Children

Someone told me that Ancient Romans were a great civilization until they stopped planting trees for their children.

I try to focus on what I can do.
I try to make sure that I am continuously learning and teaching ... not only Math and Sciences, but everything. And yes. I've planted a few trees for my children and for other children too.

Fungus

Crime

This may come as a bit of a surprise, but crime is not the hallmark of our times.

There is some evidence that other eras and other economic structures have also been plagued with crime ... now, to the question: Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of detection?

Detection will find the criminal and sometimes will put him in jail to be corrected, but considering how much we get for one pound in modern correctional facilities, it does not seem as a good investment.

Prevention, if it works, will stop criminals before they commit a crime, but does it work?

Let's review two cases.
Case one is prevention by fear: Detection may be so effective, and punishment so harsh, that crooks outside perceive that crime does not pay, and stop. You still have a lot of people getting a free lunch in jail, and a lot of detectives in the payroll. It may work, but it costs more than an ounce.
Case two is prevention by education and values.

Well ... I believe it can be done, and I like to think I am involved in it, but then, I am a romantic, and a dreamer.

Fungus

Leadership

Leaders and other gifted individuals are confident. That means that they know what they can do. To develop confidence you build an accurate and complete mental model of the world around you. To be a leader, you need a few extras ... a clear and compelling vision is probably chief among them. Fungus

Intent

Whether I want it or not, I guess at the intention of a speaker behind his words, but I try to remember that those are my guesses, and not the speaker's intentions.

Those guesses become part of my mental model, and I use them to predict behaviour.
The first sketches are very rough ... for people I've interacted with only a few times, I use quick and standard labels, and I slowly improve my labels with detail (new data and guesses) about relevant things that --in my mental model-- make each individual different.

I try to remember that those labels don't describe or determine the individual.
They are not reality, but my view of reality.

I see it as some sort of scientific theory that explains the known facts, and is helpful to predict results, but may be proved wrong at any time by new data.

Fungus