We are too often motivated by a craving to put an end to the inevitable surprises in our lives. This is especially true of the biggest "negative" of all. Might we benefit from contemplating mortality more regularly than we do? As Steve Jobs famously declared, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way that I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

Oliver Burkeman

July 23, 2017

you're an original

July 23, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

You were born an original. Don't die a copy. -John Mason

July 22, 2017

growing

July 22, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. – Irish Saying

July 21, 2017

The Perfect Parent Trap

July 21, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

When perfectionists become parents, their mindsets don't change; they just shift their unreasonable expectations onto their children. Now their kids must be perfect too. In fact, a number of studies have found that perfectionists are so busy worrying about the drive for excellence that they aren't sensitive are responsive to the children's real needs.

Perfectionist parenting is anxious parenting. So that their children never make mistakes, these parents are overprotective, controlling, authoritarian, intrusive and dominating.

(Not that any of it helps: Research at Macquarie University in Australia showed that perfectionist parents’ tendencies to admonish kids and emphasize accuracy didn't decrease errors in children's work.)

Unsurprisingly kids of perfectionists are perfectionists too, adopting the same unreasonable expectations and exaggerated responses to failure. As a result, they're more likely to be anxious and obsessive. According to the University of Louisville researchers Nicholas Affrunti and Janet Woodriff-Borden, every time parents rush into fix something their kids learn their mistakes of threatening and they come to believe they can't be trusted to handle new experiences on the run.

And through their parents’ disengagement, kids learn that love is conditional. The only way to get it? Achieve.

Ashley Merryman, co-author of Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing, writing in ESPN the Magazine, May 11, 2015 issue

July 19, 2017

Just beyond your current limits

July 19, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

Excellent performers judge themselves differently than most people do. They're more specific, just as they are when they set goals and strategies. Average performers are content to tell themselves that they did great or poorly or okay.

By contrast, the best performers judge themselves against a standard that's relevant for what they're trying to achieve. Sometimes they compare their performance with their own personal best; sometimes they compare it with the performance of competitors they're facing or expect to face; sometimes they compare it with the best known performance by anyone in the field.

Any of those can make sense; the key, as in all deliberate practice, is to choose a comparison that stretches you just beyond your current limits. Research confirms what common sense tells us, that too high a standard is discouraging and not very instructive, while too low a standard produces no advancement.

Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated

July 18, 2017

articles of interest - wk of July 17

July 18, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

***TECHNOLOGY

Capitalism the Apple Way vs. Capitalism the Google Way The Atlantic

When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Share Your Location Using a Smartphone NYTimes

Turning Your iPhone’s Camera into an Assistive Device: Seeing AI Chronicle of Higher Ed

The problem of bots as they are trained to become better at mimicking humans (opinion) New York Times

Why no one has 're-invented' email yet Mashable

***BIG DATA & STATISTICS

It’s not enough to weigh data decisions on the descriptor of big versus small alone. Other things must be considered Inside Big Data

Intel community learning to speak Trump's language when talking about major national security threats Chicago Tribune

Paradoxes of Probability and Other Statistical Strangeness Quillette

***SOCIAL MEDIA

India surpasses U.S. as Facebook’s #1 country The Stack

***PERSONAL GROWTH

The Duty of Encouragement Becoming (my blog)

Why most people will never be successful CNBC

Don’t Judge My Estrangement From Family — It Saved My Life The Establishment

***JOURNALISM

Data journalism matters. Here’s what you need to know The Next Web

An Inside Look at One America News Washington Post

Report: Republicans think national news media is bad for the country, by an 8 to 1 margin Poynter

Meet the Journalism 360 Challenge winners and the VR frontiers they want to conquer Nieman Lab

Google funds automated news project BBC

What happens to Local News When There is no Local Media to Cover it? Washington Post

LA Times investigation highlights local news that gets results Columbia Journalism Review

***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM

Investor group to acquire Chicago Sun-Times Talking New Media

Sun-Times gets a new owner, but no one is making money in the newspaper business in Chicago Talking New Media

Print newspapers are dying faster than you think Vox

Local TV News Fact SheetPew Research Center Journalism.org

'San Diego Union-Tribune,' Go Fund Me Team To Fund-Raise Around Stories Media Post

Google says it wants to fund the news, not fake it The Drum

Newspapers’ Stand Against Tech Giants Won’t Save Them Slate

The Washington Post takes big data approach to reader comment moderation Talking New Media

Q&A: Jerry Springer on interviewing regular people Columbia Journalism Review

***FAKE NEW

Fake news fuels nationalism and Islamophobia — sound familiar? In this case, it's in India LA Times

