School of Curiosity
Explore. Dream. Discover.
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You’re in
February 28, 2013
“All results have a pattern. If you can find the pattern, you’re in.” ~ Charles Bukowski
Have a curious day.
Close encounters of the embarrassing kind
February 27, 2013
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As a dad you know that you’ve reached a certain age when your kids repeatedly tell you “Daaaad, you’re embarrassing”. Now everything is okay.
According to British philosopher Alain De Botton “Anyone who isn’t embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn’t learning enough”.
You’re not embarrassing, you’re just learning.
Have a curious day.
The art of growing old is to die young……but as late as possible.
Think like an eight year old. Stay forever young.
Have a curious day.
The art of growing old
February 26, 2013
You’ve got to go beyond google
February 25, 2013
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
TS Elliot
In its highest form, a search has no well-defined object. It’s open-ended, an act of exploration that takes us out into the world, beyond the self, in order to know the world, and the self, more fully.
The trouble is that if we are not searching for our socks or car keys, we are usually searching for something on google. We’ve always searched for truth and meaning, for love, for transcendence, for peace, for ourselves. To be human is to be a searcher.
Google once helped us to push outwards by making some sense of the web. Now it gives us information that fits the behavior and needs and biases we have displayed in the past, as meticulously interpreted by Google’s algorithms. It’s declared goal is to try to predict what we want to see without us even typing. It’s locking us in, rather than helping us to break out.
Google less. Be an explorer more.
Have a curious day.
The honest truth about dishonesty
February 21, 2013
Dan Ariely Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University has been looking into cheating. His research suggests that we all cheat, even if its just a little bit, but we can do it because we rationalise it to ourselves.
In any population there are a few big cheaters, but a lot of small ones, and the economic cost of the small cheaters far exceeds that of the big ones. That doesn’t make it right.
He looked at how you could eradicate or reduce cheating in a group. He was surprised that religion had some of the answers. When he asked people to read The Ten Commandments, even if they were not religious, their cheating levels reduced. He feels its because they were reminded of higher moral values. Next he asked people to confess about their cheats and again he found that cheating levels went down. We feel better when we start a new page.
Remind yourself of your own moral values, confess, start a new page. Try not to cheat today.
Have a curious day.
Showing up is over-rated
February 19, 2013
Of course work and life are linked, but life and work is our responsibility, not theirs.
I know that you have the “turn up on time to do the work” part nailed, but we have moved on from this now. That was the status quo. Showing up isn’t your job, your job is to step out of the fringes to reframe expectations, change the agenda and create new ways to work.
Showing up is over-rated. Cut your hours in half, take some smart risks, invest as much emotionally as you do physically to make your limited time matter. – Ben Rennie CEO 6.2
Have a curious day.
Awe
February 18, 2013
In a world where ‘awesome’ has become a daily declaration, with exclamations such as “That burger was awesome”….really? Perhaps we should rediscover the true meaning of awe, because according to Professor Jennifer Aaker of Stanford University, perhaps thats all you need to do to increase your happiness and create a more meaningful life. She says…
“One reason we started to examine awe is that it is an understudied emotion – particularly relative to happiness. A second reason is that it has unique consequences. When you feel awe, you are experiencing a positive emotion that feels vast and big, and as a result is capable of altering one’s view of the world. Our studies focus on the effects of awe on how people may alter their sense of time – that is, the way they perceive and use time.
We show that when people feel awe, they feel like they have more available time on their hands. And as a result, they are more willing to volunteer to help others, and spend time on others. They also tend to make very different product choices, preferring experiential products over material products. They even experience a boost in life satisfaction.”
Looking at awe-inspiring photos, visiting a museum or aquarium, and just generally increasing your sense of wonderment could all subtly improve your life.
Have a curious day.
The art of being one
February 14, 2013
By 2030 one in five of us will be living alone, according to recent government predictions. Couple this with the trend towards short-term contracts, part-time shifts, insecure freelancing and our work places are no longer the sure-footed sources of companionship and a sense belonging. We’re being increasingly cast adrift, being thrown back on ourselves for company, support and meaning. All of this may well suit the ascetic and solitary among us, the urban hermits, pet obsessives and gaming fanatics. But for those of us who thrive in the company of others, these are worrying trends indeed. How should we prepare for the pleasures and pains of our greater solitariness?
It’s funny how when we looked for an image for this post all the ones tagged alone were negative!
Have a curious day.
The Pleasures and Pains of Solitariness
by David Waters
Big ideas in small words
February 13, 2013
If you think you are good with words, try explaining a big idea using just ten of the hundred most used words. Go to Splasho and give it a try. It’s a bit of fun, but harder than you think. So much so it makes you think.
Have a curious day
Top 5 regrets of the dying
February 12, 2013
Bronnie Ware, an Australian nurse, spent several years caring for people in the last twelve weeks of their lives. When people asked if they had any regrets, it wasn’t about having more sex or doing a bungee jump. Here are the top five regrets of the dying…
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
“This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
“Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”
Have a curious day.