To clarify, I’m not serious about the following, as implementing it except by a democratic process people considered fair, but I consider it worth talking about. Sometimes crazy, impractical ideas spark useful, practical ones. Should we make stupid shit illegal? We make drunk driving and selling cigarettes to children illegal and no one complains they’re evidence of a nanny state. How about doof? People can’t stop buying and gorging on[…] Keep reading →

A friend recommended to me an exercise I hadn’t heard of. It sounds like the Three Raisins exercise I learned from Jon Kabat-Zinn, included in my leadership book, and assign in my leadership class. She didn’t explain much about it, but my experience with experiential exercises told me that doing it would reveal more than any explanation. The exercise The instructions: Drink a hot beverage and when I think judgmental[…] Keep reading →

Americans mistake entitlement for luxury comfort and convenience for happiness effort for misery flying for adventure pleasure for emotional reward upvotes for friendship social media for community video games for fun takeout for culture cheap for value volume for quality test scores for knowledge etc and wonder why so many end up addicted to opiates, sugar, etc. The observation probably applies to many modern cultures, but I’m here in the[…] Keep reading →

I can’t describe the unexpected fun and growth coming from my conversations with Rob. When I learned of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s friendship with Antonin Scalia, I couldn’t get it. How could one tolerate someone who worked to make the world the opposite of what they wanted, especially with the stakes so high? Reading John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, I intellectually understood his point that you have to share your ideas[…] Keep reading →

In yesterday’s podcast conversation, educational leader Tony Wagner suggested starting and keeping a question journal as a way of keeping curious and young. At least, I took how he described it that way. I don’t know if people have found ways to make them work better, but I’ve learned that starting first leads to improving faster than trying to start perfectly. As I put it, I have low standards the[…] Keep reading →

Rob and Andrew at Magamedia.org invited me back, this time for a three-way conversation: Maga Media Podcast ep35: Guest Joshua Spodek| Climate Change, Coronavirus & the Great American Lockdown. EDIT: I recommend everyone watch these videos on preventing pandemics including COVID-19, considering how much our behavior is causing them: Pandemics: History & Prevention Can we stop a future pandemic? Dr. Michael Greger M.D explains what’s next. Their notes for this[…] Keep reading →

Why am I writing so much about white males? Partly because I am one but live in a society that denigrates and silences the group. When I read about people in other groups exploring their accidents of birth—their skin color, sex, sexual preference, geographic origin—society seems to celebrate them. My city hosts parades for many groups. Does anyone wonder how much it would accept a white male parade? I expect[…] Keep reading →

Yesterday’s post Update on automatic thoughts people connect with straight white men culminated with a couple questions I found intriguing: Imagine if your entire life, every time you said you suffered, people said, “actually that’s an example of you causing others to suffer.” How would that affect your life? and: Imagine every time you said you worked hard at something, people said, “actually that’s an example of how easy your[…] Keep reading →

Last month I asked “What automatic thoughts come to you when you think of straight white men?“. I also explored the topic with Psychology Today‘s Editor-at-Large, Hara Estroff Marano, in an audio recording for a piece there, White Men and Preconceived Notions. Some updates. . . First, context. However obvious, I’ll still say that the following is a personal account with all the biases of someone just talking to the[…] Keep reading →