Update on the millionaire post. It turns out that 1.7 of the 1.8 million new millionaires last year live in the US. That increase is actually more millionaires than the total number of millionaires most countries have.
There are some charts in this article which give country numbers: LINK
These designs (at least the first two) use a technique called gestalt, in which the brain tends to perceive visual elements as wholes before the individual parts.
Hmm, so would that suggest that being a "big picture thinker" is actually simpler than being detail oriented? As one who has to worry about proofreading constantly, and knowing how easy it is to overlook even prominent mistakes, I would tend to agree. When you think about it, the big picture can only come about if all the little parts are attended to. And yet people are so easily impressed by the "big picture thinker." I would offer that the true visionary is one who can break the big picture down into small pictures and then either address them one-by-one or assign them to competent individuals.
For those that enjoy historical writing at it's very best, I am reading a book titled "The Last Gunfight" by Jeff Guinn. This is a de-mythologization of Wyatt Earp and the so called gunfight at the O.K. corral. The writing is superb and easily holds your attention. i came to learn about Mr. Guinn after reading a review of his latest effort Manson: the Life and Times of Charles Manson" in the September 16 issue of National Review. His third book is "Going Down Together: the Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde." Based on the book I'm reading, and the lofty review of Manson, I suspect readers will not be disappointed with any of the the three books.
Nate Silver has stated the media is wildly overplaying/overestimating the political impact of the shutdown at this point in time. The article is at grantland.com and its good (and very encouraging) reading,
tryanmax, In my experience, people who claim to be "big picture thinkers" are generally intellectually lazy. Basically, it is very easy to come up with an idea if you aren't actually claiming responsibility for making it workable.
... I imagine flying cars!
Woo, brilliant, visionary, genius!! No. Not brilliant. It's incredibly easy to imagine something that is simply different than it is today. It's very hard to imagine something different than it is today that can actually be brought into being. That's where detail people work.
To me, the key is that the truly "visionary" people tend to be whole picture thinkers. They have an idea others don't. They grasp how the idea can be implemented and they lay that out so that they or others can make it happen. And they can be in any field, from science to art. It's the same thought process -- seeing something original and explaining how to make it work..
And in my experience, those people never call themselves "big picture thinkers." That a title I only ever hear from people who just want to pass of their half-cocked ideas.
Jed, Thanks. I may actually check that out. I'm curious about Earp because there seem to be so many different versions of his life and they typically conflict.
Anthony, I agree with that. I see ZERO evidence that the public at large (not to be confused with wonks and talk radio) care at all. That's the real problem for the Democrats. As I've said before, if the public gets used to the idea that they can live their lives with the government "shutdown," then they are less likely to believe in the power of government to help things.
tryanmax, Now I'm sad. I read the comments and most are pretty funny. Then I ran into this by "Heather"...
Sure, people can still stroll without government, but with few or no rangers on staff to deal with emergencies/violence/law-breaking/etc., it's a huge liability for these people to just wander around like they own the damn place.
Someone should buy Heather a big plastic bubble so she can live the rest of her pathetic existence protected from life.
Andrew, I'm sorry you had to see that. I actually didn't check the comments. Also, I avoided linking to another, similar post that tried to do the opposite of the one I linked. Bottom line: it didn't work and it wasn't funny.
My favorites were the tree and the guy who "hates Abraham Lincoln" LOL!
Kit, I read about this some time ago and if memory serves, there's actually a good reason why they are split beyond simply disagreeing. If I remember correctly, the country really functions as two countries. And by keeping the main government shutdown, the two side can effectively run their own countries. So there is no incentive for either side to try to restart the government. Hence, they chug along.
Speaking of irrelevant Europeans, Kenya is thinking about leaving the International Criminal Court because they are going to try its current (democratically elected) president Uhuru Kenyatta for "Crimes Against Humanity" for possible involvement in the post-election violence in 2007-2008. Kenyatta was elected President earlier this year in a free and fair election.
Kit, All these soft Euro-organization make their name by attacking people who voluntarily surrender. Getting dictators or people who resist would be asking too much.
