Venn diagrams

We all know how awesome Venn diagrams are. What I discovered was how many variations there are on the theme. (They all have links to their original sites, and I am a new fan of Indexed, below.) Enjoy!

Innovation happens at the seams

My student's father said this, and he is a scientist that lives this success story. This is probably more true today than ever before. His point is that people working in so-called 'different fields' are often working on related projects, but they are so specialized, they can only look at the problem before them through a certain lens.




His belief was that if people at the intersections of different arenas, like chemistry and engineering, for example, were to study a problem together, they would approach it in new (and likely better) ways.

I was just talking with a friend who has experience in computer science, economics, business and government, and she said her colleagues were working on the exact topic that other people in a totally unrelated field were studying. We talked about how much overlap there was in these 'different' disciplines, and it made me wonder how much of this labeling was useful and necessary.

Like the nation-state, which is, in some ways, losing power as the world becomes more global, maybe different academic departments will also become more fluid with time. Different countries can still retain their cultural distinctive elements, and we will love the different nations like we love our different family members, but there will be less emphasis on the borders. Less 'mine' and 'yours,' less 'us' and 'them.'

But the world would erupt in utter chaos! The academic departments wouldn't know where to situate their offices! Social order would degenerate into complete anarchy! Right. I sound like a communist. Or a socialist, at best. I'm living in La La Land. I know. But! What if the idealist got their way? If everyone were on board, and no one took advantage of that openness, wouldn't the world be an interesting place?

We're taking over the world!

In A Whole New Mind, author Daniel Pink asserts that right-brained people will take over the world. And who exactly are these right-brained types? According to Pink, they are the artists, creative types, people who can make broad associations and people who are more like Renaissance 'Jack/Jills of all trades' rather than the incredibly specialized professionals.

I skimmed this book in the bookstore, and it seems like the anti-Christ of the Baby Boomers. If what this book says is true, then it's good that many Baby Boomers will be retiring soon. In their day, it was all about specialization, working hard to rise up through the ranks and then enjoying a nice pension. This book says that trajectory is no more.

The example the book gives is how the best chess players in the world can no longer beat a computer. A computer will never falter, will never sweat and make a stupid mistake, will never beat itself up over a bad move. It will just calculate away and win. Similarly, the author argues that all of the logical left-brain tasks can eventually become automated.

What can never become automated, however, is our human creativity. It's great news for us creative types who are a little good at many things but not really amazing at one thing. I've often thought life would be so simple if I were just this Olympic gymnast, reared to be an amazing, spinning, jumping little spring. It would be all gymnastics all the time, I'd be incredible at it, and I'd never have to wonder about my life having a purpose. But then I'd miss out on all the exciting things I got to try and fail at. So, on second thought: no, thanks. I have to go take over the world.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you pause to remember your blessings, may you enjoy them all again.

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." - Thornton Wilder

The best gift

Yesterday at breakfast, a student told me I'd made a difference in her life. It made my day. In the afternoon, I talked with another student who told me I made her feel better. I felt like the luckiest person in the world.

On the day before Thanksgiving, I would like to give a dozen thanks:

1. I am a young and healthy human being. I'm no triathlete or even much of an athlete, but I started running this past summer and try to exercise regularly. (If running intimidates you, I promise if I can do it, anyone can. Here's how.)

2. I still have my parents and brother. I know too many people who have lost a member of their immediate family. When you include cousins and other relatives, the number skyrockets. I try to remember how fragile life can be, so that even when my family drives me crazy (all the time), I can appreciate how lucky I am to have them. (My mom, for example, called the other night and left a message about how terrible the economy was. She does this often, so that wasn't a shocker. But, this time, she ended her message with, "But don't worry. You can always move home if things don't work out." It almost made me cry. I love my mom.)

3. I live in a beautiful, comfortable home, surrounded by incredible human beings who are kind, intellectually curious, open-minded and often hilarious.

4. I have friends I respect who love me unconditionally. And while their living all over the globe is sad in some ways, it also means I have lots of very cool places to visit.

