When anyone writes a book, the first thing to figure out is what the book should be about. The second part is to figure out how to tell the story. When it comes to non-fiction specifically, that entails understanding what information to include, how to convey the information, and what you want the reader to take away from the information. As with...
Read MoreEthics are extremely interesting in that everyone looks for “universal truths” regarding ethics but struggle to find them. Many point to religious texts or other books with ethics and principles in them as guides, while others point to the science of causing someone physical harm or pain for examples of universal right and wrong. Unfortunately,...
Read MoreThere is a famous condition known as Munchausen’s. It is a fancy way of saying that a person is faking a condition to gain sympathy. There is another one, Munchausen’s by proxy, where a person pretends that a dependent has an illness so that they can take care of them and be a hero. As life becomes easier and less risky, people need to create...
Read MoreWe all want our lives to be better tomorrow than they are today. That is the nature of life. Life is growth. But how do you get better most effectively—or how do you get to be the best that you can be? The obvious answer is work/effort: to become more fit, you have to exercise. To improve a skill, you have to practice. To get a higher education,...
Read MoreOne of the all-time great movie quotes comes from Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." I use this quote or my personal variation ("Just because I can do it doesn't mean I should do it...") frequently because when you are a highly capable human being,...
Read MoreI have read hundreds of books on psychology, philosophy, self-help, and success, so it’s not often anymore that something truly surprises me. I love looking at the world or an idea in a new way, though, so I am always looking for new insights and treasure the “lightbulb moment” when it happens. One day a few years ago, I decided to try a Wayne...
Read MoreThree factors determine whether people assess a behavior is ethical: the intention, the action, and the result. For example, if you accidentally (i.e., no intention) kill someone while driving drunk in your car, the punishment is much less severe than if you commit pre-meditated (i.e., intentional) murder. If you attempt (i.e., intention) to kill...
Read MoreSocial species inevitably involve competition and cooperation. Before social species evolved, it was mostly competition as all living organisms fought for survival. Early forms of cooperation were coincidental, as bacteria move in patterns and birds clean the teeth of crocodiles. But once animals began to form large families and communities, mass...
Read MoreI wrote in a previous post about the ethics of selfishness and altruism. Effectively, it’s a misconception that selfishness is always bad and altruism is always good; you need to be selfish enough to take care of yourself so that you are not a burden on others, and being altruistic when it harms you is not necessarily a good thing, either. But I...
Read MoreBlaming others is the fastest, easiest way to avoid responsibility. We all know what it is like for someone to wrong us and for that person to be the reason why we are having a problem. And, if possible, we can try to respond, retaliate, or hold the person accountable. But, there's another side to this, which is what you do afterwards and whether...
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