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BELLINI — BLINI

While both are excellent starts to an evening, it's easy to mix up a bellini
with a blini, if only because you might mishear one for the other. What's the
difference between a bellini and…While both are excellent starts to an evening,
it's easy to mix up a bellini with a blini, if only because you might mishear
one for the other. What's the difference between a bellini and a blini? A
bellini is a refreshing cocktail made with peach nectar and prosecco. A blini is
typically a bite-size pancake often served with smoked salmon or caviar due to
its Russian origins. Both are delicious in very different ways and yet sound
almost exactly the same (like a homophone). The good news is that at a noisy
party, even if you can't quite make out whether someone is offering you a
bellini or a blini, the safe answer is always yes. In Russia, I am told, blini
tend to be thinner, pan-sized pancakes rather than the topped, cocktail party
style, thicker but mini pancakes they have evolved to in Western cooking. More
food and drink sketchplanationsWWWWhile both are excellent starts to an evening,
it's easy to mix up a bellini with a blini, if only because you might mishear
one for the other. What's the difference between a bellini and a…
Read more…


THE NORMALISATION OF DEVIANCE

Normalisation of deviance is the process where what was unacceptable gradually
becomes acceptable over time in the absence of failures. So, the longer a period
without…Normalisation of deviance is the process where what was unacceptable
gradually becomes acceptable over time in the absence of failures. So, the
longer a period without incidents, a requirement to wear a hard hat may start to
be taken less seriously and later ignored. The unacceptable becomes the norm, no
longer seen as deviant. The term was used by Diane Vaughan when discussing the
culture and events leading to the Challenger disaster. However, it’s easy to
recognise it in much more mundane examples. Classic workplace examples where
deviance may start to become normalised include: Wearing the correct protective
equipment Sticking to speed limits Not sharing passwords Closing gates or
tailgating Smoking Testing backups Handwashing and cleaning Thorough background
checking Normalisation of deviance can be particularly tricky to avoid when
failures are rare yet severe or with known but distant dangers, such as smoking.
Also see: The Swiss Cheese Model Recency bias The Overton WindowWWWNormalisation
of deviance is the process where what was unacceptable gradually becomes
acceptable over time in the absence of failures. So, the longer a period without
incident…
Read more…


AMPHITHEATRE AND THEATRE

Theatre and amphitheatre (or theater and amphitheater) have the distinction that
a theatre is one-sided viewing of a central stage, and an amphitheatre has
viewing all around.…Theatre and amphitheatre (or theater and amphitheater) have
the distinction that a theatre is one-sided viewing of a central stage, and
an amphitheatre has viewing all around. The word amphitheatre derives from the
Greek word amphi- loosely meaning on both sides or all around. For years, I've
used amphitheatre for any large open galleried seating, but technically, as for
the spectacular Minack theatre in Cornwall, England, if it's one-sided, then
it's a theatre. You'll also see the same pattern in amphoras, which commonly
have handles on both sides of the vessel, and amphibians who are at home
on both land and water. Plus, related ambivalence, ambidextrous (amphi- Greek,
ambi- Latin). It's fun having an aunt who used to teach classics =) Also
see: classical columns, pyrrhic victory, the Rosetta
stoneWWWTheatre and amphitheatre (or theater and amphitheater) have the
distinction that a theatre is one-sided viewing of a central stage, and
an amphitheatre has viewing all around. T…
Read more…


