat’s meows may get louder the closer we get to dinnertime, but she still doesn’t come anywhere close to matching the pitch and intensity of a newborn.

They have more personality. Playful, pensive, lazy, curious – these are just a few of the many moods the cat displays. And what about babies? Hungry, sleepy, or the deadly combo hungry-and-sleepy.

You can drop them and they’ll be fine. I’m terrified of holding a baby because they come with so many warnings. “Keep a firm grip on their arms!” “No, not that tight!” “Make sure you support the neck!” It seems easier to just coo at it from afar. On the other hand, I’ve dropped the cat on more than a few occasions (mostly by accident) and she’s always landed on her feet.

They can go to the toilet by themselves. No need to worry about smelly nappies that require changing. No tedious toilet training either!

You don’t have to be with them 24/7. Babies seem to think the whole world revolves around them and their needs. As an introvert, I appreciate the value of alone-time, and it’s gratifying to see that the cat does too. While we love playing hide-and-seek or snuggling on the couch to watch House of Cards together, we both welcome the time when the other disappears to do their own thing too.

They have cooler names. I’ll admit, this is being challenged by the likes of Apple, Suri, and North West. But for the most part, cat names are still cooler than baby ones. My favorite – Kit Kat.

They communicate better. When the cat wants to play, she waits behind the door and jumps out at me. When she wants to be held, she wraps herself around my legs and meows softly. When her litter isn’t clean, she lets out an unhappy whine. Now what do babies do when they want something? Cry. At eardrum-bleeding levels. How fun.

And the number one reason why cats are better than babies is… *drumroll please* They purr when you cuddle them. ‘Nuff said.

#cat #baby #list

Richard Lawson goes to the annual gathering of YouTube stars and the fans who created them.

YouTubers are finally mainstream and traditional media giants are clamoring for a piece of the pie.

#VidCon #YouTube

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