Venus, Mars and the Frontal Lobe
Men and women are different. Whether this is obvious or controversial depends on your point of view, but it’s just true. Most of us can accept this based on personal observations. One of my favorites is the Cocktail Party Test. When two women meet at a party, the first question will nearly always be “Do […]
Momma’s Boy
When I was growing up, you were a Momma’s Boy, a Man’s Man, or something in-between. Most of us belonged to the in-between group. Dare I say life is a bit more complicated these days? There was a time not long ago when a female voice making an announcement on an airplane was assumed to […]
The End of the Long Haul
The “long haul” is a lot longer than it used to be. Over the last century, average life expectancy has increased by 30 years (unless you live in Monaco where you get 9 more). If you are life-planning for the long haul, your task is getting harder. Common use of the term “long haul” began […]
You Are Here
The late comedian Myron Cohen told the story of a man who hid in the bedroom closet when his paramour’s husband arrived home unexpectedly. When the husband opens the closet door and asks what he’s doing there, he replies “Everybody gotta be someplace.” This existential truth has engaged mankind from the beginning, as have its […]
The Technology of Abolishing Jobs
“I will be the greatest jobs President that God ever created.” @POTUS Donald Trump campaigned with this and won, partially due to the job-loss-induced frustration in places like the Rust Belt. Building a border wall and introducing import tariffs will help some, but they won’t fix the problem. Technology is the real villain, and many […]
“My God, What Have We Done?”
Atomic bombs are in the news of late. Last year we marked the 70th anniversary of the first use of the A-Bomb on Hiroshima. A treaty intended to keep Iran from getting one is still being argued on Capitol Hill. All eyes are on North Korea, where Supreme Dictator Kim Jong-un grows ever closer to […]
U, Robot
Artificial people are not a new thing. To be clear, I am not talking about non-human legal entities, nor do I mean the sort of folk you meet at cocktail parties who can talk for hours without saying anything. Here I refer only to people whose creators are other technically skilled people. This notion of […]
For the Memories
Memory is not to be trusted. It is unpredictable, frustratingly fleeting, and only gets worse with age. It will forever cling tightly to useless facts and yet misplace the freshest, most essential ones. I can remember my childhood phone number, the tune and lyrics to Let It Be, and most of the Gettysburg Address, and […]
Hair Maker
Great inventions are often born at the intersection of two seemingly unrelated observations. Consider hot glue guns and bald guys. Observation #1: Sometimes when you pull a glue gun back from the item being glued it leaves a thin, hair-like strand of hardened plastic. Observation #2: Bald guys have no hair. Although assaulting a bald […]