Category Archives: wisdom

243. Who Minds the Minders?

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Thor

We have laws and police to dis­cour­age bur­glars, extor­tion­ists and mur­der­ers. That’s the low level stuff. Remem­ber that old idiom that laws are for the com­mand of fools and the guid­ance of wise men? Who han­dles the clever scoundrels? In … Con­tinue read­ing →

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241. Sell It!

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Thor

Over two thou­sand years ago, there was a philoso­pher, Laozi, who was sure that peo­ple were nat­u­rally good (some­one called Jesus Christ had the same idea). About the same time another char­ac­ter, Shâng Yâng, reck­oned they were nat­u­rally bad and … Con­tinue read­ing →

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240. Women, Men and Religion

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Thor

Men find secu­rity in phys­i­cal dom­i­nance. With­out that dom­i­nance most men feel sex­u­ally cas­trated. Lack­ing phys­i­cal dom­i­nance (on the whole) women often seek secu­rity in deceit, or fail­ing that, in magic. Magic is broadly expressed as spir­i­tu­al­ity. Magic, sorted as … Con­tinue read­ing →

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239. The Competing Engines of Action: Greed and Benevolence

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Thor

The sales­man and the teacher share much in method and imme­di­ate pur­pose. Both wish to move other human beings to deci­sive action, and in that quest they engage the target’s moti­va­tion. Each how­ever is dri­ven by a dif­fer­ent per­sonal need, … Con­tinue read­ing →

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2. Doubt well

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Thor

Doubt well, do what you can, then let it be. Pres­i­dents, priests, wage slaves, hus­tlers, men and women, kids, we all live by the grace of those we love to despise…

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225. The Outside Track

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Thor

A slice of life: a city in cen­tral China where I knew almost no one. That was OK, I’m a free spirit. But then, you never know who will come knock­ing. So one Sat­ur­day morn­ing, here was a rather attrac­tive … Con­tinue read­ing →

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223. Innovation is not Problem Solving

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Thor

Inno­va­tion is the habit, or the knack, or find­ing new premises. It is prob­lem quest­ing rather than prob­lem solv­ing. Our best schools and uni­ver­si­ties hone prob­lem solvers of a cer­tain kind. Give the finest grad­u­ates of these places a prob­lem … Con­tinue read­ing →

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