Computer Scientists Demonstrate The Potential For Faking Video NPR

There’s a whole new layer of drama in the Mideast crisis: UAE planted fake news to spark fight with Qatar, according to a bombshell report Vox

Fighting Falsehoods Around the World: A Dispatch on the Growing Global Fact-Checking Movement Washington Post

Researchers Examine When People Are More Susceptible To Fake News NPR

***STUDENT MEDIA

Student Journalists Are Our Future—We Should Start Treating Them Like It The Nation

***GRAMMAR

The Correct Punctuation of Donald Trump, Jr.,’s Name The New Yorker

The Much-Needed Gap Chronicle of Higher Ed

‘The Americans Have No Adverbs’ Chronicle of Higher Ed

***WRITING & READING

Blessed Are teh Copy Editors Chronicle of Higher Ed

The ‘So What?’ Question in your Academic Paper Chronicle of Higher Ed

***LITERATURE

Donald Trump Jr. Reviews Famous Works of Literature McSweenys

Emily Dickinson’s unquiet passion: A literature professor’s take on Terence Davies’ film Amherst Bulletin

The Word Choices That Explain Why Jane Austen Endures New York Times

Stream a 24 Hour Playlist of Charles Dickens Stories, Featuring Classic Recordings by Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles & More Open Culture

Charting Literary Greatness With Jane Austen New York Times

Jane Austen Bicentennial: Must-See Sights from Her Life & Literature Biography

***GENDER

Women more likely to see online harassment as major problem Pew Research Center

The "Crazy/Bitch" Narrative About Senior Academic Women (opinion) Jennifer Berdahl's Blog

***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES

Arizona's Ethnic Studies Ban In Public Schools Goes To Trial NPR

Diverse clinical trials are “an issue of an essential ethical principle of justice” OnNursing

***FREE SPEECH

Spain Struggles To Balance National Security With Free Speech NPR

Lawsuit Claims School Violated Rights Of Students Trying To Form Pro-Life Club CBS News

You Can Get Fired For Saying That? Reporter finds a chill wind blowing through free speech on campus these days Elle

***LEGAL ISSUES

The 'Monkey Selfie' Monkey Just Filed an Appeal Mother Board

A Supreme Court mystery: Has Roberts embraced same-sex marriage ruling? Washington Post

An analysis of the Supreme Court's latest First Amendment ruling, Matal v. Tam Student Press Law Center

***RELIGION

Best-selling author Eugene Peterson changes his mind on gay marriage Religious News Service

Actually, Eugene Peterson Does Not Support Same-Sex Marriage Christianity Today

Samford pulls plug on student gay-straight alliance Baptist News

A dubious web site falsely reported the death of the Christian Contemporary music artist Don Moen Snopes

Conservative Christian reality TV star Toby Willis gets 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to child rape Raw Story

More Christian than Muslim refugees arrive in U.S. under Trump Pew Research Center

John Calvin: The Religious Reformer Who Influenced Capitalism Jstor

Why I’m Leaving the Southern Baptist Convention (opinion) New York Times

When the Evangelical Establishment Comes After You (opinion) Religious News Service

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

Confidant of Pope Francis condemns US religious right Associated Press

Trump seen bowing in prayer during Oval Office session CNN

Trump coped with the Russia scandal by courting evangelicals. Here's why that's worrisome (opinion) Vox

Trump threatens to change the course of American Christianity Washington Post

Ethical Questions over Organizational Structure of Trump lawyer’s Christian nonprofits NPR

***MUSIC

A brief mention in an interview by a British artist breathes life and sales into a niche music theory book Inside Higher Ed

Why musicians are so angry at the world’s most popular music streaming service Washington Post

R. Kelly Is Holding Women Against Their Will In A “Cult,” Parents Told Police BuzzFeed

***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT

The Trump Administration’s Fraught Attempt to Address Campus Sexual Assault The New Yorker

Title IX summit Controversy Inside Higher Ed

Ed. Dept. Official Apologizes for ‘90%’ Remark on Campus Rape. What’s the Research? Chronicle of Higher Ed

Education Department Official Apologizes For 'Flippant' Campus Sexual Assault Comments NPR

Columbia University settles Title IX lawsuit with former student involving ‘mattress girl’ case Washington Post

After Meeting With DeVos, Title IX Activists Say They Still Have Many Questions Chronicle of Higher Ed

New study of harassment of graduate students by faculty members suggests that the problem is worse than many believe Inside Higher Ed

At some Texas universities, students accused of rape can transfer without a record Texas Tribune

***SOCIOLOGY

How bosses are (literally) like dictators: Americans think they live in a democracy. But their workplaces are small tyrannies (opinion) Vox

