Sometimes, cognitive biases are so obvious, it seems that they require no explanation. Primacy effect is the tendency for people to prioritize the first items in a list. This tendency is not so bad when we're talking about a list that's numerically ordered—your favorite 50 songs, for instance—but it poses an issue when the list … Continue reading On the primacy effect
Author: T Coe
On sharing stuff you saw on the Internet
"And then the firework shot shot across the way into someone's apartment!" "What! Where were you?" "Oh, this was something on Instagram." Hearing this, the bottom dropped out of the anecdote for me. While this firework incident a was no less real for having been captured on video and posted to social media, it felt … Continue reading On sharing stuff you saw on the Internet
On helpfulness as a business development tactic
While I don’t do much business development, there’s one tenet that I know works, because I’ve seen it pay dividends again and again: Be helpful. Sounds easy enough, but this directive is harder to follow than it first seems, because knowing how to help someone is more an art than a science. So, let’s amend … Continue reading On helpfulness as a business development tactic
On being an easy reader
A book with a strong argument is a dangerous thing in my hands: As a reader, I can be somewhat of a pushover. Perhaps it's because I grew up loving fiction—and if you can't suspend your disbelief and buy into a fictional world, you may as well put the book down. You can't really do … Continue reading On being an easy reader
On 7 things from last week (7/2/23)
Fourth of July weekend in the Front Range. Is quiet! It seems that an astronomical number of neighbors vamoosed for the mountains this weekend. (Must be crowded up there!) The Reflective Practitioner. A very interesting (if dated) book about how professionals think. The Resort. The ending of this Peacock show was not great...but this show … Continue reading On 7 things from last week (7/2/23)
On blogging (almost) every day so far this year
On January 3, I published a post on being a "sucker" for resolutions that included a fateful and rhetorical question: What if I wrote a blog post every day? Oh boy. Here we are, just over halfway through the year, and I've found myself plugging away at this strange resolution. Technically, there are plenty of … Continue reading On blogging (almost) every day so far this year
On joy in your child’s joy
We were to hibachi last night for the second-ever time with our toddler. I don't think he was as impressed on the second go-round, but he was still transfixed by the showmanship of the "onion volcano" and the spinning egg (brought to within inches of his face by the cook). And I was transfixed by … Continue reading On joy in your child’s joy
On defining professions
I'm partway through Donald Schön's The Reflective Practitioner—a study of how professionals (doctors, lawyers, architects, social workers) "think in action" as they conduct their work. While certainly dated (it was written in the early 1980s), the book still has plenty of observational nuggets to offer, including a thoughtful discussion of what, exactly, a "profession" is. … Continue reading On defining professions
On how experts don’t know how long anything takes
I recently completed my first major woodworking project: a new outdoor dining table. Aside from a major staining mishap (too orange!), the project went well, with one glaring exception: It took way longer than promised. I followed the plans outlined by a DIY website—even paying a couple bucks for them!—based on the premise that it … Continue reading On how experts don’t know how long anything takes
On subordinating style sentences and additive style sentences
Stanley Fish's little treatise How to Write a Sentence is an enjoyable read—maybe not the rigor that one would expect, given the instructional title—and it had several nice nuggets of insight. One of those is the rough distinction between "subordinating style" and "additive style" sentences. As Fish frames it, the subordinating style "orders its components … Continue reading On subordinating style sentences and additive style sentences
Taylor Coe 