Protect Yourself: • Sadly, in medicine we are at risk of violence from the people we are trying to help, and must be resolved not to fight back. This article has many pearls, the most pragmatic being the three positions you can stand in when encountering trouble: the thinker pose, the timeout pose, and the hands up. All poses…
Light is a Drug: • Thanks Ashlee Melendez for this article that is absolutely packed with concisely presented information on healthy light-dark cycles. Article on BBC about Linda Geddes, who spent two weeks with no artificial light. I am bookmarking the article and have printed numerous references. Looking forward to her book (Chasing the Sun, early 2019). Two…
Writing: • Gutenberg invented the printing press based on an idea of scaling production. His entrepreneurial spirit actually started with mass-production of ornamental mirrors for a church festival. He then adapted a wine press to print words on pages. The first book he printed was a Latin handbook.• Martin Luther said print was God’s greatest act of…
Order and Chaos: Jordan Peterson is all over the internet, podcasts, best selling book, etc. His philosophical – mythical – psychological grasp of humanity is comprehensive and pragmatic in its ability to integrate your psyche. I was thinking about why night shifts are fun, and why dangerous and “unhealthy” behaviors are fun. And I think…
Rules for life: • Russ Roberts, who wrote the commentary on Adam Smith’s moral thesis, posted his 12 rules for life.• #2- find something healthy to worship, could be called a healthy addiction or obsession. #8- give up a lot to make it to funerals is a cool one you don’t often hear. #9- always take…
Moral Sentiments: • Adam Smith may have invented modern economics. But he also dabbled in moral philosophy. This book by economist Russ Roberts dissects Smith’s formidable Theory of Moral Sentiments with a 21st century approach.• Smith knew humans wanted not only to “be loved, but to be lovely.” We desire to be praised, but also to behave in a way…
Habituation: • Dostoevsky defined man as the creature that can get accustomed to anything. In The Function of Discontent, neurobiologist Indira M. Raman explains the brain chemistry of habituation. The is a mechanistic biochemical explanation of hedonic adaptation, eg most rich people can never have enough money. Similar adaptation allows us to tolerate adversity, to reach a new normal after tragedy.• The take…
Book to check out: • Skin in the Game, the newest book by Nicholas Nassim Taleb. One quote to summarize the book, “courage is the only virtue you cannot fake.” Taleb wants us to listen to, trust, act on the advice of people who have something to lose, some skin in the game. He bashes “interventionistas” and…
Starving: • I am just discovering Theodore Dalrymple. That feeling when you find a new author you love, and he or she already has like 10 books! He is a prison psychiatrist in the UK and has been called the best doctor writer since William Carlos Williams. **I think that award goes to Richard Selzer. …
The Past: • No one becomes successful without support. This article asks us to reflect on the people who loved us in childhood. Breaking down a few traits / coping skills imparted to children that will be used (or ignored sometimes) for the rest of life. Movement: • Do you bend like a C or a table? At…