***HEALTH

'Dirt Is Good': New Book Explores Why Kids Should Be Exposed To Germs NPR

A survey of retracted articles in dentistry BMC Research Notes

The importance of whistleblowing when it comes to patient safety in healthcare Journal of Patient Safety

The rise of medical crowdfunding scams Daily Dot

Lost Mothers: An estimated 700 to 900 women in the U.S. died from pregnancy-related causes in 2016. We have identified 120 of them so far Propublica

Most Drugs Are Still Safe To Use Years After Their Expiration Date : Shots - Health News NPR

Is This Photo Real or Fake? A New Study finds most people won’t spot the con Motherboard

***SCIENCE

Science has a negativity problem Science Line

***PSYCHOLOGY

Can Psychedelics Be Therapy? Allow Research to Find Out New York Times

***NEUROSCIENCE

The neuroscience of inequality: does poverty show up in children's brains? The Guardian

***CRITICAL THINKING

Why Facts Don't Convince People (and what you can do about it) (video) Social Good Now

***HISTORY

The prime minister and the professor Revisionist History (Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast)

***ETHICS

Outgoing Ethics Chief: U.S. Is ‘Close to a Laughingstock’ New York Times

***RESEARCH

Google Is Shelling Out Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars to Academics Writing Papers About Google New York Mag

Elsevier discusses how it intends to introduce more transparency into the review process Elsevier

Strategies to avoid getting Your Research Scooped HELDA

Tracking the Evolution of Reference Resources Scholarly Kitchen

***HIGHER ED

New book argues against “zombie leadership” in higher education Inside Higher Ed

The New Culture War Targeting American Universities Appear to be Working Washington Post

Members of the college-educated class have become amazingly good at making sure their children retain their privileged status New York Times

One of America’s most prestigious colleges may try to force its undergraduates to be more egalitarian towards one another––but not to anyone else (opinion) The Atlantic

Why we need to know more, not less, about what students get from college Hechinger Report

New Florida law requires colleges to spell out student debt in a yearly report to each student Sun-Sentinal

Bret Weinstein to Evergreen College Board: Do You Know The Campus Descended Into Literal Anarchy? RealClearPolitics

The Problem With Helicopter Colleges: Harvard professor Steven Pinker objects to a proposal to ban various undergraduate social clubs (opinion) The Atlantic

Why This Tech CEO Keeps Hiring Humanities Majors Fast Company

***TEACHING

The Education Writer Gospel of 'Academically Adrift' Inside Higher Ed

How Much Time Should You Spend on Teaching? Chronicle of Higher Ed

***STUDENT LIFE

Students Decide their own Political orientation-It isn't handed to you in college (opinion) New York Times

How Colleges Give Students a Flawed Sense of Living Costs Chronicle of Higher Ed

Trump Administration Considers Measure to Make Staying in U.S. Harder for Foreign Students Washington Post

The truth about today’s college students Washington Post

Students at religious universities are worried about access to birth control. Here's why USA Today

Private student loan debts are being erased because of incomplete and missing paperwork New York Times

Grad School Is Hard on Mental Health. Here’s an Antidote Chronicle of Higher Ed

***ACADEMIC LIFE

Under Fire, These Professors Were Criticized by Their Colleges Chronicle of Higher Ed

Trinity Professor Cleared Of Wrongdoing Following Controversial Facebook Posts Courant

New Study Charts Recent Proliferation of Faculty Unions (At the center of many of the disputes are clashing interpretations of new guidance on private-college unionization) Chronicle of Higher Ed

July 18, 2017

Primed for Action

July 18, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

Does your frame of mind before an event make a difference in the outcome? Read this quote from Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink:

Two Dutch researchers did a study in which they had groups of students answer forty-two fairly demanding questions from the board game Trivial Pursuit. Half were asked to take five minutes beforehand to think about what it would mean to be a professor and write down everything that came to mind. Those students got 55.6 percent of the questions right. The other half of the students were asked to first sit and think about soccer hooligans. They ended up getting 42.6 percent of the Trivial Pursuit questions right. The 'professor' group didn't know more than the 'soccer' group. They weren't smarter or more focused or more serious. They were simply in a 'smart' frame of mind and, clearly, associating themselves with the idea of something smart, like a professor, made it a lot easier - in that stressful instant after a trivia question was asked - to blurt out the right answer. The difference between 55.6 and 42.6 percent, it should be pointed out, is enormous. That can be the different between passing and failing.

Call it positive thinking or priming or whatever you like, but don't neglect the mental prep before each "big game." Actors must "get in character" by focusing on the task at hand before the curtain rises. In the same way, give your best effort by first dipping your mind in some positive energy.

