But some of his most interesting work has to do with power dynamics. He says that by analyzing language you can easily tell who among two people has power in a relationship, and their relative social status."It’s amazingly simple," Pennebaker says, "Listen to the relative use of the word "I."What you find is completely different from what most…
Most Things are Mediocre
I think it’s dangerous to believe one is special when not, but it’s also dangerous not to act like you’re special, even if you aren’t. The Mediocrity Principle is a key idea in science, which basically says: From Edge: The mediocrity principle simply states that you aren’t special. The universe does not revolve around you, this planet isn’t…
The Power of a Name
I noticed something today that I found fascinating. I know a guy in information security who is pretty much stellar in every category. Dependable. Smart. Well-rounded. Professional. Polished. He has it all. But he doesn’t stand out at all. He blends into the background. People who don’t know what he’s capable of based on experience simply dismiss him…
Power Enables Excellence
As I wrote about in my previous post, names matter a lot, and I think titles and rank do as well, specifically when others are around and respect them. The umbrella here seems to be that people are dramatically affected by how others view them. That’s too bland. People become what they’re perceived as. Of course that’s too…
How To Safely Get Interviewed by a Journalist
I recently did a class on how to handle journalists, and I wanted to capture some basics of what I learned: Interviews can be highly chaotic based on many variables, and the goal of training is to have more control over outcomes. Your message is primary. Have it fully approved, planned, and ready before doing the interview. Every…
Children Are Different People
I find it fascinating that people think of children as earlier versions of themselves. To me they’re just different people. Perhaps we should define some things. I think that for someone to be “you”, they need to be extraordinarily similar to you as you are today. Maybe other people were like that when they were kids. I was…
Separate the Life Model from the Person
There is a tendency among those who strive for constant self-improvement to look down upon, or otherwise judge, those who have poor or antiquated life models. By “life model” I mean a perspective on the world, such as: Paganism Atheism Janism Christianity Mormonism Catholicism Islam Secular Humanism Nihilism Libertarianism Foon As someone who biases towards Secular Humanism (if…
Many Racists Are Also Not Racist
There’s a problem with calling someone racist. The problem is that it assumes a person either is or isn’t, like a 1 or a 0, which doesn’t map to reality. What’s more likely is that someone who holds deeply anti-racist views, is also somewhat racist. Both are true at the same time. It’s two different people, basically, and…
A Dualist Theory of Gender and Equality
I was driving home today on the 101 and was struck by a thought. What if we were to think of individuals—men and women, as two different beings? So a man would be both a gender (male) and non-gender (intellect), and a woman would be the same. What I think this explains about our situation, that other models…
Scientific Justification of the Critique Sandwich
Anyone in a management or mentor role has probably heard the concept of sandwiching criticism between positivity. So instead of saying, Man, you really need to show up on time… You should instead say, Hi Mike, we really appreciate the work you do here. We have noticed you coming in late a lot though, and we need that…
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