There it is at the top of every page, right under my name [Edit: I changed the page design since writing this post]: “Values.” What does value mean? What are values? Everybody knows the value of values. You can find plenty of books on values-based leadership. Everybody knows you should stick to your values. Nobody suggests knowing you should know your values less. Few people can define the meaning of[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] As a final note on empathy gaps, I wanted to note a few examples of empathy gaps — using them, observing them in others, and observing them in yourself. Researchers normally present empathy[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Now we are familiar with empathy gaps — that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion. We get how insidious they can be[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] As usual, understanding ourselves better helps us overcome the problems of empathy gaps — that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion. Yet[…] Keep reading →

[This post is part of a series on empathy gaps. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Yesterday I talked about the effect that when you feel one emotion you generally can’t conceive of your motivations when feeling a different emotion, nor do you realize you can’t, also known as[…] Keep reading →

Sometimes when I talk about how I don’t eat meat or avoid leather people will comment Josh, you know animals aren’t people. If you think they’re at the same level as us, you’re missing something. They’re implying we’re more advanced than animals. I respond I’m not elevating them to a higher level. I’m not that impressed with us. I find thinking about us as animals gives me more insight to[…] Keep reading →

If the first cherries of spring don’t warrant a post of their own, I don’t know what does. Billions of years of evolution led to them tasting so good — on their side and mine. After all the amazing tropical fruits of Vietnam and China, I like being reminded of how good some local fruit here can taste. Every spring I eat cherries until they make me feel woozy. Then[…] Keep reading →

I’m going to explain a major difference between men and women that will help men understand women and women understand men. It won’t explain everything, but it will help you understand the opposite sex better than most perspectives. I’ll overstate the point for clarity. You have to figure out for yourself how much to dial it back. And keep in mind, I’m presenting a model. If it works for you,[…] Keep reading →

My physics training tells me economics views some things in a weird way. In physics, if your theory predicts something to happen a certain way and it happens differently, you say your theory is wrong, at least partly, and you work to improve it. Nature is always correct. You try to get your theory to predict what nature does. When economics predicts people to behave some way and they don’t,[…] Keep reading →