Stephen Goforth

July 15, 2017

brains and feet

July 15, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. -Dr Suess

July 11, 2017

a victory speech

July 11, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

Write the victory speech of your opponent. If you can’t, look again at what you’re asking of them.

July 11, 2017

Taking Beauty Seriously

July 11, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

If all experience of beauty is merely subjective, we find ourselves in a position in which some people like rice pudding and other people do not like rice pudding, which is then the conclusion of the matter. In short, it would mean that no two people have ever differed or ever can differ on a question of beauty. When one person says the Philadelphia City Hall is more beautiful than the Parthenon and another person denies this, they are not, on the subjectivist theory, arguing at all.

One man is telling about his insides and the other is telling about his insides. If someone wishes to contend that the works of a contemporary leader of a dance band are aesthetically superior to the works of Beethoven, there is, subjectively speaking, no suitable rejoinder.

This situation, however, is too absurd to be accepted by thoughtful critics as the last word on the question. The fact is that people do argue about aesthetic judgments, and the subjectivists argue as much as anybody else.

Regardless of their philosophical position, those who take beauty most seriously tend to hold that those who fail to see what they see really ought to see it, and with sufficient clarification of sight would see it.

Kant goes beyond the mere rejection of the familiar maxim and points out the imperative note which is essential to aesthetic judgment, a note similar to that which we found in moral judgment. To assert that a thing is beautiful is to blame those who do not agree. If I am right, they are wrong.

It would be laughable of a man to justify himself by saying, "This object is beautiful for me."

Elton Trueblood, Philosophy of Religion

July 10, 2017

articles of interest - July 10

July 10, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

***TECHNOLOGY

Cameras are about to get a lot smaller: The future of photography is flat Economist

Why You Will One Day Have a Chip in Your Brain Wired

Nest Founder: “I Wake Up In Cold Sweats Thinking, What Did We Bring To The World?” Fast Company

A reality check for virtual headsets: VR has been more about hype than substance. Will that change? Economist

There Are Plenty Of RFID-Blocking Products, But Do You Need Them? NPR

Two-Factor Authentication is a Mess The Verge

***SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook is getting ready to test paid subscriptions with publications Digiday

Facebook won’t let people change the headlines in links — and social media managers aren’t pleased Digiday

***PRODUCING MEDIA

How to record and publish podcasts using Anchor Journalism.co

When radio ratings got more precise, it changed how programmers saw their audience. Are podcasters heading for something similar? Harvard’s Nieman Lab

***BIG DATA & STATISTICS

A brief guide for getting started in Python Medium

Should scientists who use AI include their computers as co-authors on their papers? Science Magazine

Can we get AI to explain why it’s making the decision it’s making? Will that get us to trust it? MIT Technology Review

Is artificial intelligence a job killer? Well, deep neural networks will automate many jobs, but.. The Conversation

How machine learning is already a big part of our lives Android Authority

Will patients trust their lives to machine learning? The medical algorithm revolution is coming MIT Technology Review

***JOURNALISM

Q&A: NPR’s Audie Cornish on the intimacy of interviewing Columbia Journalism Review

Alcohol industry isn’t just funding studies; it’s also funding journalism to sway public opinion Health News Review

Why journalism is shifting away from 'objectivity' Christian Science Monitor

Friend of Murdered Mexican Journalist Sees Lessons in His Death Voice of San Diego

***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM

The media needs to ‘get the hell out of the picture,’ Columbia Journalism Review publisher says (opinion) Washington Post

What we miss when we obsess over Trump’s tweet Columbia Journalism Review

Google is putting another $24 million into 107 more European journalism projects, including WikiTribune Harvard’s Nieman Lab

News Outlets to Seek Bargaining Rights Against Google and Facebook New York Times

***TEACHING JOURNALISM

What Educators Should Understand About Code and Journalism PBS Media Shift

Grad school for journalism? Your mileage may vary Muck Rack

***FAKE NEWS

Is fact-checking ‘fake news’ a waste of time? Futurity

To Test Your Fake News Judgment, Play This Game NPR

Fake Memoirs: Man Admits He 'Made Up' Rare Brain Disease for Book Newsweek

Is a chart lying to you? This video has some tips to figure it out Vox

How fares trust in journalism amid a sea of fake news? The Guardian

Fake news bots are so economical, you can use them over and over Harvard’s Nieman Lab

iBooks Author vs Fake News: the fight we deserve Talking New Media

***PERSONAL GROWTH

The Secret of an Exceptional Life Becoming (my blog)

The three words that make brainstorming sessions at Google, Facebook, and IDEO more productive Quartz

