When I finished the first draft of my doctoral dissertation and handed it in to my professor, I got it back from him with the comment, “It’s a good skeleton. Put some meat on it.” No other comment on the more than 100 pages of text. Meanwhile my office mate, who was also at the [...]
Category Archives: Human nature
My dog has no willpower. Neither do I.
Willpower, where does it come from? Is it just a question of wanting something enough? In some ways it is but it is far from being that simple. Motivation comes not only from wanting something but also from how easy it is to attain it. In other words, we are more likely to do something [...]
Turbans, tabouli, and identity politics
I’d like to start out by thanking Quebec Premier Pauline Marois for first inspiring the column I published last week in Métro. All the recent talk about religious headgear worn by soccer players made me decide to publish it. During the last provincial election she relied heavily on identity politics with her talk of a creating [...]
Seek immediate medical attention…and then wait eight hours!
A few weeks ago I was visited by an old friend: a kidney stone. That little sucker, pictured above, was my third experience with one. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, the pain of a kidney stone can best be described as more or less like shoving a crowbar into your scrotum and pulling [...]
Pie charts and scribbled napkins
When I see a particular client it doesn’t take me long to find her file in my file cabinet. It’s the one with the colour-coded tabs sticking out. These tabs form part of the many background documents she wrote for me to assist in the treatment process. Meanwhile, I have another client who has yet [...]
Jackie Robinson
I haven’t seen the movie ’42′ yet but the Jackie Robinson story is one I know well. The theme of segregation and “Us versus Them” thinking is one I have written about in a number of previous posts including Segregation and Desegregation, but given the movie’s recent release, and the theme of the talks I [...]
Turning in circles
Hi folks. Here is something I published last week in Metro. It is a concept I have discussed with almost all of my clients over the years. It is also a part of almost every presentation I give. I thought it was time to try and summarize the idea in my 400 word-limit column. Not an easy task [...]
The empty coffee pot and Joe’s retirement
Here is something I published two weeks ago. It discusses Agreeableness, one of the five dimensions of personality from the five-factor theory. The Empty Coffee Pot and Joe’s Retirement (Source: La cafetière vide. Journal Métro, January 29, 2013) Voir plus bas pour la version Française. There is always some guy at the office ready to [...]
This is not a garbage can!
A few years ago, as I was walking into a shopping center, I noticed a large sign on a door. The sign was a large green neon sign with an arrow thick enough to hide a loaf of rye bread. Underneath this arrow, in 100+ point font, were the words: Porte Brisé (Door broken). To [...]
Fat squirrels and fat people
It always amazes me to see how fat squirrels get in the fall. They stuff themselves in preparation for the coming harshness and deprivation of winter. But what would happen if somehow we were able to halt the advance of the seasons and prolong autumn indefinitely? Would the squirrels, that are simply acting on instinct, [...]