THE XY PROBLEM

The XY Problem (or X-Y Problem) often comes up in software development or
customer support, where someone asks for help to achieve a solution (X) that
they have…The XY Problem (or X-Y Problem) often comes up in software development
or customer support, where someone asks for help to achieve a solution (X) that
they have chosen as a way to solve a different problem (Y). Helping with their
solution may not help them solve their actual problem if it's not a good
approach in the first place. An example from software development is a person
asking how to extract the last three characters of a filename (solution X),
because they want to know the file type (problem Y). After helping them do
solution X, it still wouldn't solve problem Y as some files have extensions of
more than three characters. Another example is a customer asking for help
accessing their online account without realising that what they really want to
do has to be done over the phone anyway. There's art and skill in respectfully
answering questions and helping with what's asked while seeking to understand
the real goal. And if you're asking questions, providing more context may help
others provide better answers. In development, it saves time and effort. In
customer support, it leads to happy customers. In design, it may be uncovering
unmet needs. The name is indirectly from Eric Raymond in How to Ask Questions
the Smart Way: "Q: How can I use X to do Y? A: If what you want is to do Y, you
should ask that question without pre-supposing the use of a method that may not
be appropriate. Questions of this form often indicate a person who is not merely
ignorant about X, but confused about what problem Y they are solving and too
fixated on the details of their particular situation." Also see a better
hierarchy of needs, the metrics onion, challenge and clarification
questions, prefer open-ended questions, ask the question at talks, don't fill
the silence.WWWThe XY Problem (or X-Y Problem) often comes up in software
development or customer support, where someone asks for help to achieve a
solution (X) that they have chos…
Read more…


BOX BREATHING

Box breathing can help us focus on the present, reduce stress and anxiety by
lowering cortisol levels, and generally relax and be calm. Box breathing
involves four steps…Box breathing can help us focus on the present, reduce
stress and anxiety by lowering cortisol levels, and generally relax and be calm.
Box breathing involves four steps repeated in sequence, each for an equal count:
Breathe in Hold your breath Breathe out Hold your breath It's called box
breathing or square breathing, as the four equal steps are like the sides of a
virtual box. Counting to four is typical, though it can be more or less. Because
of box breathing's simplicity and effectiveness, it's also used by the Navy
SEALs—for example, ex-Navy SEAL Mark Divine can lead you through box breathing
on video. I find meditation surprisingly difficult and the steps and simple
counting of box breathing help me stay focused and free of distraction as well
as any other technique. Even a few cycles of box breathing before a difficult
conversation, a public talk, or after a challenging spell with our children
helps me stay cool and be better.WWWBox breathing can help us focus on the
present, reduce stress and anxiety by lowering cortisol levels, and generally
relax and be calm. Box breathing involves four steps repeat…
Read more…


JÓLABÓKAFLÓÐ

Jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, is the charming Icelandic tradition of
giving books as gifts, opening them on Christmas Eve, and settling in to read
them together,…Jólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, is the charming Icelandic
tradition of giving books as gifts, opening them on Christmas Eve, and settling
in to read them together, ideally with hot chocolate or other warming wintry
drink. The "flood" refers to the traditional release of books in the months
leading up to Christmas. While there may be a book flood without gifting them on
Christmas eve, it's such a nice extension that it seems worthy of its adapted
meaning. Iceland has a long literary tradition, and a high percentage of
Icelanders both read regularly and become authors themselves. Jólabókaflóð has
its roots in various causes to do with wars, rationing, ancient sagas, and, I'd
guess, also long winter nights. Also see: Tsundoku Lifetime
readsWWWJólabókaflóð, or Christmas Book Flood, is the charming Icelandic
tradition of giving books as gifts, opening them on Christmas Eve, and settling
in to read them together, ideally…
Read more…