***WRITING & READING

College Summer Reading New York Times

How Do Court Reporters Type So Quickly? WCCO TV

A magazine piece about a student offered a full ride to Harvard is retracted after the student admits she forged the acceptance letter Bridge

***LANGUAGE

When Did Colonial America Gain Linguistic Independence? Jstor

Twitter is useful for many things—including (unexpectedly) for studying dialects Economist

Nina in Siberia the enormous difficulty of the rules of grammar Chronicle of Higher Ed

***LITERATURE

The inaugural San Diego Festival of Books will take place next month at Point Loma's Liberty Station Union-Tribune

A Digital Archive of Soviet Children’s Books Goes Online: Browse the Artistic, Ideological Collection (1917-1953) Open Culture

***GENDER

The University of Florida is under federal Title IX investigation for its handling of a Sexual assault accusation against a Football Star Tampa By Times

***FREE SPEECH

The Trump administration is now openly threatening to use the Justice Department as a tool for punishing critical speech New York Magazine

It's Disadvantaged Groups That Suffer Most When Free Speech Is Curtailed on Campus The Atlantic

U.S. Court of Appeals sides with First Amendment right to video-record police Poynter

***LEGAL ISSUES

Failed whistleblower suit is a reminder that public universities are hard to sue Retraction Watch

$10M defamation lawsuit against Deadspin Las Vegas Review-Journal

***RELIGION

Oklahoma University halts plans to remove religious symbols from chapel Inside Higher Ed

The Presbyterian Church in America, Battles Over Gender The Atlantic

California Beach Party Brings Together Ex-Believers NPR

Christian-owned Hobby Lobby accused of hypocrisy after being fined for role in smuggling case Associated Press

Samford won't accept Baptist convention funds after LGBT flap ALcom

Christian Radio's 'Bible Answer Man' Finds New Faith Home, Deals With Fallout WFAE

Christian geologist wins battle to study Grand Canyon rocks New York Post

An atheist Muslim on what the left and right get wrong about Islam Vox

'Building A Bridge' Between The Catholic Church And LGBT Community NPR

Is God boosting Stephen Colbert's ratings? The Week

Vatican outlaws use of gluten free bread for Holy Communion The Telegraph

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

On abortion, persistent divides between – and within – the two parties Pew Research

***ART & DESIGN

Why Art Historians Still Ignore Comics Jstor

How games are impacting urban design Arstechnica

***MUSIC

The Star-Spangled Banner Verse You've Probably Never Heard NPR

How Losing SoundCloud Would Change Music The Ringer

Only Queen can rock an entire stadium without even being there YouTube

***FILM

The Mummy,' 'The House,' and 'Transformers 5': Hollywood's Problem Isn't Sequels, but Bad Movies The Atlantic

Hollywood studios dip their toes in virtual reality: Fox, MGM, Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg are among those investing in the technology Economist

***HEALTH

'Architecture Of An Asylum' Tracks History Of U.S. Treatment Of Mental Illness NPR

This Map Shows How Some US Counties Are Prescribing Way More Opioids Than Others BuzzFeed News

Scientists Aren't Good At Predicting Which Research Will Pan Out NPR

The Machines Are Getting Ready to Play Doctor: An algorithm that spots heart arrhythmia shows how AI will revolutionize medicine—but patients must trust machines with their lives MIT Technology Review

A former pediatric intensive care unit nurse: I shared my toddler's hospital bill on Twitter.. First came supporters—then death threats Vox

The latest technology is even more beneficial for the old than for the young Economist

U.S. Hospitals Struggle To Protect Mothers When Childbirth Turns Deadly NPR

***SCIENCE

Many Women Of Color Feel Unsafe Working In Science, New Study Finds BuzzFeed News

***PSYCHOLOGY

Research Shows Birth Order Really Does Matter NPR

Why We Lie: The Science Behind Our Deceptive Ways National Geographic

Extreme internet use linked to mental illness in teens The Next Web

The weird power of the placebo effect, explained Vox

Dads Respond Differently To Daughters Than To Sons, Study Finds NPR

Police departments in the US are practicing mindfulness to reduce officers' stress—and violence Quartz

Stephen Fry Identifies the Cognitive Biases That Make Trump Tick Open Culture

***NEUROSCIENCE

Pain Before Pleasure Makes The Pleasure Even Better, Study Finds NPR

***RESEARCH

Should scientists who use artificial intelligence include their computers as co-authors on their papers? Science Mag

When a Cat Co-Authored a Paper in a Leading Physics Journal (1975) Open Culture

***HIGHER ED

Universities and colleges struggle to stem big drops in enrollment The Hechinger Report

