General agreement about an assumption is no guarantee that it is correct. It is historical continuity that maintains most assumptions – not a repeated assessment of their validity. — Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Aside
I relinquish my plan. I act in the moment to offer what is needed . . .
Jim Fregosi, 1942-2014
I grew up in Orange County as an Angels fan. They were a team of losers at that time, but I went to a lot of games with my dad and had a good time watching them play. Jim Fregosi was my favorite player, usually the only good player on a typical Angels roster. RIP Jim Fregosi. Read more →
Periodic Reassessment
Periodic reassessment means looking again at things which are taken for granted, things which seem beyond doubt. Periodic reassessment means challenging all assumptions. It is not a matter of reassessing something because there is a need to reassess it; there may be no need at all. It is a matter of reassessing something simply because it is there and has not been assessed for a long time. It is a deliberate and quite unjustified attempt to look at things in a new way. — Edward de Bono, Lateral Thinking Read more →
Regulating Markets
The arguments for regulation of the market for goods and the regulation of the market for ideas are essentially the same, except that they’re perhaps stronger in the area of ideas if you assume consumer ignorance. It’s easier for people to discover that they have a bad can of peaches than it is for them to discover that they have a bad idea. — Ronald Coase Read more →
Happy Darwin Day!
“I’ve been walking three miles a day. I thought my cardio fitness was pretty good. Then today I tried swimming some laps and found out that my fitness level is not what I thought it was.” “Yes, well, it’s a good thing that complex life emerged from the seas so we can all spend more time walking and less time swimming. Happy Darwin Day!“ Read more →
Regrets, I’ve Had a Few
I had three boxes of Coke Zero at the self-checkout. After I took each one out, scanned it and put it back in the cart, I realized that I could have just taken one box out and scanned it three times. Woulda, coulda, shoulda . . . Read more →
Overheard at Souplantation
Customer to Mexican busboy: “Great soups today! I love the albo-dingus!” Read more →
Other People’s Kids
My wife is telling me that the parents of one of our son’s high school friends are moving back to their home country of Japan. She doesn’t understand how parents could move so far away from their children. Their two kids, both in their 20s, are staying here in California. “Well,” I say, “other people’s kids are often a little disappointing, in my opinion,” and she starts knocking on something that I’m pretty sure is not even made of wood. Read more →
More People I’m Sick Unto Death Of
The mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, said this the other day: “Some of the monies that will come from that will go to other parts of the city too that connect in with that . . .” OK, that’s out of context and it doesn’t make any sense, but — “monies”?! “Hi, I’m Eric Garcetti. I have a dollar bill so I have a money. If you give me another dollar, I’ll have some monies.” No. You can have a dollar or a billion dollars. One word covers all the possibilities and that word is “money.” “Monies” is a word used by politicians and academians and other posturing pricks who’d like you to think that they’re doing the Lord’s work and not soiling their hands with anything as grubby as “money.” Read more →
He Moves in Mysterious Ways
There’s a story on the TV news about a fire that burned down a local preschool, owned by the same family for 44 years. Fire investigators suspect arson. The owner is being interviewed. “The Lord will get us through,” she says. “I’m surprised the Lord let someone burn the place down to begin with,” I say to my wife. “You can’t look at it that way.” “I can’t?” “It’s just something that happened and the Lord will get them through it.” “I don’t see how the Lord can be given credit for anything that happens as long as it’s good, but when something bad happens, well, it’s just a random incident that he couldn’t do anything about. Where’s the accountability? Is the Lord making things happen in your life or isn’t he? Well, the preschool burned down, that was regrettable. The Lord must have looked away for a moment. But… Read more →
Some Links
Success takes luck: how to increase serendipity in your life The Top UX Trends of 2013 How to Stop Overthinking Everything: 9 Simple Habits 12 Tools for More Mindful Living Recruiting Advice No One Tells You Be Thankful for a “Do-Nothing” Boss Read more →
EppsNet at the Movies: Singin’ in the Rain
We saw Singin’ in the Rain on Netflix this weekend. Why this film is so beloved is a mystery to me. It feels thrown together, like someone took a bunch of unrelated songs and wrote a plot around them. Which in fact is what they did. And the songs aren’t that great either. In particular, “Singin’ in the Rain” is not a great song . . . the melody is boring and it’s not a great lyric. The Cyd Charisse sequence seems to have been dropped in from a different movie. The Music Man is better. Mary Poppins is better. The King and I is better. My Fair Lady is better. That’s just off the top of my head. The Wizard of Oz is better, but I’m not sure that counts as a musical. Great dance numbers though. Singin’ in the Rain Director: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly Cast: Gene Kelly… Read more →
The Cure for Missing Attachments
I wrote an email in Outlook 2013, concluded by saying “Details are in the attached doc,” then clicked Send without attaching the aforesaid document. I must not be the only person who does this, because when I clicked Send, this dialog box appeared: Obviously, Outlook is looking for words like “attached” or “attachment” in emails that don’t contain an actual attachment. It turns out that this behavior can be turned on or off in the Outlook Mail options: I have to admit that I don’t remember if “warn me” is the default option, or if I turned it on at some point in the past and forgot about it. Read more →
Aside
Carleton College: 10 Foundational Quantitative Reasoning Questions
Success is Not (All) About Money
But I think American liberals have also made the mistake of focusing too much on income and wealth as the measures of success. Every chart and graph we see about America’s increase in “inequality” is about either money, or the likelihood of getting money. Sure, disparities of wealth are distasteful. Sure, money is one thing that confers social status. But by focusing on it obsessively, I think liberals are helping to cement its paramount importance as the end-all and be-all of social outcomes. — Noah Smith Related links Redistribute wealth? No, redistribute respect. (noahpinionblog.blogspot.com) Read more →
It Would Be Important to Get There and There is Probably a Way
I often say, “Well, it’s just over on the other side of that canyon. So all we have to do is go.” It is always surprising to me that other people would expect me to tell them how we’re going to get there directly. That it is not enough to say, “Well, it would be important to get there and there is probably a way. Let’s go.” — Doug Engelbart Read more →
Act Naturally
Well I hope you come and see me in the movies Then I’ll know that you will plainly see The biggest fool that ever hit the big time And all I gotta do is act naturally — Buck Owens, “Act Naturally” Read more →
2013: The Year in Books
These are the books I read in 2013, roughly in the order listed. The ratings are mine. They don’t represent a consensus of opinion. Books of the Year: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen and All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren My Library at LibraryThing Read more →
Topics for 2014
In 2014, I hope some sage business illuminato will gather his wits and take a stab at defining the difference between “management” and “leadership.” Long overdue . . . Read more →