No chance.
No chance 93% didn’t lie.
Liars.
Source: NY Times Magazine
Own up.
November 3, 2016 by 20 Comments
The Wisdom of Crowds
July 16, 2016 by 9 Comments
Notes:
- Source: NY Times Magazine (July 17, 2016)
- Post Title taken from James Surowiecki’s Book: The Wisdom of Crowds
- Post inspiration: Vera Meum – “Why does the sound of rain gently tapping on the roof and windows instantly relieve stress? It is a reminder of survival, an appreciation for being safe, dry, and warm, the most basic of needs. Therein lies a secret to contentment; to remind ourselves regularly of the satisfaction of our basic needs, to appreciate another moment of survival, and forget the extraneous factors that cause us undue stress.”
Unfairly Demonised. That’s Right.
July 5, 2016 by 48 Comments
1980’s: Replace butter with margarine. Overturned.
1990’s: Eliminate salt. Debunked.
2000’s: Eliminate/reduce carbs.
And today, the big news:
- “Eating pasta is not fattening and actually decreases the chances of becoming obese”
- “A new survey of more than 23,000 people, however, has linked pasta consumption to both lower body mass and waist-to-hip ratio.”
- “…also found that the correlation between pasta intake and lower obesity rates occurred independently of overall diet”
- “evidence that carbohydrates have been “unfairly demonised”.”=
- “the current trend of people cutting out pasta from their diets in an effort to lose weight was unjustified”
- “a fundamental component of Italian Mediterranean tradition, and there is no reason to do without it”
- results clearly show that it is wrong to demonise carbohydrates as the data clearly show that consumption of a carbohydrate-rich food such as pasta does not have an adverse effect on body weight.
Read more at The Telegraph: Eating pasta helps you lose weight, says Italian study
Moral of the story:
1) Wait long enough and it all comes home.
2) Back up the Pasta Truck.
3) Next up: Ice Cream.
Notes: (1) Thank you Rich for sharing the research. (2) Photo: Credit
You the oldest sibling? Just say Bollocks to new research.
July 20, 2015 by 36 Comments
Dear Brothers (both younger, adults, but needing direction):
Remember the research on margarine vs. butter? This falls on the same playing field. Don’t believe everything you read.
ScienceDaily, July 15, 2015:
Massive study: Birth order has no meaningful effect on personality or IQ:
For those who believe that birth order influences traits like personality and intelligence, a study of 377,000 high school students offers some good news: Yes, the study found, first-borns do have higher IQs and consistently different personality traits than those born later in the family chronology. However, researchers say, the differences between first-borns and ‘later-borns’ are so small that they have no practical relevance to people’s lives.~ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
If you missed the prior post on my Brother Rich, here’s the link; “New Research. Bull. It’s the natural order.
Notes: Photograph: Thank you Emily RC Photography
So you want to live forever
May 4, 2014 by 28 Comments
From The Weekly Standard: So You Want to Live Forever:
Aubrey de Grey, 51, is the man who insists that within a few decades technology will enable us human beings to beat death and live forever. “Someone is alive right now who is going to live to be 1,000 years old.”
The British-born de Grey, with a doctorate in biology from Cambridge, is also the single most colorful figure in the living-forever movement, where colorful figures generously abound. “I look as though I’m in my 30s,” he informed me…And maybe he does look that young, but it’s hard to tell, because his waist-length, waterfall-style beard—a de Grey trademark—gives him the look of an extremely spry Methuselah, who, according to the Bible, made it only to 969 years.
De Grey is actually of the phenotype Ageless British Eccentric: English Rose cheeks, piercing blue eyes, and someone-please-make-him-a-sandwich slenderness; his tomato-red shirt and gray slacks hang from angular shoulders and legs. Bony frames that verge on gauntness are a hallmark of the living-forever movement, most of whose members hew to severe dietary restrictions in order to prolong their lives while they wait for science to catch up with death. De Grey, by contrast, claims to eat whatever he likes and also to drink massive quantities of carb-loaded English ale, working it all off by punting on the River Cam in the four months a year he spends doing research back at Cambridge.
De Grey subscribes to the reigning theory of the live-forever movement: that aging, the process by which living things ultimately wear themselves out and die, isn’t an inevitable part of the human condition. Instead, aging is just another disease, not really different in kind from any of the other serious ailments, such as heart failure or cancer, that kill us. And as with other diseases, de Grey believes that aging has a cure or series of cures that scientists will eventually discover…
Read more at The Weekly Standard: So You Want To Live Forever
Image: DIYTheme.com
It’s all coming my way
April 2, 2014 by 25 Comments
For a man who holds a fork in one hand and a salt shaker in the other…Who’s been repeatedly scolded for the level of his salt intake…for salting his food before tasting it – – BooYah for me – – Boo Hoo to all my critics. You know who you are. New research spells it all out in Salt Guidelines Too Low for Good Health:
“Don’t toss out your salt shaker just yet: A new analysis from Denmark finds current recommended salt guidelines may be too low. The new research indicates that Americans consume a healthy amount of salt, even though daily averages exceed recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“For most people, there is no reason to change their dietary habits concerning salt, as most people eat what appears to be the safest amount,”
“…They found that low levels of salt consumption may be linked with a greater risk of death.”