UC admission rate for Californian students drops slightly Mercury News

In dramatic shift, more than half of Republicans now say colleges have a negative impact on the U.S. Inside Higher Ed

In emails, then-Baylor regent calls students suspected of drinking “perverted little tarts” “very bad apples,” “insidious and inbred” and “the vilest and most despicable of girls” Waco Tribune-Herald

How Cal Baptist in Riverside inspired Alaskan actor and musician to settle in Southern California Press Enterprise

Speakers at BYU religious freedom conference concerned about religious liberty in educational institutions Herald Extra

Christian universities are growing across Africa Quartz

***TEACHING

AI Is Making It Extremely Easy for Students to Cheat Wired

Anthropologist offers explanation for why faculty members hesitate to adopt innovative teaching methods Inside Higher Ed

***ACADEMIC LIFE

Judge tosses out campus carry gun lawsuit filed by UT professors My Statesman

A test question about hot wax has landed a professor in hot water The Fire

July 10, 2017

make way

July 10, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

July 09, 2017

the Adventure Risk

July 09, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

Andre Gide once said, "One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." Explorers of new worlds will always have times of ambiguity where they wonder if they are getting anywhere and whether the voyage was really worth it.

Stephen Goforth

July 07, 2017

why Facebook survived

July 07, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

While Facebook was just getting on its feet in 2004, a similar social network called Campus Network (or CU Community) was ahead and more advanced. Slate explains why only one survived.

Why did Facebook succeed where Campus Network failed? The simplest explanation is, well, its simplicity. Yes, Campus Network had advanced features that Facebook was missing. While Campus Network blitzed first-time users right away, Facebook updated its features incrementally. Facebook respected the Web's learning curve.
Campus Network did too much too soon. Neither site, of course, can claim to be the first social network—Friendster and MySpace already had large followings in 2003. But both Facebook and Campus Network had the crucial insight that overlaying a virtual community on top of an existing community—a college campus—would cement users' trust and loyalty. Campus Network figured it out first. Facebook just executed it better.

While people want to make their own choices, research shows too many options creates problems. We become overwhelmed. There is no substitute for simplicity and clarity. Whether on purpose or by accident, Facebook was built from the perspective of looking at what users would do with the site rather than building to show off what its creators could do. One approach shows respect for the audience.

Stephen Goforth

July 06, 2017

the secret power of deliberate practice

July 06, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

You may think that your rehearsal of a job interview was flawless, but your opinion isn't what counts. Or you may believe you played that bar of the Brahms violin concerto perfectly, but can you really trust your own judgment? In many important situations, a teacher, coach, or mentor is vital for providing crucial feedback.

Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it "deliberate," as distinct from the mindless playing of scales or hitting of tennis balls that most people engage in. Continually seeking exactly those elements of performance that are unsatisfactory and then trying one's hardest to make them better places enormous strains on anyone's mental abilities.

The work is so great that it seems no one can sustain it for very long.

Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that's exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands. Instead of doing what we're good at, we insistently seek out what we're not good at.

Then we identify the painful, difficult activities that will make us better and do those things over and over. After each repetition, we force ourselves to see - or get others to tell us - exactly what still isn't right so we can repeat the most painful and difficult parts of what we've just done. We continue that process until we're mentally exhausted.

If it seems a bit depressing that the most important thing you can do to improve performance is no fun, take consolation in this fact: It must be so. If the activities that lead to greatness were easy and fun, then everyone would do them and no one could distinguish the best from the rest.

The reality that deliberate practice is hard can even be seen as good news. It means that most people won't do it. So your willingness to do it will distinguish you all the more.

Geoff Colvin, Why Talent is Overrated

July 03, 2017

articles of interest - July 3

July 03, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

***SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram Unleashes an AI System to Blast Away Nasty Comments Wired

How do teens really use Instagram, Snapchat and other apps? Recode

***PRODUCING MEDIA

This Is How Top Instagram Publishers Use Video vs. Photos PBS Media Shift

***TECHNOLOGY

3D printing transforms the economics of manufacturing Economist

How To Find a WiFi Hotspot Using Facebook Life Hacker

***JOURNALISM

How to create a data journalism team: practical tips for bringing programmers and journalists together Knight Center

The State of Investigative Reporting: Highlights From lRE 2017 PBS Media Shift

***THE BUSINESS OF JOURNALISM

John Oliver explains “the most influential media company that you’ve never heard of” Vox

President Trump attacks Amazon, incorrectly claiming that it owns The Washington Post for tax purposes Recode

New York Times copy desk to top editors: ‘You have turned your backs on us’ Poynter

The Washington Post’s New Social Media Policy Forbids Disparaging Advertisers Washingtonian

