In the last two weeks I’ve been reading Friedrich Hayek’s, The Road to Serfdom. Hayek argues in this book that any form of collectivism (whether left or right) inevitably leads to a totalitarian state. My views are mostly libertarian, so I agree with almost all of the arguments Hayek presented. Reading through the book, however, […]
Why Good Deeds and Money Don’t Mix
Would you rather serve soup at a homeless shelter for free, or for $2 per hour? If you’re in a country with a high minimum wage like Canada, you would probably rather volunteer. For the same reasons, your mother-in-law would be offended if you offered to pay her $20 for making a family dinner. I […]
Don’t Forget Sunk Costs, Stupid!
People are normally fairly intelligent. Although there are many exceptions, people tend to make rational decisions. However, there are some decisions that most people get wrong (including me). There is a whole field of psychology devoted to these non-random acts of stupidity, known as cognitive biases. I’ve always found cognitive biases interesting, since understanding them […]
Energy Management Is More Important for Creative Work
There are two basic veins of thought when it comes to getting the most accomplished. The classic view is time management: keep lists, stay focused and organize your time effectively to get everything done. As a whole, time management works fairly well. However, it misses a couple key problems, such as:    Why do you […]