On The Quest For Fun
Last week I saw Ian Bogost speak at Town Hall Seattle about his new book, Play Anything: The Pleasure…
Category: Culture
The 7 Questions For Any Tradition
A tradition is simply a custom that has been passed down from one generation to another. Their longevity can…
The Real World of Technology (Book Review)
Despite our cultural obsession with new technology, we forget that the idea of new technology is old. We also…
Staying Sane In An Insane World
How would you explain the events of 2016 to someone from the year 2050 who time traveled to visit…
The Advice Paradox
“The ultimate question of any advice, rules, or traditions is, What do you ignore and why? No one can…
The many mothers of invention
[This is an excerpt from chapter 3 of the bestseller, The Myths of Innovation] All the clichés about beginnings…
How does physical fitness help productivity?
Each Tuesday I take the top voted question from readers and answer it. With 143 votes, this week’s winner was from…
The Paradox of Expertise
A previous essay, Why Smart People Defend Bad Ideas, continues to get feedback, despite the fact that I wrote…
Should you fix or cheat a broken system?
Each Tuesday I take the top voted question from readers and answer it. With 146 votes, this week’s winner was from…
Why has innovation slowed down? (Or has it?)
I do not like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I don’t like it because it’s made up, yet people treat…
What I learned at the Civil Rights Museum / MLK
The hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4th 1968, is now the primary site of the…
How To Get Out Of A Bad Habit
I regularly take the the top voted question from readers and answer them in a post. With 62 votes, today’s winner…
Why You Are Not Drowning In Data
[This essay appeared in issue #9 of Offscreen magazine] We love to blame the world because the world can’t…
A Critique of “Don’t Fuck Up The Culture”
I enjoyed Brian Chesky’s recent post Don’t Fuck Up The Culture, where he proclaims to the employees of Airbnb…
How do *you* eat Pho?
I rarely write about food here, but eating and cooking are two of my favorite things. Pho, Vietnamese rice…
Should you ban Woody Allen’s films?
The resurfacing of Woody Allen’s past is sad from many perspectives, amplified by how a daughter and a family…
Why Speed Reading Is For Fools
‘There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.”…
When Did You Last Change Your Mind?
When was the last time you changed your mind about something important? As children we changed our minds frequently…
What is the nature of friendship in an era of Facebook? An opinion
I’m back on the reader suggestion horse, and what a fun horse it is. The current top voted question…
Can Free Speech Survive The Social Media Mob? (Video / Slides)
Thanks to SeattleSMC for hosting me to speak at Seattle City Hall on Free Speech and The Social Media Mob. Additional…