Read more here.
It’s only a matter time. Life extension benefits of French Fries and Ice Cream are just around the corner.
Image Credit
Spite Me
April 1, 2014 by 21 Comments
NY Times: Spite is Good. Spite Works:
…Evolutionary theorists have long been intrigued by the origins and purpose of spite, and a new report suggests that sometimes spite can make right.
…The new research on spite transcends older notions that we are savage, selfish brutes at heart, as well as more recent suggestions that humans are inherently affiliative creatures yearning to love and connect. Instead, it concludes that vice and virtue, like the two sides of a V, may be inextricably linked.
…human decency and cooperation require a certain degree of so-called altruistic punishment: the willingness of some individuals to punish rule breakers even when the infraction does not directly affect them — challenging the guy who broke into the line behind you, for example.
…“It could be that Nietzsche was right about punishment,” Dr. Forber said, “that it originated as spite and only later was turned into a mechanism for maintaining fairness and justice.”
“…If you get the reputation as someone not to mess with and nobody messes with you going forward, then it was well worth the cost.”
“…It’s like the Mafia,” he said. “They end up reducing crime in the areas they inhabit.”
Read full article in NY Times: Spite is Good. Spite Works.
We could be better
December 2, 2013 by 28 Comments
“Although people say they want to be thanked more often at work, fewer than 50% of Americans polled for the John Templeton Foundation, a philanthropic organization, reported that they would be very likely to thank salespeople, their mail carriers, or cleaning crews, and just 15% express daily gratitude to friends or colleagues. 74% never or rarely express gratitude to their bosses—but 70% said they’d feel better about themselves if their bosses were more grateful.”
~ Andrew O’Connell – We Could Be Better At Giving Thanks, Harvard Business Review
Credits: Stats from HBR. Image: snoopn4pnuts.com
All of the effects are amplified with age
November 29, 2013 by 14 Comments
wsj.com – Drinking After 40: Why Hangovers Hit Harder. A few excerpts…
- When you’re in your 40s, it’s pretty common to need reading glasses. You might need smaller wine glasses, too.
- That’s because alcohol hits people harder in their 40s and 50s than it did during their 20s and 30s.
- “All of the effects of alcohol are sort of amplified with age”
- Body composition starts to change as early as the 30s. As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass, while fat content increases. Alcohol isn’t distributed in fat. People also have less total body water as they get older. So if several people have the same amount to drink, those with more fat and less muscle and body water will have more alcohol circulating in their bloodstream. (This is also partly why women of any age tend to feel alcohol’s effects more than men.)
- People in their 40s and older simply tend not to drink as much or as often as those in their 20s and 30s, which lowers tolerance.
Kissing. 10 Tips From Scientific Research
August 8, 2013 by 28 Comments
- 59% of men and 66% of women have ended a relationship because someone was a bad kisser.
- People remember their first kiss more vividly than the first time they had sex.
- Prostitutes often won’t kiss because it requires a “genuine desire and love for the other person.”
- Men who kiss their wives before work live 5 years longer, make 20-30% more money and are far less likely to get in a car accident. Psychologists do not believe it’s the kiss itself that accounts for the difference but rather that kissers were likely to begin the day with a positive attitude, leading to a healthier lifestyle.
- It matters a lot more to women than men.
- Ninety-six percent of women reported that they like neck kisses, while only about 10% of men do.”
- No matter how attractive someone may be, poor hygiene can kill the moment before it even begins. This is particularly true for men. Women depend heavily on taste and smell and pay close attention to teeth when evaluating a partner.
Read all 10 Tips and a great post at @ Barking Up The Wrong Tree
Image Credit
The Best Years Are Still Ahead (Thank Goodness)
December 13, 2012 by 41 Comments
- The behavioral economist Andrew Oswald found that from about the time we are teenagers, our sense of happiness starts to decline, hitting rock bottom in our mid-40s (middle-age crisis, anyone?). Then our sense of happiness miraculously starts to go up again rapidly as we grow older.
- All in all, Oswald tested a half million people in 72 countries, in both developing and developed nations.
- And it’s not only we humans who slump in the middle and feel sunnier toward the end. Just recently, Oswald and colleagues demonstrated that even chimpanzees and orangutans appear to experience a similar pattern of midlife malaise.
