Letters Remain

Author: Lloyd Morgan

  • Against Behavioural Economics and Irrationality

    Praising Maurice Allais as the father of behavioural economics rather than Kahneman and Tversky,  John Kay introduces us to some of Allais’ ideas while simultaneously providing one of the finest arguments against the simplistic view of behavioural economics as the study of irrationality: The skill of piecing together sense from fragmented and inaccurate information is a central…

  • Comedic Writing Tips… Again

    The use of inherently funny topics and words, at least one person, a little exaggeration and a touch of curiosity and danger: these are just some of the essential ingredients for successful humourous writing, says Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert. In an essay very similar to a post he wrote almost four years ago (previously), Adams tells us an…

  • Myths About Introverts

    As introverts are a minority—a mere twenty-five percent of the population—there are many persistent misconceptions about the introvert personality among the majority. After reading The Introvert Advantage, Carl King decided to compile a list of myths about introverts, explaining why each misconception is false: Introverts don’t like to talk. Introverts are shy. Introverts are rude. Introverts don’t like…

  • Commons Picture of the Year

    Every year, the Wikimedia Foundation — the parent organisation of many well-loved projects, such as Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiquote and Wikiversity — runs the Commons Picture of the Year competition. The aim of the competition is to identify “the best freely-licensed images from those that during the year have been awarded Featured picture status”; an accolade awarded by…

  • The Source of Happiness

    When, after twenty years of marriage, Laura Munson’s husband told her “I don’t love you anymore. I’m not sure I ever did.“, she chose to not believe him. Not because it didn’t hurt or that she wasn’t taking it personally, but because this wasn’t about her — it was about unmet expectations. In yet another…

  • Building a Brand In a Recession

    The recent recession saw sales of condoms, guns and burglar alarms soar. This is because, when fear enters our mind in terms of losing our job or of not being able to pay bills, we focus on two of our most basic drives: fear and sex. The key to selling and building a brand during…

  • The Best of Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist

    Earlier this year The New York Times published the last of Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist: a weekly column designed “to get people cooking simply, comfortably, and well”. To honour this occasion he reviewed the 1,000+ dishes that have appeared in his almost 700 columns, the culmination of which is a list of Mark Bittman’s favourite twenty-five recipes from thirteen…

  • Food-Based Body Clock the Key to Jet Lag

    The primary cause of jet lag (or desynchronosis as it’s correctly known) is the disruption of our circadian rhythms based on the daily light–dark cycles we experience. However this is only the case when food is in plentiful supply, with new research suggesting that circadian rhythms based on food availability are able to override those of the light-dark cycle. This…

  • Random Promotions Beat the Peter Principle

    The Peter Principle states that “in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence” (discussed previously). This principle is typically observed when promotions are rewarded based on an employee’s ability in their current position and provided there is sufficient difference between the two positions. In such circumstances, is there a simple way…

  • The Scientific Journalism Formula

    In a near-perfect parody of science reporting in the popular press, Martin Robbins, The Lay Scientist, created “a news website article about a scientific paper“. In the standfirst I will make a fairly obvious pun about the subject matter before posing an inane question I have no intention of really answering: is this an important scientific finding? […] This…