Clason uses a fictional story line, set in the height of the Babylonian empire, to distill his wisdom on the accumulation of wealth and wise money management. While at times the stories seem unnecessary, they help to reinforce the importance of the point Clason is trying to make without bearing down into boring numbers and statistics.
Category: Notes
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Roy F Baumeister – Willpower: Self-control, decision fatigue, and energy
It turns out, the ability to self-regulate (self-control), make decisions and take initiative all stem from the same, exhaustible, mental resource and takes a lot of physical energy to do. Like any mental resource, however, this one gets stronger with use. Thus, it is better to provide rules and structure for the young and old alike (even while knowing that the rules will be violated) because it helps the mind to become stronger at resisting impulses.
Willpower: Self-control, decision fatigue, and energy (RSA)
Roy F Baumeister – Willpower: Self-control, decision fatigue, and energy (TED)As a side note, scientists recently discovered that consuming familiar, favorite materials (i.e. TV shows or movies that we have already seen or books that we have previously read, and that we enjoy consuming repeatedly) will “recharge” our willpower quicker than it will naturally recharge by itself. The benefit, however, does not come from consuming new material even if from in a favorite collection (i.e. a new episode of your favorite TV show). The original article can be found here.
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E.O. Wilson: Advice to young scientists
A call for young scientists to hold true to their course as the world will need them as guides to the future. It is interesting to note that Wilson downplays the importance of math. He comments that while it is the language of science, one only needs a rudimentary understanding of the language to use it. Instead, it is critical to be able to dream in order to push science forward.
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“Heroes, Rogues, and Lovers: Testosterone and Behavior” by James McBride Dabbs with Mary Godwin Dabbs
The Dabbs couple explore the profound and vast effects of testosterone on men and women from the youngest of ages (in utero) through mid-life. After childhood, they explore the three basic effects that are outlined in the title: creating heroes, rebel rousing and making lovers. While the presented research focuses on men, the Dabbs are frequently cite studies of women to establish a baseline of the norm before showing how testosterone changed the default behavior. This book has greatly expanded my understanding of, and provided fascinating insight to, why both men and women behave the way they do.Interesting tidbit: Alfalfa and clover are estrogen rich and thus birth controlling plants. It is thought that the plants maintained this chemical feature to limit offspring of hungry animals and thus prevent overgrazing. Today, some million sheep go sterile each year in Australia alone from eating too much wild clover and alfalfa. -
Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology
Mistry built a simple device of a projector, camera and small computer that basically allows the computer to break outside the normal confines of screen, keyboard and mouse. This is the stuff of movies.