- Women hit happiness-bottom at 38.6 years on average, whereas men do more than a decade later, at nearly 53.
Source: Brainpickings.org – Life Cycle Of Happiness
Run long and fast. At your peril.
December 1, 2012 by 39 Comments
I’m giddy when new research supports my undisciplined behavior. This time, it’s exercise. Here’s a quick snapshot of new research reported in the Wall Street Journal:
- Running too fast, too far and for too many years may speed one’s progress toward the finish line of life.
- After age 50, pushing too hard is probably not good for one’s heart or longevity.
- For a lot of older athletes: Running can take a toll on the heart that essentially eliminates the benefits of exercise.
- The benefits of running may come to a hard stop later in life. Runners had a 19% lower death rate than nonrunners but among the runners, those who ran a lot—more than 20 to 25 miles a week—lost that mortality advantage.
- There was no mortality benefit for those who ran faster than 8 miles per hour, while those who ran slower reaped significant mortality benefits.
- Studies are finding cardiac abnormalities in extreme athletes, including coronary artery calcification of a degree typically found in the utterly sedentary.
- Chronic extreme exercise appears to cause excessive ‘wear-and-tear’ on the heart.
- If you are running more than 15 miles a week, you are doing it for some reason other than health.
Source: Wall Street Journal: One Running Shoe In the Grave. Image: Crescent Moon
Stressed? Try Butterflies.
October 16, 2012 by 22 Comments
Fifteen years ago, I would have told you to get out of my office (get out of my face) and stop wasting my time. 10 years ago, I would have called “bulls-” on this malarkey. Today, the image above calms me. And I’ve come to believe that I need this…It’s good for me. It’s good for the team around me. (But let’s not get too excited. I’m a toddler here. I’m on the 3rd step of a 107 step program.) And since it has now been endorsed by the Truth, the Wall Street Journal, I’m in. (:) Lao Tzu (604 BC – 531 BC): “A Journey of a Thousand Miles Takes a Single Step”…Time to take that step… [Read more…]
Running…with Jung.
September 3, 2012 by 27 Comments
6:17am: I’m up and out the door. It’s a beautiful morning for running. Wisps of cool air cutting through the early September humidity. Streaks of clouds cover the sunrise. A splash of color on a few trees getting a head start on autumn. It’s September 3rd. And a great day to be alive. (Hello September. Where did the year go? Love, LOVE, the fall season. The pulsating picture above feels like my heart does now. Ba Boom. Ba Boom. Ba Boom. Ba Boom. Keep tickin’ baby. Keep tickin’.)
6:23am: Pace is good. Both jets feel good. No one is out and about. Pesky squirrels are sleeping. Even the birds are quiet. (Yep, it’s just me and my head. And that can get crowded. Managed to contain the food intake yesterday. Miracle. Determined to get this weight down before the hibernation period. As Brenna would say, Thanksgiving is the time of the year “when I feel like I’ve eaten a gallon of mashed potatoes and a gravy-injected turkey and washed it down with six or seven espressos.”)
Running…Away.
August 13, 2012 by 27 Comments
5:35am: I’m up and out the door. The rest of the gang is sound asleep (Day 3 of vacation. Day 1 of running after a week sabbatical. I needed to rest the jet. Have to say the condition of my knee spooked me. 30 years ago, I could fall from pine trees, slip head long on slimy river rocks fishing with cousins, get chopped on ankle by a nasty Trail Smoke Eater – – and spring back like a slinky. No more. Dark thoughts encroach – – will I heal or will this knee-thing be biting me the rest of the ride?)
5:40am: I find the sign for the Mountain Trail. (There are 3 trails. Walking. Intermediate. Mountain. I’m a Man, right? Mountain it is. ‘Throw caution to the wind.’ Knee be damned.) [Read more…]
30% of U.S. Workers Get < 6 Hours of Sleep A Night.
August 6, 2012 by 23 Comments
These statistics are shocking. And here I thought I was in a minority class…
“A growing number of Americans don’t get enough sleep, thanks to higher stress and other factors”
“Some 20% of automobile accidents come as the result of drowsy drivers”
“U.S. military researchers, meanwhile, have concluded that sleeplessness is one of the leading causes of friendly fire.”
“Technology was making the world smaller by the day; the global economy blurred the lines between one day and the next, and things like time and place were supposed to be growing ever less important in the always-on workplace”
“74%: People who drink a caffeinated beverage on an average weekday”
“13%: People who drink more than six caffeinated beverages on an average weekday”
“Researchers are increasingly finding that lack of sleep is terrible for our health. Sleeplessness has been linked to increased rates of heart disease, obesity, stroke and even certain cancers. The exact reasons for these effects are still largely unknown, but give support to the theory that sleep is the time when our bodies naturally repair themselves on a cellular level.”
