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Wyoming and Vermont- two similar states at the extremes of America
Vermont and Wyoming- two small states that couldn't be more similar, but also that couldn't be more different. Geographically, both are...
Dan Connors
Jan 13, 20215 min read


Subliminal - An entire world that both saves us and deceives us
Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior Leonard Mlodinow 2012 Look at the tasty photo above. In addition to selling...
Dan Connors
Jan 10, 20215 min read


The World Happiness Report and the secret sauce of Scandinavia
Imagine a poll of every country in the entire world where someone goes to random citizens and asks them to rate their happiness on a...
Dan Connors
Jan 7, 20217 min read


An Outsiders Guide to Humans- how an autistic person makes sense of the rest of us
An Outsider's Guide to Humans: What Science Taught Me about What We Do and Who We Are Camilla Pang 2020 Camilla Pang was diagnosed...
Dan Connors
Jan 2, 20214 min read


College- good investment or money down the toilet?
We are throwing more and more money and bright young minds into the confusing cesspool that is today's higher education system, and what...
Dan Connors
Dec 31, 20205 min read


How to not be an emotional moron. What quadrant are you in right now?
Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive Mark Brackett 2019 Are emotions...
Dan Connors
Dec 28, 20205 min read


Normalcy Bias- the Pandemic's biggest killer
When the Titanic hit an iceberg and started sinking, the people aboard were shocked. Most of them were in denial that this grand ship,...
Dan Connors
Dec 23, 20204 min read


Beating the Loneliness Epidemic- straight from the US Surgeon General
Together: Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness Vivek Murthy, 2020 Loneliness...
Dan Connors
Dec 22, 20207 min read


Black Swans- or why all predictions about the future are screwed.
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable Nassim Nicholas Taleb 2007 What do 9/11, Google, the Great Recession, Covid-19,...
Dan Connors
Dec 17, 20204 min read


The Galvins of Colorado- Six schizophrenic sons and a treasure trove of data for researchers
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family Robert Kolker, 2020 Schizophrenia is one of the scariest of all the mental...
Dan Connors
Dec 14, 20203 min read


25 Christmas and Holiday songs, videos and stories that will lift up your soul.
“Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” – Elton John “Music is a weapon in the war against unhappiness.” – Jason Mraz “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.” ― Kahlil Gibran Music has a mystical power to make us feel better. No matter what dark mood we might be in, hearing the right music at the right time can transform a frown upside down. It c
Dan Connors
Dec 13, 202015 min read


Who are the suckers who fall for self-deceptions? We are. Cognitive biases part 4
Does the truth matter? Which is better- an ugly truth or a pretty lie? Sometimes it's better for everybody if the truth is ugly enough...
Dan Connors
Dec 10, 202012 min read


Do we have an elephant in our brains?
The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life Kevin Simler, Robin Hanson 2017 Why do we do what we do? Are we pretty...
Dan Connors
Dec 7, 20205 min read


Think like a monk, not a monkey
Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day Jay Shetty, 2020 I've always wondered about monks. Monasteries and...
Dan Connors
Dec 4, 20204 min read


Why are we lying to ourselves? Cognitive biases part 3
"Self-deception is a defining part of our human nature. By recognizing its various forms in ourselves and reflecting upon them, we may be...
Dan Connors
Dec 2, 202011 min read


Cognitive biases Part 2- pulling back the curtain on why our brains lie to us.
“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears.” ― Rudyard Kipling, The Collected Works Our brains lie to...
Dan Connors
Nov 29, 20209 min read


Why we lie to ourselves- Cognitive Biases Part 1
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the...
Dan Connors
Nov 25, 20209 min read


Brain Rules- 12 ways to hack your brain to better thinking.
Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School John Medina 2008 Americans spend billions and billions...
Dan Connors
Nov 23, 20206 min read


Lotteries- a pocket full of hope but poison for mental and financial health.
State lotteries are a complicated source of joy, pain, education funding, hope, and disappointment. 45 of the 50 United States now have...
Dan Connors
Nov 20, 20205 min read


Navigating transitions, chaos, and change- finding your story while keeping your sanity
Transitions are the most vulnerable times of our lives. When we are going through a transition, we are shedding many of the beliefs and res
Dan Connors
Nov 16, 20205 min read
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