THE BARNUM EFFECT

The Barnum effect is our tendency to apply personal meaning to statements that
could apply to many people. For statements such as the results of a personality
test, the…The Barnum effect is our tendency to apply personal meaning to
statements that could apply to many people. For statements such as the results
of a personality test, the effect is stronger if: we believe they are
personalised to us they are sufficiently vague — handy phrases include "at
times," "a tendency to," "some of," etc. they are mostly positive — we're more
inclined to accept positive evaluations of ourselves than critical ones they
come from a source of authority You may recognise these tricks from a horoscope
or your star sign, magicians, fortune-tellers, fortune cookies, con artists and,
perhaps, marketing. There's a fascinating magician's technique you may have seen
called cold reading that uses the Barnum effect with other tricks ("I see
someone with heart pain in your family.") to make it seem like they know a lot
of personal details about someone at a first meeting. Originally from Bertram
Forer, who called it "the fallacy of personal validation," it was later known as
the Forer effect until Paul Meehl suggested it should be named the Barnum effect
after P. T. Barnum (now of The Greatest Showman fame) for the way he could
easily fool an audience with these techniques and to emphasize that we should
all know and be on the lookout for being fooled. For that reason, I called it
the same here. Bertram Forer ran an experiment with his students (pdf), giving
everyone the same results for their individual personality assessment.
Generally, the students all thought the same description applied very well to
themselves. He used these statements taken "largely from a newsstand astrology
book": You have a great need for other people to like and admire you. You have a
tendency to be critical of yourself. You have a great deal of unused capacity
which you have not turned to your advantage. While you have some personality
weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them. Your sexual
adjustment has presented problems for you. Disciplined and self-controlled
outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside. At times you have serious
doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing.
You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when
hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You pride yourself as an independent
thinker and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. You
have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times
you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are
introverted, wary, reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty
unrealistic. Security is one of your major goals in life. Not a bad description
of me... I learned about it from a discussion of the Meyers-Briggs test (I'm an
ENTP btw). Here's Paul Meehl advocating for the Barnum effect: "Many
psychometric reports bear a disconcerting resemblance to what my colleague
Donald G. Paterson calls “personality description after the manner of P. T.
Barnum” ... I suggest—and I am quite serious—that we adopt the phrase Barnum
effect to stigmatize those pseudo-successful clinical procedures in which
personality descriptions from tests are made to fit the patient largely or
wholly by virtue of their triviality; and in which any nontrivial, but perhaps
erroneous, inferences are hidden in a context of assertions or denials which
carry high confidence simply because of the population base rates, regardless of
the test’s validity. I think this fallacy is at least as important and frequent
as others for which we have familiar labels (halo effect, leniency error,
contamination, etc.). One of the best ways to increase the general sensitivity
to such fallacies is to give them a name. We ought to make our clinical students
as acutely aware of the Barnum effect as they are of the dangers of
countertransference or the standard error of r." Meehl, P. E. (1956). Wanted—a
good cook-book. American Psychologist, 11(6), 263–272.
https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044164WWWThe Barnum effect is our tendency to apply
personal meaning to statements that could apply to many people. For statements
such as the results of a personality test, the eff…
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BIRTHDAY CREEP

Your birthday creeps one day of the week forward each year and two around leap
years. Here's why: A common year has 365 days. 52 weeks is 364 days (52 x 7), so
the year…Your birthday creeps one day of the week forward each year and two
around leap years. Here's why: A common year has 365 days. 52 weeks is 364 days
(52 x 7), so the year has 52 weeks plus one day as a bonus (364 + 1 = 365). So
for most years, if your birthday was on a Friday, the following year it will
walk forward to be on a Saturday 🎉 Leap years have another bonus day on 29
February. The bonus day means that your birthday will move forward two weekdays
instead of one around leap years, however, how your birthday moves depends on
whether it is before or after that date each year. Here's an example. Birthday
after 29 Feb: Sun 9 Jul 2023 Tue 9 Jul 2024 (leap year) — leaps 2 weekdays on
the leap year Wed 9 Jul 2025 Birthday before 29 Feb: Sun 1 Jan 2023  Mon 1
Jan 2024 (leap year) Wed 1 Jan 2025 — leaps 2 weekdays after the leap year
Perhaps someone told me this when I was a child, and I was keeping close track
of birthdays but even if they did it never sunk in. Hopefully, the little person
leaping a day will help you, like me now, remember forever. It was pointed out
to me that the changing weekday of your birthday is a very good thing—would seem
a little unfair if you were stuck with a Tuesday all of your life.WWWYour
birthday creeps one day of the week forward each year and two around leap years.
Here's why: A common year has 365 days. 52 weeks is 364 days (52 x 7), so the
year h…
Read more…
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