Month: August 2012
Why 99% of the Decisions We Make Aren’t Really Decisions
From Volume 5, Issue 8:Are we creatures of habit or blessed with free will? I believe the former. Each of us makes thousands of decisions, but the vast majority of them aren’t really choices. Does this mean there is no free will? No, but making a real choice requires understanding some complicated concepts.
Why I’m Going Against Yoda (and Mom, Dad, and Mrs. Merriwether)
From Volume 5, Issue 8:Occasionally I challenge the wisdom of the Jedis by claiming that Yoda’s famous quotation from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back—“Do or do not. There is no try”—is just not a productive attitude for most of us. Yoda’s words tell us that we should be able to step off cliffs and not plummet to our doom. Or drive a Rally Ford Fiesta in a World Rally Championship event and win. But if you buy into this thinking, you’re setting yourself up for a lifetime of frustration and feeling like a failure. There’s a better way to approach doing, and yes, Yoda, there is a try.