Open Notebook / Just Read: Go Wild
The fascinating and comprehensive evolutionary perspective on human health presented in Go Wild by Dr. John Ratey and Richard Manning compellingly describes the importance of nutrition, exercise, sleep, socializing and contact with nature in our lives. While the tone can seem bombastic at times, the writing brings together a great collection of research findings and stories into an enthralling arc. It’s like The Social Conquest of Earth meets The Wild Life of Our Bodies meets Your Brain on Nature and then some.
Here are some passages from the book I found quite striking.
Humans are the Swiss Army knives of motion.
The evolution of our unique brains was locked into the evolution of our wide range of movement.
…nomadism, bipedalism, and omnivory—are defining for our entire genus and have accrued over the course of two million years of hominid history.
…the calorie content made available to your body is, in fact, to some degree dependent on the type of bacteria in your digestive system, a population that varies wildly from person to person.
…a study in 2011 showed that eating trans fats greatly increases the risk of clinical depression…
“One researcher in education—not in nutrition—performed a meta-analysis of all peer-reviewed research on proven methods to increase a child’s intelligence (that is, boost academic performance). The conclusion: “Supplementing infants with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids [specifically omega-3s], enrolling children in early educational interventions, reading to children in an interactive manner, and sending children to preschool all raise the intelligence of young children.”
Annual per capita sugar consumption in the United States was 5 pounds per person in 1700, 23 pounds in 1800, 70 pounds in 1900, and 152 pounds today. Continue reading
Sesame Street: Once Is Not Enough
Dang, still resonates like crazy with the values infused into me during my childhood. And I’m not talking about just the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra; the whole milieu of this muppet-sung message is so 70s and 80s Americana—the family, their clothing, their kitchen, the appliances, the grocery shopping… so wonderfully familiar and even endearing.
For me, once is never enough to relish the quirky magic of this bit of Sesame Street.
Open Notebook: Perspectives on Leadership
Recently, I’ve encountered a number of thought-provoking ideas on leadership. Here are a number of them I’ve collected together in Scapple.
Random Anthropomorphism: leaf in autumn
Summer Reading Suggestions: Nonfiction
Looking for a beach-bag, in-flight or in-hammock book that offers cutting-edge, even actionable ideas, instead of literary escapism? Here are some paradigm-shifting books I have been enthralled by and continue to use personally and professionally. Enjoy!
Creative Productivity
Glimmer (aka CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies and T-Shaped People)
By 99u.com: Manage Your Day-to-Day, Maximize Your Potential—excellent guidance on how to be an effective creative professional
Steal Like an Artist
Getting the Right Work Done
Do More Great Work—the workbook for making the work you care about even better
The Nature of Thought, Human Behavior and the World
The Heath Brothers Trilogy: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive—effective strategies for communicating, driving behavioral change and making decisions based on psychology research, explained clearly with compelling stories
The Social Conquest of Earth—the story of who we are as species, why we can be so kind and so hostile (http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150575003/how-humans-and-insects-conquered-the-earth)
Your Brain on Nature—how we’re healthier with nature (and some explanation of why)
Leaders Eat Last—the anthropology and neurobiology of leadership
Imagine, how creativity works (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/21/148607182/fostering-creativity-and-imagination-in-the-workplace)
Where Good Ideas Come From
The Rise of Superman—the neurobiology of flow through the lens of extreme sports
Antifragile—systems can be more than resilient; rather than bounce back from disruption, some can be made stronger by it; enter antifragility
Focus: the hidden driver of excellence—“The more you can concentrate, the better you’ll do in anything, because whatever talent you have, you can’t apply it if you’re distracted.” http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R905131000
The Power of Habit—the anatomy of habits (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/147192599/habits-how-they-form-and-how-to-break-them)
The Paradox of Choice—how more choices actually make us less happy (http://www.npr.org/2012/05/02/151881205/the-pursuit-of-happiness)
The Willpower Instinct
Your Brain at Work
Ha! The Science of When and Why We Laugh—“humor is by nature confrontational—sometimes cognitively, sometimes emotionally, and sometimes both” (http://www.npr.org/2014/03/15/289946192/whyd-the-scientist-cross-the-road-to-figure-out-why-youre-laughing)
The Information Diet (http://www.informationdiet.com/; http://www.npr.org/2012/01/14/145101748/is-it-time-for-you-to-go-on-an-information-diet)
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
The As If Principle
The Social Animal
Disciplined Entrepreneurship
Random Anthropomorphism: Heron
Catbug at Clover KND
Ah, another intersection of Internet culture and everyday life. It was delightful to see this drawing at Clover KND, which has become one of my favorite Kendall Square hangout spots since it opened in recent months—hip minimalist atmosphere with satisfying food, great coffee and delicious sodas.
Random Anthropomorphism: iPhone 3G
I have fond memories of my first iPhone, an iPhone 3G.
Writers Need Mission Statements Too—Lessons from The Muse and The Marketplace 2014
Pushing us to take a hard look at the pursuit of writing as a career, the conference session “The Strategic Writer” provided some realistic, practical perspective for writers in any stage of their development. Led by literary agent Eve Bridburg, the session took us through a framework for approaching writing with clearer purpose and direction, ultimately allowing us to find the viable paths and then select the best ones—reminds me of the quote from Émile-Auguste Chartier shared in Do More Great Work, “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you’ve got.”
Two major components of the framework are
- Define Your Mission: Why do you write? What do you seek to achieve? What impact should your work have?
and
- Define Success: Qualitatively and quantitatively describe how you’ll know you’re achieving the mission. In doing so, think about what gives enriches your life and you energy; don’t set a target that doesn’t resonate with you (e.g. having 2,000 followers on Twitter when you hate tweeting). For example, if knowing you’ve connected with readers helps sustain your spirits and work, make sure you have at least one way to hear from them that works for you; as one attendee said, a handful of positive emails can actually be powerful indicator that you’ve achieved or are on your way to achieving your mission of sharing valuable perspectives.
These points Eve discussed immediately reminded me of concepts from the invaluable books Made to Stick and Switch, especially
- the core: clearly capture and convey the essence of your idea
and
- point to the destination: have a picture of what the near future looks like if your goal is achieved.
The session also resonated with points made in Kevin Starr’s PopTech talk “Lasting Impact” which I require all of my Intro to Environmental Science students watch and apply. Clarity of mission can make all the difference.
Kevin Starr: Lasting Impact from PopTech on Vimeo.
A Contemplative Compilation 