Economists always claim that we need populations to grow for economies to grow, which they seem to regard as a necessity. I’ve never understood why growth is necessary, when what we need is to distribute life’s necessities—food, water, shelter, etc—among people. Anyway, take economic growth as a necessity for the sake of argument. Economists also worry about losing jobs to other countries. Well, if having more people doesn’t cause an[…] Keep reading →

We all have Habits we don’t like that we want to break Habits we think we’ll like that we want to start Foods we want to avoid Foods we want to eat more of Skills we want to learn All sorts of things we want to change about our lives… BUT WE DON’T CHOOSE THEM. The classic case is the chocolate cake in front of us that, when it wasn’t[…] Keep reading →

My Inc.com article today, “How Not to Save New York City, or Your Home” begins How Not to Save New York City, or Your Home The New York Times and New York Magazine show how not to lead on the biggest issue of our time. It’s up to leaders to lead. This is a post about what leaders, entrepreneurs, and other Inc.com readers do best–to lead people to improve their[…] Keep reading →

If you want to turn anyone into a know-it-all who thinks they have a PhD in nutrition, tell them your eating habits and they’ll show off how much they know. If you want to make someone forget about supply and demand, personal responsibility, accountability, and causality, point out how much flying in planes affects the environment. They’ll give you foolish nonsense about how the plane was going to fly anyway,[…] Keep reading →

How far do you have to travel to see stunningly beautiful nature? Not necessarily Grand Canyon or Yosemite level grandeur, but at least something you can’t help but pause to take in? Now consider this: imagine where you are now before humans arrived, or even after we arrived but before roads, gas stations, and landfills. How beautiful was it then? Artist renditions of pre-human Manhattan based on archaeological data look[…] Keep reading →

Continuing my series of alternative responses to the New York Times column, The Ethicist, looking at the consequences of one’s actions instead of imposing values on others, here is my take on today’s post, “Should a Friend Have Been Told That His Date Was H.I.V. Positive?” More than 30 years ago, five years or so into a world shaped by AIDS, I had two friends. One of them, “Dean,” was[…] Keep reading →

I came across the infographic below and disagree with how it categorizes innovation and how it draws its conclusions. It categorizes innovation by “marketable contributions to technology-intensive industries as award-winning innovators and international patent applications.” Then it concludes we should support STEM more. I agree we should support STEM more, to have a more educated population. They haven’t supported their conclusion at all. I consider myself innovative. With a PhD[…] Keep reading →