Imagine you are asked this question a generation from now. What was the world like in 2016? I have read no more succinct, accurate, potent or depressing description than one in Ian McEwan’s latest novel, Nutshell. The narrator is an…
Why is it that some people who seem to have everything don’t have happiness? And why do those who seem to have nothing often have a broad, irrepressible smile? Some time back, I was in the weekly market at Zaachila,…
This week, something a little different. This week I am going to introduce someone I introduced at a business awards dinner last week. Someone inspiring, and infinitely clever. Someone you should know well. Someone you should trust to guide you…
I watched the film Ex Machina on a flight yesterday. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s essentially about the manipulation of one human by another. At least, that’s what it appears to be. In the film, a programmer named…
Social researchers believe they have discovered an important difference about social attitudes in Asian and Western societies. According to their studies, in Asian societies individuals are more likely to make decisions that benefit society. In Western societies, individuals are more…
Franz Kafka is sick. Terminally ill. He is living the last year of his life before tuberculosis kills him. It’s 1923. Kafka is 40. Every afternoon, he walks in a park near his home. One afternoon, he encounters a young…
There is a word, a familiar word. It is possibly the most powerful word in the world. It is certainly the most dangerous. It starts wars. It cripples us. It is anger. It is fear. It is shouted. It is…
Some truths about us humans. We are motivated by basic needs, such as companionship, shelter and self-esteem. We are plagued by fears. Death, poverty, loneliness and public speaking are common ones. We’re more open to messages from those we like…
The sheriff gallops into town. He slides his horse to a stop and dismounts. He doesn’t exactly tie the horse’s lead to the hitching rail, but hastily and casually drapes it over the rail. He enters his office. The horse…
I dislike conflict. Some say that’s typical of us Librans. However, I am the first to admit that conflict is crucial to so much of the world’s existence. In the US, the biggest industry by far is the military hardware…