G as in Good H as in Happy

The Opposite of a Poverty Mentality

April 4, 2008

Rod Dreher notes this story from the Dallas Advocate, and Sudan, and the Central Market parking lot.

For Priscilla and Joseph, the necessary money may as well have fallen from the sky.

the great secret

December 9, 2007

Yo!

Since The Anchoress' custodial image of the spiral chambered nautilus -- or, in some glorious galaxy far far away, of the yo-yo string -- doesn't click-to-enlarge:

Click to enlarge...

Tom Wolfe, Mental Marzipan with the Lights On

May 19, 2006

Irony so rich, you can taste it. It tastes like marzipan.

Mots as bon as any now being offered. Who knew there is a Jefferson Lecture?

[In the 1960's] communes inevitably turned religious thanks to the hallucinations...some head--short for acid head--would end up in the middle of Broadway, one of San Francisco's main drags, sitting cross-legged in the Lotus position, looking about, wide eyes glistening with beatification, shouting, "I'm in the pudding and I've met the manager! I'm in the pudding and I've met the manager!" Seldom had so many gone so far to feel aloof from the middle class.

But I was wrong....

Happiness is Not a Bad Word

In the aftermath of Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble announcing he will moderate comments to eliminate heavily negative influences,

Mauritius, Playground in Economics

March 16, 2006

An economics blog with general interest features from an island once known to most Americans only as a game-board question.

We'll be taking a look at Fazeer Sheik Rahim. It's not clear whether "Sheik" is religious, or a generic honorific for a teacher rather like "Sensei" in Japan. One world now, and a darn interesting one.

Prickly, Barefoot, Lounging in the Chez

March 14, 2006

Dilys too is prickly, on all kinds of occasions. But the haunting notes of the cosmic ditty, How Can You Talk to Them if They Won't Make Sense [ed.: Lost it in the comments, dintcha...?], segueing into How Can You Miss Them if They Won't Go Away, waft from several village bandstands today.

Brains washed daily courtesy of Instapundit, whose amusement at the foolishness of his fellow man springs ever green. An inspiration.

Piet Hein

So many intriguing people, some with particularly good sense.

THE ROAD TO WISDOM
The road to wisdom? - Well, it's plain
And simple to express...

--Piet Hein

Via commenter at Marginal Revolution
 

Hyper-selective Criteria

Centuries from now, scientists may point to this as the moment in time when the pickiness gene became dominant. In the end, it will come down to one really old, lonely guy and his list.

"She must have blue eyes. She should like animals, but not in a weird way. No thin lips. No lawyers," he'll be writing, just before he keels over and the human race comes to an end.

Sometimes a little thing stands for many bigger things.

Nonetheless, it's good, on this Valentine's Day, that my post-adolescent bias so many years ago against sweet sherry and corporate shoeshines didn't disqualify Sr. Dilys from the field. We'd have missed a lot more than fino and bare feet. Bare feet? We still indulge bare feet. Bloggers' privilege.

Update: geeks in love.

Manhattan Project against Happiness?

January 20, 2006

The extremely accomplished and respected psychology researcher Martin Seligman finally has had it with what he concludes is a NYTimes prejudice-to-conspiracy involving outright lies against admitting the benefits of happiness and virtue.

What do these books and stories have in common? They are good news. They suggest that virtue, well-being, nobility, happiness, and meaning are all within the realm of human possibility, and that life is not just unmitigated tragedy, violence, and meaninglessness. And they are based on solid, painstaking science ... But no review.

Sometimes, even an optimist has to call a spade a spade, and hypothesize about the holes it is digging.

If you wonder why our young people are in the midst of an epidemic of depression and meaninglessness in the presence of unprecedented wealth, education, and opportunity, you might start with what they read in the New York Times.

Via Dr. Sanity

Fun with Useful Acronyms

Will Wilkinson, for all our geeky behavioral-economics needs.