Author: Lloyd Morgan
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Epiphanies Through Daydreams
Research aimed at discovering how ‘Eureka moments’ are triggered and how these moments of clarity and insight differ from typical methodical reasoning has found that not only are epiphanies more likely when we’re daydreaming, but our state of mind before we tackle a problem is also crucial. They materialize without warning, often through an unconscious…
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When Money Buys Happiness (or Not)
After discussing consumer signalling and Geoffrey Miller’s Spent in his Findings column (mentioned previously), readers of John Tierney’s Lab were asked, List the ten most expensive things (products, services or experiences) that you have ever paid for (including houses, cars, university degrees, marriage ceremonies, divorce settlements and taxes). Then, list the ten items that you have ever…
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Aspen Ideas Festival
The Aspen Ideas Festival–a joint production of the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic–is an annual gathering of “some of the most inspired and provocative thinkers, writers, artists, business people, teachers, and other leaders drawn from myriad fields and from across the country and around the world” who meet to discuss “some of the significant ideas…
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Tests On Language and Click-Through Rates
By varying the language used in a sentence at the end of his articles, Dustin Curtis increased click-through rates to his Twitter profile by 173%. Dustin describes his multivariate (‘split’) testing of different call to action sentences, revealing the most persuasive, in a visually excellent article. This puts me in mind of how both Tim…
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Self-Esteem vs Self-Discipline in Children
Self-esteem, we are told, is a great virtue to foster in a child, hence the many school programs to instill it in young children and the self-help experts extolling its benefits to all who will listen. This is folly, says psychologist Angela Duckworth in this interview where she discusses the futility of attempting to enhance…
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On Passwords (Usability and Security)
Passwords have barely evolved since the early days of computing and are taken for granted in our daily online-lives. It’s time for change, says usability expert Jakob Nielsen, who believes password masking goes against basic usability principles and should be stopped (via Kottke). Providing feedback and visualizing the system’s status have always been among the…
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An Introduction to Stoicism (and Other Philosophies)
My first introduction to Stoic thinking came from reading Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning; a powerful book showing how important self-discipline and attitude are in situations that some may see as hopeless. After discussing Tim O’Reilly’s thoughts on Classics last week, I was reminded of a post I’ve been meaning to read for a few…