Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean in’ Offers Demure Insights into Gender Differences
Christina Hoff Sommers at The Atlantic feels that, in Lean In (2013,) Sheryl Sandberg’s endeavor to unshackle American women from gender stereotypes may be merely hindering their true path to freedom: An up-to-date manifesto on women and work should steer clear of encounter groups and boys-must-play-with dolls rhetoric. It should make room for human reality: […]
Avoid Extremely Intense Ideology
From Charlie Munger’s USC Gould School of Law commencement address: Another thing to avoid is extremely intense ideology because it cabbages up one’s mind. You see a lot of it in the worst of the TV preachers. They have different, intense, inconsistent ideas about technical theology, and a lot of them have minds reduced to […]
When Triviality Drops Away
Cognitive scientist and author Guy Claxton writes in The Heart of Buddhism: Practical Wisdom for an Agitated World (1999): One’s attitude to death is very important in Buddhism. When we forget our mortality and the mortality of our loved ones, it is possible for our priorities to go haywire, and for us to become bamboozled […]
Trophy Board Members
Citing the case of Theranos, venture capitalist Fred Wilson remarks that trophy board members rarely help and often hurt a start-up company: I am not reading Bad Blood, the book about Theranos, but many of my friends and colleagues are. One of the many “tells” that Theranos was not a good company was the board […]
The Difference Between New Coders and Experienced Coders
Cecily Carver writes about things she wished someone had told her when she was learning how to code: I’ve found that a big difference between new coders and experienced coders is faith: faith that things are going wrong for a logical and discoverable reason, faith that problems are fixable, faith that there is a way […]
Why Should We Be Open-Minded
From Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel (2000): If we maintain the open-mindedness of children, we challenge fixed ideas and established structures, including our own. We listen to people in other denominations and religions. We don’t find demons in those with whom we disagree. We don’t cozy up to people who mouth our jargon. If we […]
Lincoln’s Pockets
President Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 at 10:15 p.m. at Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C. Futility Closet notes the contents of his pocket: Two pairs of glasses Lens polisher Watch fob Penknife Newspaper clippings Handkerchief … and a Confederate five-dollar bill.
Follow the Signs of the Times
Sereno Sky writes in Lonely Traveller (2014,) You have to follow the signs of the times in your life. When it’s time to move on you must do it, even though it may have some sad consequences as others may not understand or want to move on with you. If you don’t follow that still […]
Veeraswamy on Regent Street, the Great British Curry House
Edward Palmer, a retired Indian Army officer founded E. P. Veeraswamy & Co. in Hornsey in 1896 to promote Indian foods “so that they could be used under Western conditions and yet produce Eastern results.” Palmer also launched the Veeraswamy restaurant on Regent Street in London. Chronicling the history of the vaunted British curry house, […]
Singapore’s Haw Par Villa: Not Your Average Theme Park
The Haw Par Brothers, creators of the Tiger Balm in the early 1900s, developed an unique educational and cultural exposition. It’s themes are universal and not just Chinese. What is bad is bad and cuts across all nationalities. Haw Par Villa—formerly known as the Tiger Balm Garden—is an 8.5-hectare Asian cultural park, the last of […]