Learned Resilience • Norman Garmezy might be the father of resilience research, a career sadly shortened by early dementia. But many have followed in his footsteps with promising results. Why do some people go through significant, often tragic, adversity and come out stronger and successful? Resilience researchers describe individuals who ‘meet the world on their…
Bookshelves • Tweet by David Perell of photos of friends’ bookcases. Some awesome images, and tons of cool ideas on what book to read next. New Discoveries • Apparently archeology still has plenty of discoveries to make. Check out this list of the top 10 from last year. I think my two favorite are “Polynesians meet Native Americans…
Get your mind right • Which is worse: The time you spend thinking about work while at work, or the time you spend thinking about work while at home? Therapist Guy Winch has 3 TED talks; this one covers rumination and the work-life balance dilemma. He tells a story about getting stuck in an elevator with someone…
Hey everyone! Well we made it to 2021. It is still the first Wednesday of the month. Quite a bit going on in the news today as of 10pm on January 6th. Wow. Usually we can rest assured that much of what we worry about won’t matter in a few years. But today’s events will show up in history books. Hopefully we can…
Inspiration • Check out this brief article describing the story of a boy born very poor in Haiti who met US Army troops and had a dream to become a helicopter pilot. That young man is Second Lieutenant Alix Schoelcher Idrache and he just graduated from West Point in the top of his class, studying physics. The powerful photos show how proud Alix…
Gravity and Time • Check out this video of acrobat / choreographer Yoann Bourgeois performing a mesmerizing routine. Think about the hours of practice, the precise physical control of the body, the flow state he must be in. What a cool video and accompanying description. Leg Matrix • Simple but deadly leg exercise that takes less than 10…
Night shifts and appetite • A recent study on sleep and appetite looked at 63 shift workers, mean age 36.7 years, 59% women. 84% of subjects reported weight gain since starting shift work.• “Worse sleep quality and shorter sleep duration were associated with more food cravings, and worse sleep quality and hygiene were associated with higher appetitive drive to consume palatable food…
Bullsh!t • Carl Bergstrom has become well known during COVID-19 (esp on Twitter) with many posts on epidemiology, the economy, the future. He is an evolutionary biologist at U of Washington and has studied epidemics for many years. Written before the pandemic, his (and Jevin West’s) book Calling Bullshit is full of information and graphs, but overall accessible. •…
Hey everyone! Hope you had a fulfilling month. Here are some ideas for wellness practice. Big Concerts at a Tiny Desk • Here is a music recommendation you cannot pass up. If, like us, you have been out of the loop since 2012 on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, immediately check them out on the NPR website, YouTube, or in iTunes podcasts.• These…
Hey everyone! Hope you had a fulfilling month. This has been a crazy year so far. People have pointed out that clearly no one in the future invents a time machine, because if they did they would have come back to prevent 2020.For those in academic medicine, July is the real start to chaos. It is as important as ever…
