[Ed. Note: This video is no longer available.] This is a short 20-minute interview from this week’s WIRED “Living By Numbers” Health Conference. It was a great event, and one of my favorite writers, Clive Thompson, interviewed me on how I track my life. Included are questions about the future of self-experimentation. Enjoy! What would …
Understanding the Dangers of "Ego-Depletion"
(Image: Someecards) This is a guest post by Dan Ariely, James B Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University. I’ve always suspected that we start each day with a limited number of decision-making points that, once depleted, leave us cognitively impaired. This is part of the reason that automating minutiae, adopting rituals, …
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Richard Feynman: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out
[Editor’s note: The full video of the Richard Feynman documentary The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is no longer embeddable, but you can watch it here. You can also view clips from the series on YouTube.] Many times in the last five years, I’ve been asked: “If you could have dinner with anyone in history, …
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The Top 10 Fiction Books for Non-Fiction Addicts
The dunes that inspired Dune: Agate beach sand dunes. (Photo: Kevin McNeal) For a mere 20 years or so, I refused to read fiction. Read something that someone just made up? I can do that myself, thanks. That was the attitude at least. My time of reckoning came when I needed to fix insomnia, and …
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How to Become an Effective CEO: Chief Emotions Officer
Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hotels Chip Conley is the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, which he began at age 26 and built to more than 30 properties in California alone. In 2010, Joie de Vivre was awarded the #1 customer service award in the U.S. by Market Metrix (Upper Upscale hotel …
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How to Use Philosophy as a Personal Operating System: From Seneca to Musashi
(Photo credit: Graphistolage) The following interview is a slightly modified version of an interview that just appeared on BoingBoing. It explores philosophical systems as personal operating systems (for better decision-making), the value of college and MBAs, and the bridge between business and military strategy, among other things. Avi first reached out to discuss my practical …
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How It Works: Clinton's "Reality Distortion Field" Charisma
One piece of the puzzle: getting eye contact right. Not evasive, not creepy — just right. (Photo: Mr. Theklan) This is a guest post from Michael Ellsberg, a good friend who’s spent the last several years studying interpersonal persuasion and language (spoken and unspoken). He has performed hundreds of tests in the field as the …
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Discovering Kindness In The Storm
(Photo: Guillermo.D) Sand storms bring out interesting conversation. That’s what I was thinking as fine dust hit every inch of my face, flooding my sunglasses and burning my eyes. I pulled a white bandana up over my face, and then — as suddenly as it started — it ended. The three people seated around me …
Tim Ferriss Scam! Practical Tactics for Dealing with Haters
Brute force seldom works with haters. Redirection does. (Photo: Deadstar 2.0) I recently spent a week in Amsterdam enjoying bicycles, canals, Queensday, and… ahem… coffee shops. For real. Honest. The best coffee I’ve had in Europe has to be De Koffie Salon. I also gave a short keynote at The NextWeb about how to deal …
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Public Speaking – How I Prepare Every Time
(Photo: Tim Wagner) In the past several weeks, I’ve been asked quite a lot about public speaking. While downing gin tonics over Brazilian BBQ at the SXSW Interactive tech conference, I was approached by the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) of a start-up I advise. She pulled me aside to ask primarily two questions: 1. Where …
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