Running. With a bad jet.
August 5, 2012 by 24 Comments
6:15am. 77°F and 89% relative humidity. I walk out the door and air is thick and soupy. (Hmmmm. Maybe this sauna will accelerate the decomposition of the Oreo cookie intake yesterday. Count: 16. Yep. Strapped on the feedbag and ravenously wolfed ‘em down. But lets be balanced here. This was spread over lunch and dinner – not so bad when looking at it this way – a modest amount actually. I don’t think this even adds up to a full row.)
0.5 miles: I feel a pinch in my right knee. The pinch advances to bite. I grimace. (D*mn weekend warrior. I slow the pace but don’t stop. “Run through it.” I recall the 2007 NY Times article – ‘We want you to keep moving…injured tissue heals quicker if it’s under stress…moderate exercise aids the healing.’ 5 year old article and its stuck with me.)
1 mile: It’s not going away. Limp-running now. Slow pace further. (So, where’s the d*mn moderate exercise will heal part. Healing can show up anytime now. I’m almost walking know. Sweat is raining down…and tastes a bit creamy. (Oreos?) You would think this humidity would be lubing my knee. Odd, my right shoulder is stiff now. Oh, yea. Re-started my push-up routine yesterday. Man, my entire carriage is coming apart! Another 1/2 mile and we’ll need to call 911. As long as I don’t keel over into all of this Goose dung and avoid rolling into the cove…I should be ok.)
Running…with red eyes.
July 28, 2012 by 32 Comments
3:30am. And up. (Nothing wide-eyed and bushy tailed here. You have a problem pal.)
Posted my work-inspiration video. (Was inspired. For about 3 minutes. A** firmly planted in chair. Motivation rating: 1.5 on scale of 10. Darkness rolls in. I’m sorry. That’s disingenuous. My a** is hanging so low, you can’t see where my a** starts and the floor begins.)
Slash through 50 emails. (Tension climbing with the disposition of each mail. Look down at meter count. 126 left. Standing in ocean. Neck deep. Taking in water with each wave. Gagging on the salt water.)
She left the office yesterday after lunch. A colleague. Her water broke. Six weeks early. No word. (Damn it, CALL!)
I shut down the email train. (Rationalizing again. Maybe I’ll run later. Nothing in the tank this morning.)
Little red light blinking on Blackberry. (Devil’s tool that little red light. Blinking. Blinking incessantly. It’s not even a pretty red color. Maybe it’s T. No. No, it’s not.)
It’s an email from a former colleague. He’s now in London with his family. (I haven’t spoken to Steve in a very long time. What an amazing person and talent he is. Had no idea he was even following my blog. Dark clouds fall away. Mood shifts. Amazing what a few kind words will do to my psyche.)
“Dave, I hope this note finds you well…Now, I read an article in one of our leading newspapers and felt inspired, when I feel inspired I think of your blog. It’s not the most obvious article that may be worthy of landing on your blog but I thought I would share it just in case you thought your friends would relate to it. As a Dad, it struck a chord with me. Hope you are doing well, and the family is good…..take care……Steve.”
I start panning down the article. I finish the article. I’m rubbing tears from my eyes. I put on my running gear and head out the door.
“It’s not the most obvious article that may be worthy of landing of your blog.” (Right!)
The story consumed me the entire run. (“You will wish for terrible things; you will pray for your newborn baby to die — not just once, but a thousand times. Go with it, don’t judge yourself, and the storm will pass.”).
If you read nothing else today, take a moment to read the story below.
Running Time this morning? 39 seconds ahead of last Sunday’s pace. A new personal best. Steve, I owe to it you for bringing the light back. Thank you.
Enjoy your Saturday. That is, after reading the story below.
It’s all coming my way…
July 14, 2012 by 19 Comments
I’m off and running. (Tipped the scales at new 12-month record. Quite a bingeing week. Proud of yourself Pal? How far are you going to take this up?)
Humid morning, but not overly so for this time of the year. (Yet, you are sweating profusely. Ahhhhh, yes. Thai food last night. Equivalent of 1/8 lb intravenous injection of NaCl. And yes, that accounts for the weight jump. Water retention. Wave of relief – weight gain should be erased by morning. Will just slug back 3 quarts of water today. And Voila – back to sleek, fighting weight.)
Endomondo says that I’m 1/2 mile and 4 minutes ahead of what Garmin is recording. (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Third run in a row and Endomondo has been wildly encouraging. And wildly wrong. I retract my prior glowing review. Yellow lights are flashing on this app. My trusty Garmin soldiers on.)
Two Miles. Sweat continues to roll. Rub my forehead with my forearm. Taste the Thai food salt now. (For as much as I’m secreting here, or is it excreting, I should bottle it like Worcestershire…)
Live & Learn 