5. This amazing world in which we live and how easy it has become to go explore it.

6. Complete security in my freedom. I live in a relatively safe and stable country. I can go pretty much anywhere I want without restriction. I can follow whatever spiritual path I choose or not choose one at all. I can read and look at whatever I want. I can think whatever I want, eat whatever I want, wear whatever I want and talk about whatever I want.

7. I am working on a painting right now. What a luxury. And I get to be a full-time writer. One woman said I was "living the dream," and though I don't see it that way all the time, I have to appreciate that I get to work from home and have the time and freedom to be a creative nut.

8. Homemade ice cream and milkshakes. Thai food, Indian food and Mexican food. Dim sum, noodles, freshly baked bread and broccoli (especially when stir-fried with garlic or some other delicious sauce). Perfectly ripe fruit, especially mango, papaya with fresh lime juice, Rainier cherries and white nectarines. Farmers markets, in general. And eating outside on a beautiful day.

9. I have the kindest life partner, and he makes me happier than I even thought possible. He encourages me, no matter how zany I get, and makes me laugh. I am at peace because of him.

10. Laughter. One of life's greatest pleasures. And it's free.

11. Water in nature. An ocean, a lake, a river, it doesn't matter to me. I love them all. And bridges. Water and bridges.

12. People. Their quirks, their smiles, seeing them think. And that they let me into their worlds and let me contribute in some small way to their story. Nothing makes my life more meaningful.

Thank you, life!

What are you grateful for?

Serendipity berries work!

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Last night, I tried a real serendipity berry for the first time, and the result was amazing. I had a 'miracle fruit' tablet first, and I downed slice after slice of lime, lemon and grapefruit like they were candy. Salt and vinegar chips never tasted so sweet. I drank vinegar and enjoyed it. At our little miracle berry party, some people even said the lime and lemon slices were too sweet.

I tried the real berry later and was, unfortunately, not as impressed. This could, of course, be due to the fact that they were frozen in transit and delivered in dry ice. If I had any special properties, I'd probably have lost them after freezing and thawing, too.

The effect was supposed to last anywhere from half an hour to two hours, but for some people, it seemed to last an even shorter amount of time. And for $1+ a pop, it isn't something one would necessarily do that often. But wow, it is something to be experienced.

As the writer of the serendipity berries blog, I felt I had to share where one could purchase said little miracles. So, no, you won't find any in the international foods aisle of your local grocery store, but you can order them online here. Enjoy!

Bubbles and the jinny

My student told me last night about one of his earliest memories. When he was very young, he jumped into a swimming pool to get a ball, and the next thing his father knew, there were just bubbles, and then, the ball popped up on the surface. His father jumped in and saved him from drowning, but I can't get that haunting image out of my head. I'm just glad the story had a happy ending.

It isn't a direct connection, but it somehow reminded me of “The Fisherman and the Jinny” from Arabian Nights, as quoted from The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim (29.5):

According to adult morality, the longer an imprisonment lasts, the more grateful the prisoner should be to the person who liberates him. But this is not how the Jinny describes it: As he sat confined in the bottle during the first hundred years, he “said in my heart, ‘Whoso shall release me, him will I enrich for ever and ever.’

But the full century went by, and when no one set me free, I entered upon the second five score saying: ‘Whoso shall release me, for him I will open the hoards of the earth.’ Still no one set me free, and thus four hundred years passed away. Then quoth I, ‘Whoso shall release me, for him I will fulfill three wishes.’ Yet no one set me free. Thereupon I waed wroth with exceeding wrath and said to myself, ‘Whoso shall release me from this time forth, him will I slay…’”

This is exactly how a young child feels when he has been “deserted.” First he thinks to himself how happy he will be when his mother comes back; or when sent to his room, how glad he will be when permitted to leave it again, and how he will reward Mother. But as time passes, the child becomes angrier and angrier, and he fantasizes the terrible revenge he will take on those who have deprived him.

