Perhaps I should get a life but I really hate the sentiment behind the song Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. “Hey, let’s make fun of the funny-looking kid until he becomes useful to us.” Nevertheless, I will try to take it in the light spirit it was intended and see if a reindeer’s life can [...]
Category Archives: Human nature
Genes trump Dad. So does Facebook.
If you have more than one child, or if you have siblings, you will be struck by how different they are. Same basic genetic make-up, radically different personalities. While siblings can be remarkably similar in many ways, just a few subtle differences – a little more of this trait, a little less of that one [...]
Ten years after the fall
This is something I wrote for the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. It is a hybrid of what I wrote for the 5th anniversary and what I published in Métro last Tuesday (De vieilles nouvelles). SVP voir à la fin pour la version Française de la chronique. Merci. The fuel of hatred In [...]
People categories
Here is something I had sitting in my computer for a while. I was hoping to expand the list but finally decided to submit it. It is a short list of how I categorize people and was published today. Feel free to add you own categories in the comments. People categories SVP Voir plus bas pour [...]
Good guys and bad guys
In today’s column, I returned to an old theme that remains one of the most important ones when we consider conflicts between two individuals or two groups. I’m referring to the tendency to think in groups. Here is an earlier post on the topic (Segregation). Here is what was published in this morning’s edition of [...]
Thick head or thin skin
If a subordinate makes a mistake do you always point it out? How do you deal with someone who reacts badly to criticism? Do you continue to criticize? Do you address the person’s hypersensitivity? Or do you step back? The fact is, the best answer depends completely on the person being criticized. If the person [...]
My fifth and a half sense
One of the most inspiring yet frustrating tendency people have is to listen to their guts. This is because we can learn a lot from our gut feelings but we can also be led to believe some pretty crazy things. Indeed, our feelings can often inform us when something is amiss. Unfortunately, how we interpret [...]
The relentless pursuit of …um, you know…stuff
One of my childhood heroes was George Leigh Mallory. I remember reading about his attempts to scale Mount Everest. What made the story so fascinating was the mystery surrounding his death. He and fellow climber, Sandy Irvine, were last seen going for the top but were never seen again. No one knows for sure if [...]
Psychologists make for lousy soldiers
I often think of all the talented artists and musicians who will never earn a living at their craft. It’s sad that we simply do not live in a world where such talents are rewarded. No, our current leaders are the ones with the most marketing savvy – whether they sell products or their political [...]
