Parenting and Relationships

How Intellectuals Date

I’ve been reading the London Review Of Books for years. It features literary essays with titles like “Neanderthals, Denisovians and Modern Humans“, “On Not Being Sylvia Plath“, and “What’s It Like To Be an Octopus“. So you can imagine it attracts the intellectual-type. What is even better is that it also has a personals section for readers seeking dates. Compared to other means of dating, which rely more on swipes then reading, the quality of writing is much much better. Check these out:

Best Of the Web: Talking To Children, Belly Fat, Uber For Snitching and more…

I come across so many great articles on the web, so I thought I’d try to regularly share the best ones. Let me know if you like the selection or if you like more (or less) of certain types.

Personality and Self-Help (6)

How Emotional Intelligence Boosts Your Endurance
A new paper has found that those who were better at recognizing and regulating their emotions ran faster races. Runners who agreed with statements like “Expressing my emotions with words is not a problem for me” or “I often pause and think about my feelings.” turned out to be Continue reading “Best Of the Web: Talking To Children, Belly Fat, Uber For Snitching and more…”

My 23 Favourite Podcast Episodes So Far This Year

I’m a huge fan of podcasts. Listening to them forms part of my daily routine and I get many of my insights from them. I typically list my favourite podcasts, but this time I thought I’d list some of my favourite specific episodes. These may give you a springboard to enjoy the rest of the episodes of those podcasts. So here they are for this year (episode name first, followed by podcast name): Continue reading “My 23 Favourite Podcast Episodes So Far This Year”

My 5 Rules Of Love

Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, so it’s time to buy gifts for our loved ones. But we can also think more deeply about our relationships. I’ve being doing that and I’ve also asked others who have been in loving relationships for 20,30 or even 50 years. From these conversations, I’ve discovered the 5 golden rules of love!: Continue reading “My 5 Rules Of Love”

The Dramatic Change In the Lives Of Young Adults Over the Last 40 Years (2 min read)

I recently came across a fascinating study called “The Changing Economics and Demographics of Young Adulthood: 1975-2016”. It was put together by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Commerce. It defines young adults as 18 to 34 year olds, what we call “millennials” today, and compares them to the same age group back in the 1970s. Some of the findings are stark: Continue reading “The Dramatic Change In the Lives Of Young Adults Over the Last 40 Years (2 min read)”

How the Year 2010 Changed the World

We love to narrow turning points in history to certain years. When we think of 1939, we think World War 2, we when think 2001, we think 9/11 terrorist attacks and we think 2008, we think the global financial crisis. Each of these years had far-reaching impacts on the countries affected and the wider world.

However, there are some years that only later do we recognise as pivotal years in history. For me, 2010 has to be one such year. Continue reading “How the Year 2010 Changed the World”

Me: I Can’t Find the Teacups. Partner: It’s In Front of You!!!

Your wife/girlfriend tells you to get the teacups from the kitchen cupboard. She tells you its on the second shelf in the cupboard above the cooker. You go, look, and cannot find it. Your wife/girlfriend walks in, opens the cupboard, and points to the teacups straight in front of you. But it was on the first shelf, not the second. You feel silly, but now you have an excuse – inattentional blindness: Continue reading “Me: I Can’t Find the Teacups. Partner: It’s In Front of You!!!”

How to Stop Violence (2min read)

“Wishing for something the other person doesn’t want is called violence”

so said David Ellis after a mediation session had ended. I had been invited along with others to observe the session which involved a couple* fighting over custody rights of their child. It was eye-opening to see how David operated. Continue reading “How to Stop Violence (2min read)”

Owned By Your Phone?

“Technology doesn’t just change what we do, it changes who we are.”

I listened to an interview of MIT Professor, Sherry Turkle, on her new book, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. She’s an expert on how technology affects us.

Put your mobile phone on the table when you’re with someone and it immediately destroys the possibility of deep conversation. Without even realizing it, everything gets superficial. Both of you will be ready to to scratch the near-addictive phone-checking itch. So you’ll never go deep as you know one of you will pick up their phone as a result.

Continue reading “Owned By Your Phone?”

The 3 Stages Of Life According to Shakespeare

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The beauty of Shakespeare’s works is that they can interpreted in many different ways. One of my favourite is to think of his biggest plays as representing the three stages of life- youth, adulthood and old-age: Continue reading “The 3 Stages Of Life According to Shakespeare”