The Science Fair Project In 1965, a 17-year-old Randy Gardner decided not to sleep for 11 straight days and observe what happened for his science fair project. William Dement, a scientist, was attracted to the idea and was given permission to study what happened to the boy’s mind during that time. Randy’s mind started to … Read more
Ebbinghaus showed us the power of repetition 100 years ago. The loss of memory that occurs one to two hours after learning something can be lessened by deliberate repetitions. The key is to space out the input. Memory takes a long time to settle into its permanent form and while it is solidifying, it is … Read more
The brain has several types of memory systems. One type follows four stages of processing: encoding, storing, retrieving, and forgetting. Hermann Ebbinghaus was born in 1850, he was famous for discovering that people usually forget 90 percent of what they learn in class within 30 days. He also showed that most of this forgetting happens … Read more
Interest Creates Attention We know that attention creates interest, but can interest create attention? Marketers think so. They use novel stimuli to harness attention in the service of interest. A print ad for Sauza Conmemorativo tequila is an example. There is an old, dirty, bearded man wearing a brimmed hat and smiling, revealing a single … Read more
All living things are made of cells. The surface of your skin is dead, this allows the rest of your cells experience life without wind or rain. Your brain is like a muscle, each activity you do makes it larger and more complex. This may not lead to more intelligence, but what is undeniable is … Read more
Adapt or Die The odds that our ancestors survived were very small. We were a tribe of 2000 people that managed to overcome our physical weaknesses through intelligence. Nature selected for those who learned from their mistakes, not necessarily those who had the sharpest fangs. Climate constantly changed, which forced us to improvise when dealing … Read more
Jack La Lanne was born in 1914. “Jumping Jacks” are named after him, and he invented the first cable-fastened pulleys, and first leg-machines, and even the first weight selectors – all necessities of the modern gym. What’s most impressive about him isn’t even his muscles, but his mind. He is mentally alert, humorous, and lightning … Read more
The Social Animal There is no denying that belonging to a group brings with it many useful skills and knowledge but being too enmeshed in a group prevents us from thinking clearly. Ultimately, we are social animals; we live for others, we want to be useful, popular, and loved. Those who cannot figure out how … Read more
A man must either imitate the vicious or hate them both are dangerous things, either to resemble them because they are many or to hate many because they are unresembling to ourselves. There is nothing so unsociable and sociable as man, the one by his vice, the other by his nature. Real transformation cannot occur … Read more
Scott Adams is the creator of the famous Dilbert cartoons. In How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, he shares what he has learned from a lifetime of failures. He is aware that taking advice about success from a person who has failed at businesses for decades is not very wise, and … Read more