Convenience at what cost?

on November 2, 2013 in Blog, Fitness, Nature

The other day I passed a guy blowing leaves with a gasoline-powered leaf blower on a paved area in a park by City Hall. This post isn’t about him. It’s about us, including you. What is wrong with us? We buy oil from countries we have adversarial relations with, pollute the environment, create loud, unpleasant noise, so a fat person can work less, and cart away what would create topsoil,[…] Keep reading →

A systems perspective on population growth

on September 8, 2013 in Nature

I keep reading about how some technology has or will save billions of lives from starvation or disease. A perfect example comes from the opening paragraph of Wikipedia’s page on the “Green Revolution.” Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production worldwide, particularly in the developing world, beginning most markedly in the late[…] Keep reading →

Once you start composting, you can’t go back

on August 18, 2013 in Blog, Nature

Once you start putting your food scraps in a separate container from your trash, you can’t go back to filling landfills with what could create topsoil and healthier food. Once you start composting, the amount you throw away decreases yet more — after you presumably started recycling, after you presumably reduced your consumption. You become more aware of food packaging you can’t compost. I’ve noticed that the less healthy a[…] Keep reading →

You probably blow smoke in kids’ faces without realizing. You can stop.

on August 13, 2013 in Awareness, Blog, Nature

New York City is having the most mild summer I can remember. We’ve barely hit ninety degrees and that was at least a month ago. Since then we’ve had cool, spring-like weather most of the summer. The other evening walking with friends, I noticed how loud the sounds of window air conditioners were in the small streets of the West Village. The temperature and humidity outside couldn’t have been more[…] Keep reading →

A giant rainbow over Greenwich Village

on July 5, 2013 in Blog, Nature

I walked outside my building and saw one of the most complete and beautiful rainbows I’ve ever seen, over the Jefferson Market clock tower. The camera in my phone didn’t capture its full beauty, but I hope you can tell some of it. It was too big for my camera to capture it all at once. You can see it fading in the few minutes I watched it so I[…] Keep reading →

A beautiful spring day

on June 23, 2013 in Awareness, Blog, Nature

New York City is enjoying some beautiful weather today. My building has a nice rooftop and had some friends over to enjoy the weather and view yesterday. I think people come here for the leadership thoughts… sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the day. A few related thoughts I’ve posted before I clicked on to look at myself. A Beautiful Spring Day in My Neighborhood (with slide show!)[…] Keep reading →

A few models that don’t improve your life that effectively

on May 24, 2013 in Awareness, Evolutionary Psychology, Exercises, Models, Tips

[This post is part of a series on “Mental models and beliefs: an exercise to identify yours.” 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.] I wrote about The Method being an effective way to improve your life and, when applied to a team, to improve your leadership style. Based on[…] Keep reading →

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