Cable News Ratings: CNN, Fox News, MSNBC All Post Double-Digit Growth Variety

Hundreds of New York Times employees stage walkout to protest copy editor cuts Washington Post

***FAKE NEWS

Fake news: you ain’t seen nothing yet: Generating convincing audio and video of fake events Economist

Facebook found a new way to identify spam and false news articles in your News Feed Recode

How to Tell Unscientific "Thought Leaders" from People You Should Trust Life Hacker

Top Dem wants FBI to investigate fake net neutrality comments The Hill

A Beginner’s Guide to Calling BSScience of Us New York Magazine

***BIG DATA & STATISTICS

Ways data-driven analytics get stretched too far Analytic Bridge

Creators of a new search platform claims it will make searching geospatial data easier Datanami

Machine Learning and the Language of the Brain: trying to figure out how the human brain organizes language Next Platform

Warren Buffett's disarmingly simple investment strategy, explained by big data Market Watch

***HEALTH

111 terminally ill patients took their own lives in first 6 months of California right-to-die law LA Times

A Doctor’s View of Obamacare and Trumpcare from Rural Georgia The New Yorker

Google Can Now Remove Leaked Medical Records From Search Results The Guardian

***LEGAL ISSUES

Blogger facing potential jail time says he is ‘honor bound’ not to identify sources Columbia Journalism Review

ABC, meat producer settle in $1.9B 'pink slime' libel suit Associated Press

Tolkien Estate and Warner Bros. Settle Lawsuit Over Licensing New York Times

***PERSONAL GROWTH

Moving past planning to doing Becoming (my blog)

Chief Justice John Roberts Bucks Tradition In Graduation Speech NPR

***GRAMMAR

i before e except after...w? Nathan Cunn

The Half-Life of Metaphors Chronicle of Higher Ed

***WRITING & READING

We Investigate: Principals caught plagiarizing KTMF/KWYB TV

***LANGUAGE

How do you pronounce “GIF”? Economist

A Lecture About the History of the Scots Language … in Scots: How Much Can You Comprehend? Open Culture

***LITERATURE

TSA Ends pilot program asking passengers to remove books from their Carryon Luggage Inside Higher Ed

Victor Hugo’s frustrating, beautiful Les Misérables was completed on this date in 1862 Vox

***GENDER

Women in Tech Speak Frankly on Culture of Harassment New York Times

College Lawyers Say Title IX Process Must Be Fair to Both Parties Chronicle of Higher Ed

How science got women wrong: Why the view that women are gentle, caring and empathetic, whereas men are strong, rational and dominant, is misguided Economist

How male and female gun owners in the U.S. compare Pew Research Center

Why Can’t Your Company Just Fix the Gender Wage Gap? Bloomberg

***RACE & ETHNICITY ISSUES

How do you talk to kids about race? Quartz

CBS tried to pay Hawaii Five-0’s Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park 15% less than their white co-stars Vox

***FREE SPEECH

Campus 'Free Speech' Bill Struck Down by Louisiana Governor Associated Press

Nearly one quarter of Americans say the First Amendment goes too far in the freedoms it guarantees The First Amendment Center

Coal King Begs Court to Gag John Oliver The Daily Beast

***RELIGION

Outpouring raises $300K for Christian music dad who lost wife after childbirth USA Today

Poll shows a dramatic generational divide in white evangelical attitudes on gay marriage Washington Post

Smithsonian Exhibit Explores Religious Diversity's Role In U.S. History NPR

California megachurch pastor steps down for unspecified 'personal misjudgements' Christianity Today

Southern Baptist Convention still facing fallout from racial legacy (opinion) Post and Courier

A university in Oklahoma considers removing its Bibles and crosses from its chapel Washington Post

Census data shows Christianity on the wane in Australia, but Pentecostal church bucks trend The Guardian

Religious faith may reduce stress, helping believers live longer Journalists Resources

***RELIGION AND POLITICS

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow steered millions in donations to family members through his Christian nonprofit The Guardian

The political beliefs of evangelical Christians: Personal morality in politics is negotiable Economist

GOP bill would let churches endorse political candidates Associated Press

***ART & DESIGN

Why a Dad Photoshops his Baby Daughter into Dangerous Situations New Yorker

***MUSIC

Going to Concerts and Experiencing Live Music Can Make Us Healthier & Happier, a New Psychology Study Confirms Open Culture

Why does some music give you the chills? Quartz

***FILM

Hollywood Conducting First Independent Audit of China's Box Office Hollywood Reporter

***THE BUSINESS OF MEDIA

What “Pivoting to Video” Really Means (opinion) The Righer

***SCIENCE

Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science? The Guardian

Florida residents can now challenge the science taught in public schools Mashable

