If you are a badge-carrying member of the Grammar Police like me, then you likely spend a lot of time tsktsk-ing over the apparent dumbing down of English. While a misused comma or improperly chosen homophone can still cause my whole body to clench up, I’ve become more relaxed about language use over the past few years. This article by John H. Mcwhorter in the Wall Street Journal discusses language change and points out that it is an inevitable process. It’s a fascinating read and will help those of you who still argue over things like the use of the Oxford comma.
Author: Ranthropologist
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Daily Reads: Creative Routines
I had to share this fabulous chart from Podio.com that shows the daily routines of famous creative people. It’s great fun to hover over the chart and see little flags pop up detailing what these people were up to during different times of the day! I totally want to follow Darwin’s routine and have time set out for multiple daily walks, leisure reading, and “Lying in Bed, Solving Problems.” The chart was designed using information from the book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey. Save the chart and refer back to it when you feel the need to shake up your creativity/work routine!
The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People, Podio.com
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Daily Reads: Surprise Journal
Julia Galef of Slate writes about the power of surprise and its importance to discovery and learning in this great article. When things don’t go the way we expected them to – when we are surprised – those are the best opportunities for learning something and for confronting our own confirmation bias. I think this is an important tool for questioning our assumptions. I might do as the article suggests and start keeping my own surprise journal.
Surprise! The most important skill in science or self-improvement is noticing the unexpected
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Daily Reads: Exercise Vs. Diet
Did you make a New Year’s resolution to get healthier, eat better, exercise more, perhaps lose some weight? Read this article from Dick Talens at Lifehacker that looks at meta-analyses of research on whether it’s better to focus on calories or exercise when it comes to weight loss. Spoiler: diet is the key factor for weight loss, while exercise is the key factor for health.
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I’m Back and Rantier Than Ever!
After a hiatus of several months following the crash and complete loss of the blog, I’m back with a new format and lots of new ideas. I’m not completely done reloading all my old posts, but I’m getting there. Please explore the new setup and get ready for more regular posts. At the very least, I plan to start posting articles that I think are worth sharing to the blog instead of on my Facebook page. There will still be notifications on FB that I’ve posted, but the articles themselves will only be here on Ranthropologist. That way if people don’t want to see it or read it they don’t have to.
I’d love it if my readers (all two of them – Hi Ma and Hil!) would comment directly on my posts rather than on the link in Facebook. This is where I want to make things happen, so please read here, comment here, share me with your friends, and let me know what you think.
Happy 2015!
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Under Re-Construction
About a month ago, the blog experienced some sort of catastrophic failure and was completely wiped out. Sadly, I had to learn the hard way that just like any other work you do on a computer, a website should be backed up so you don’t lose all your content! Fortunately I was able to save most of my posts, but I’ll have to repost them all individually. Hence, the re-construction of the site! I’ll get back to regular posts soon, just as soon as school ends for the semester and I have more time for writing. Thanks for reading!