It is a common sight in Chinatown (both San Francisco and New York City) and it has always disturbed me. It is the sight of old, Chinese ladies hauling big bags of plastic bottles and …
Read the full story »Human insights and observations.
People and the way we do business.
Design, art, music, and all things man made.
Food, meal culture, and the social trade with every dish.
Business cultures are born, grow old, die, and are reborn into something new and usually unrecognizable. Kind have like people…if you believe in reincarnation. This process used to take much longer to occur, even centuries. …
Most people think modern societies are materialistic—we prize our possessions too much. But after working on a fun design-anthropology project on the co-evolution of medium and content, I realized we don’t appreciate our stuff …
Something significant occured in Berkeley, CA in 1966 that continues to affect students, thinkers, and visitors till this day. Was it the famous riots on Berkeley campus? The establisment of the People’s Park? Or, perhaps …
The dotcom guys got each other excited and created a bust. Banks verified moneymaking programs with other banks, but somehow, they went broke. These groups sought to solve problems and produce value, but the solutions …
It is so easy for people to take the way they see the world for granted.This fact is even more painfully obvious when the subject is sight and blindness.Human beings are so heavily sight-centric that …
“Why couldn’t she understand my agony?” was the puzzlement of the five-year-old Cynthia trying to explain that I had eaten my veggies and pascetti (translation: spaghetti), and was full from dinner. “But MAAaaaooom, my dessert …
Some cultures come with an expiration date. Sometimes intentional, more often not, these movements are never meant to last. One of the starkest examples is the formation and demise of cults. It usually starts
In my Great Grandmother’s house hung a peculiar photograph. It was Grandma J on a ship with a funny pirate and his fake parrot. This photograph made no sense on the surface. Great Grandma J …
Human beings have evolved to live by one truly unique social strategy: storytelling. All cultures have tales and we are wired to listen to, learn from, and retell these stories. Smart individuals and savvy companies thrive on …
Google is one of the few companies that are getting it right this holiday season. They are offering free WiFi to travelers who touch ground in 47 different airports. What is the emotional reaction to …
Malls have been a pretty sad place to be during the past year and a half with the economic downturn. Mall managers have tried vacancy signs, marketing store fronts for exhisting tenents, and some have …
This video of the half naked guy dancing about attracting a crowd of followers done with a voice over by Derek Sivers is one of the best videos on YouTube (in my humble opinion!). …
Malls have been a pretty sad place to be during the past year and a half with the economic downturn. Mall managers have tried vacancy signs, marketing store fronts for exhisting tenents, and some have …
Sanpete County, UT is inhabited by good old fashioned pioneer stock. There are turkey farmers, cowboys, shepherds, rodeo fans, sewing moms, and competition quilters. The towns in this county are full of normal American folk …
