Research by Matt Killingsworth of Harvard University suggests that we are happiest when we are not actively seeking happiness, but are wrapt in the moment. Happiness is a mode of being, not a mode of seeking. A bit like Schrodinger’s cat (the act of observing changes the situation): the moment we say we are happy …
British television has been enjoying its “finest hour” in the US. Shows such as Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife, Sherlock and Dr Who have attracted huge ratings and critical esteem. Indeed, Downton, while winning few awards at home, has become the most decorated foreign TV show in US history – a fact that “speaks to pathologies in both nations: in Britain, nothing …
President Xi Jinping has tried to play down the escalating tension between China and the US, insisting in a recent speech that “there is no such thing as the Thucydides Trap”. He was citing the ancient Greek historian, who argued that whenever a new power emerges to vie for supremacy with an established one (as …
In an article entitled “The problem with profits” The Economist of March 23rd effectively agrees with those who say that the American political and economic system, once so vibrant and competitive, is broken (amazing, but refreshing, coming from the rather conventional Economist). The Economist article says that in former times a profitable company would eventually …
50% of 13 to 19-year-olds have never written a thank-you letter; 26% have never written a birthday or Christmas card. 58% think writing by hand is too slow to bother with. 9% say they don’t own a pen; by contrast, 74% have a tablet and 89% a smartphone. (Bic/Daily Mail) It’s not thanking people for gifts that is shocking. This is the fault, not of the teenagers, …
Continue reading ‘I haven’t quite finished with teenagers!’ »