'Exaggerations' threaten public trust in science, says leading statistician The Guardian

***PSYCHOLOGY

Men and women speak in a higher-pitched voice during a job interviews Quartz

I’m Pretty Sure I Remember That — False Memories (video) Scholarly Kitchen

Psychologists have found that having kids lowers women's self-esteem for at least three years Quartz

***NEUROSCIENCE

As Far As Your Brain Is Concerned, Audiobooks Are Not ‘Cheating’ New York Mag

***HISTORY

A real history is messy: A great nation’s birth-pains included sectarian rage and political terror The Economist

An Animated Introduction to the Life & Work of Marie Curie, the First Female Nobel Laureate Open Culture

***RESEARCH

A New Theory on How Researchers Can Solve the Reproducibility Crisis: Do the Math Chronicle of Higher Ed

Image doctoring must be halted Nature News

Small studies: Be vigilant when writing about them and skeptical when reading about them Health News Review

***STUDENT MEDIA

5 Takeaways for Student Journalists from Rolling Stone's Libel Settlement Student Press Law Center

***STUDENT LIFE

Thousands of College Students Could Be Homeless, Study Suggests Associated Press

International students: Where they come from and what they study Journalists Resources

Forgive Us Our Debts: How Christian College Grads Pay the Price Christianity Today

***JOBS & INTERNSHIPS

Internal Brand Communications Internship Jack in the Box, San Diego

***SEXUAL HARASSMENT & ASSAULT

Universities Are Facing A “Passing The Trash” Scandal People Are Comparing To The Catholic Church BuzzFeed News

U. of California System Changes How It Responds to Sexual Harassment and Violence Chronicle of Higher Ed

***ACADEMIC LIFE

American U scholar says provost cherry-picked negative student ratings of her teaching to deny her a promotion Inside Higher Ed

This is no way to treat adjunct professors (opinion) Newsday

***HUMANITIES /STEM

Tracy Chou, leading Silicon Valley engineer, explains why every tech worker needs a humanities education Quartz

***TEACHING

Fear of Failure New York Times

All the Classroom’s a Stage Chronicle of Higher Ed

July 02, 2017

a book and a page

July 02, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. St. Augustine

July 02, 2017

a world without meaning

July 02, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

We labor for our children and our children's children, but someday, in the remote future or, even sooner, as a result of man's fearful capacity to destroy himself, there will be no more children. That our earth will one day be wholly unfit for the continuation of our enterprise is as certain as any of our predictions can be.

Some day, if our present judgments are at all correct, the works of man will be as though they had never been. An earth as cold and lifeless as the moon will revolve around a dying sun.

What difference will it then make whether the Hungarians were courageous in the face of cruel invasion and whether hungry men, in concentration camps, shared their poor food with still hungrier and sicker prisoners?

What difference will it then make whether we now try to be intellectually honest, to face the negative evidence along with the positive, and whether we strive to make our world a scene of just peace?

Duty and love will be meaningless when there is no one to love and none to remember.

Elton Trueblood, Philosophy of Religion

June 30, 2017

That’s what people do-and that should truly frighten us

June 30, 2017/ Stephen Goforth

I require every new FBI special agent and intelligence analyst to go to the Holocaust Museum. Naturally, I want them to learn about abuse of authority on a breathtaking scale. But I want them to confront something more painful and more dangerous: I want them to see humanity and what we are capable of.

I want them to see that, although this slaughter was led by sick and evil people, those sick and evil leaders were joined by, and followed by, people who loved their families, took soup to a sick neighbor, went to church and gave to charity. Good people helped murder millions. And that’s the most frightening lesson of all — that our very humanity made us capable of, even susceptible to, surrendering our individual moral authority to the group, where it can be hijacked by evil.

In their minds, the murderers and accomplices of Germany, and Poland*, and Hungary, and so many, many other places didn’t do something evil. They convinced themselves it was the right thing to do, the thing they had to do. That’s what people do. And that should truly frighten us.

Former FBI Director James Comey speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s 2015 National Tribute Dinner, April 23, 2015

Watch the video of the speech here

*The Truth about Poland and the Holocaust

Becoming

ideas that challenge / comfort / inspire

articles of interest - wk of July 24

Getting Clarity

you're an original

growing

The Perfect Parent Trap

Just beyond your current limits

articles of interest - wk of July 17

Primed for Action

brains and feet

a victory speech

Taking Beauty Seriously

articles of interest - July 10

make way

the Adventure Risk

the secret power of deliberate practice

articles of interest - July 3

a book and a page

a world without meaning

That’s what people do-and that should truly frighten us

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