TGIF – Maybe Some People Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Vote

As the week winds down, we wind down with some tidbits for your information, education, health, and enjoyment.

Quote of the Week:  The less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.  Clint Eastwood (movie actor, director and philosopher)

Humor Break: 

Bev: Al, what do you think of politicians?

Al: It seems to me that politicians are people who would have us believe that our government isn’t working, and then they get elected and prove it.

Stat of the Week: 3 experiments. Today’s “stat” is a bit out of the ordinary on a topic usually avoided like the proverbial plague on this website.  And you can just bet that some extremist from the left, right or other world will probably accuse me (or this site) of bias in favor of (pick one).  But there are some good general psychological principles involved in how people behave in general (at this moment I am thinking of the office know-it-all and the guy who has filed for bankruptcy twice but is always ready with financial advice).  Before I give you the source, let me give you two great quotes from the article that can also serve as a summary:

“The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists.”  Bertrand Russell 

“Extremism is so easy. You’ve got your position and that’s it. It doesn’t take much thought.”  Clint Eastwood 

These quote come from an academic article entitled Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding and authors present the results of 3 experiments to back up their findings and conclusions.

Action Tip: It is good to keep in mind in any situation that facts presented with confidence and passion do not equal knowledge.  Beliefs do not equal knowledge.  Take that all you blow-hards!

Self-Development Corner: If you are interested in summer school here are two free on-line courses from Coursera beginning next week: Growing Old Around the Globe (June 10, 6 weeks, University of Pennsylvania) and Creative Programming for Digital Media & Mobile Apps (June 10, 6 weeks, University of London).

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.