You Can Sit With Us

In the 2004 cult classic Mean Girls, erstwhile queen bee Regina George is banished from the group’s lunch table after she violates their dress code: Gretchen: Regina, you’re wearing sweatpants. It’s Monday.Regina: So…?Karen: So that’s against the rules, and you can’t sit with us. Like most high schools, the fictional North Shore had numerous cliques. …

On How Couples Meet and Legal Salaries

In my review of Modern Romance, I shared a graph from the Economist that depicts how couples met from 1940 to 2010: A quick glance tells us that the online category ascended sharply throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s. Online seemingly stole market share from every other method of meeting potential romantic partners, except …

Make The First Move

In chess, white has a distinct advantage. Historically, white’s winning percentage has ranged from 52 to 56 percent. In 2017, two top chess engines – AlphaZero and Stockfish – played 100 games against each other. AlphaZero won 25 games as white, but only three as black. Why? Because white goes first. …

The Attribution of Ideas

You attribute an idea to the person that introduced it to you. For example, Derek Sivers introduced me to the value of surprise when writing. People read to learn and they only learn when they’re surprised. Thus, you should find something surprising in your writing. Once you’ve found it, cut everything else. I loved this …