The fact that, in reality, he may be very happy when reprieved does not change how his thoughts move from rewarding to punishing those who have inflicted discomfort on him. Thus, the way the Jinny’s thoughts evolve gives the story psychological truth for a child.

I've read that the sanitized fairy tales don't give children the same psychological satisfaction that the original fables did. In the original Snow White, for example, the evil queen dances on hot coals to her death rather than just running into the forest. With the original, the child has no doubt that 'justice has been served,' and that the scary woman won't come running back out of the woods. But then, of course, the child has to think about someone dying by forced dancing on hot coals.

Another example is in the original Cinderella, the stepsisters don't merely 'not fit' into the glass slipper; their toes and heels are literally cut off so they can squeeze their feet in. The prince only discovers that the woman by his side isn't the right one when he sees blood oozing out of the shoe.

What do you think? What would you share with children you care about? The Disney versions or the original, often more violent, versions?

great bumper sticker

I'm not even a dog person, and I love it.

Embarrassing moments

Unlike me, my partner is one of those good people who carries their cell phone with them everywhere they go. Yesterday, though, he called me from his lab phone to finalize our Thanksgiving travel plans. We got off the phone, and I was about to click Confirm when something caught my eye.

We'd just gotten off the phone, so I called the lab phone back, thinking my partner would be right there, turn around and pick it up again. Sure enough, the phone rang only once before I heard a 'Hello?'

I said, "Hi, again. Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you'd prefer 285 square feet with a king-sized bed or 315 square feet with two queen-sized beds?"

The male voice paused for a moment and then said, "Who would you like to speak to?"

I was speechless. And instead of saying 'Wrong number' and absolving my partner of all future embarrassment, I said his name and then his full name, as if on autopilot.

It wasn't the worst thing in the world. I know. It wasn't like I told some stranger that my genital warts were especially itchy today or something like that, and my partner kindly forgave me. I was still embarrassed, though. Especially because thirty square feet would likely not change anything-- who cared?

The only memory I have that can top this one is when I was an undergrad, my friends and I started a magazine. At our intro meeting, in which we were trying to recruit the coolest and brightest, our editor-in-chief explained that our goal was to be a cross between Rolling Stone and the Atlantic Monthly.

And what did I say? I decided that was the moment to raise my hand and ask how often the Atlantic Monthly came out.

Completely irrelevant. And whoever said there was no such thing as a dumb question obviously hadn't been in that room that evening. So, now I try to be understanding when I hear people say silly things or ask silly questions, because I know I've done worse.

What has humbled you in life? Do you remember any particularly mortifying events, or have you blocked them from your consciousness?

happy dance around the world

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding

This is my favorite video of all time. When I first discovered it, I cried and emailed it to all seven hundred people in my contacts list. (Who those seven hundred people are, I have no idea, and I will most likely never email them all at once ever again. I just hope it brightened their day.) I could go on and on about why I love it or just let it speak for itself. Right.

So, the question is: do you know where all of those places are? How many countries can you name?

Here is an infuriating, addicting time suck of a geography quiz that you will regret starting. But tempting nonetheless, no? Want to waste more time? Here is a totally ridiculous, outdated and not entirely useful song that was (I think) meant to be instructive. And here is a list of countries and capitals, because I was suddenly struck with the desire to know them all again, too.

Now, the next question is: how many of these countries have you been to? What are some of your favorite countries/cities/places that you've visited? And why? (I used to hate the follow-up 'why' question. But see how useful it is here? If someone said because the _____ hiking trail has this awesome species of tarantula, I'd say thanks and probably avoid that hike.) More importantly, where do you want to go? And what inspired you to want to go there?

My friend, Catherine, has a friend who got a car in India and drove all the way to South Africa so he could have visited 30 countries by age 30. I know, I know-- it isn't just about keeping score. After all, a trip to New York or Los Angeles doesn't at all = 'knowing the U.S.,' even though you've technically visited and can then 'check it off.' But it's a fun challenge nevertheless, and I admit that I look forward to adding more countries to my 'been there' list. And places like these. Ahh, travel.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

"May all your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view... where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you." - Edward Abbey