I have just finished reading a wonderful book by Maria Konnikova, The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win (Penguin Press, 2020). Konnikova is a PhD psychologist who researches decision making and risk. She decides to study this in the domain of poker. She begins as a total novice and […]
It is very difficult to foster change and innovation in complex social systems. You need to understand key stakeholders; their perceptions, concerns, and values; and how to gain their support for central elements of the changes being entertained. It can take much time and work to build a coalition capable of moving forward. Examples of […]
We have in the US over 400 years of injustice in our country. Native Americans, African-Americans, and more recent immigrants have all been abused. We have taken advantage of them for the benefits of mainstream Americans at the time. What was this mainstream? Initially it was immigrants to Massachusetts and Virginia. Over time, we added […]
Show Me the Evidence was a popular book by Ron Haskins and Greg Margolis published by Brookings in 2014. The central idea was that economic and social policy should be based on credible data rather than just opinion and advocacy. This seems reasonable, although ideology has of late disrupted these intentions. Can this idea be […]
When all the days seem the same and the patterns of daily life endlessly repeat, you can begin to feel that time is gone. The clock has stopped. Nothing progresses. Everything is now. The future, even the past, is on hold. Everything will repeat, again and again. Of course, repetition has always been true. Birth, […]