Kit, The international left is having a hard time right now because all the third world countries have reached a phase where they are no longer willing to do as they are told. So they are attacking feminism, environmentalism, and Marxism as neo-imperialist.
De Tocqueville said "The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform" and Kenya is currently in that transition. I'm not saying Mr. Kenyatta is a great, or even a good, person (for all I know he's probably a corrupt bastard). But the country seems to be getting its act together and this trial could throw a wrench in it.
But, then again, what do those little black Africans know about running a country? They need European whites who are not impacted in any way by what goes on in Africa constantly meddling in their affairs.
Of course, the old colonialists, while they may not have been the nicest guys around, they at least had a direct stake in Africa and making sure it remained stable enough to make money of off it. The Hague has no such stake. They can do anything they want with Africa and it will have no impact on them whatsoever.
I should state something. The election was "free and fair" by African standards. But the losing (incumbent) party appealed it to the Supreme Court, as prescribed by their constitution, and the election results were upheld unanimously.
Of course, in African and Middle Eastern countries whenever there is an election the losing party will always scream fraud.
Uh, I hate to be the detail jerk here, but the article made a pretty big mistake. The memorial with the lone gate is NOT the WWI Memorial. It's actually the Second Division Memorial, honoring all vets from the Army's Second Division. (The confusion may be that it was dedicated after the Great War, in 1936, but was re-dedicated in 1962 in order to add new wings honoring veterans from WWII and Korea.) Sadly, there is no national WWI Memorial in DC. The closest is a gazebo-shaped memorial off to the side of the Mall- hidden in the trees- dedicated to the Great War vets of the District of Columbia. There is, however, another memorial in DC. I've only seen it while riding on a bus as a part of a high school trip and can't exactly remember where it is. It's a massive marble slab with a statue of doughboy in front of it, given to the U.S. by Belgium for freeing the country from the Central Powers. (The actual U.S. National WWI Memorial is in Kansas City.) You know, this is just part of a sad theory of mine that the U.S. has been on a warpath to forget it took part in the WWI. Think about it. The D.C. Vets Memorial was neglected for years- dirty, cracked, and covered in ivy until some people walking away from the newly-opened WWII Memorial saw it and were appalled. The vets didn't get to keep their conflict's name ("World War I" instead of the "Great War," implying their sacrifice was inferior in comparison to WWII), the name of their day of victory ("Veteran's Day" instead of "Armistice Day") and were forced to share, and their memorial- built in the 1920's and actually called the 'Liberty Memorial'- was, at the time, all the way on the frontier and as far from the capital as possible. And, despite numerous requests from congressmen and regular citizens in 2011, Frank Buckles- America's last surviving WWI vet- was denied a state funeral in honor of his generation's sacrifices (like the final WWI vets for both Britain and France got). Look, I know this a largely forgotten war in the U.S. and that it was a war "feared before it started, loved while it lasted, and hated after it was over," but the vets deserve better recognition for putting their lives on the line in the most hellish conflict ever known.
37 comments:
Update on the millionaire post. It turns out that 1.7 of the 1.8 million new millionaires last year live in the US. That increase is actually more millionaires than the total number of millionaires most countries have.
There are some charts in this article which give country numbers: LINK
These designs (at least the first two) use a technique called gestalt, in which the brain tends to perceive visual elements as wholes before the individual parts.
More info here.
Hmm, so would that suggest that being a "big picture thinker" is actually simpler than being detail oriented? As one who has to worry about proofreading constantly, and knowing how easy it is to overlook even prominent mistakes, I would tend to agree. When you think about it, the big picture can only come about if all the little parts are attended to. And yet people are so easily impressed by the "big picture thinker." I would offer that the true visionary is one who can break the big picture down into small pictures and then either address them one-by-one or assign them to competent individuals.
For those that enjoy historical writing at it's very best, I am reading a book titled "The Last Gunfight" by Jeff Guinn. This is a de-mythologization of Wyatt Earp and the so called gunfight at the O.K. corral. The writing is superb and easily holds your attention. i came to learn about Mr. Guinn after reading a review of his latest effort Manson: the Life and Times of Charles Manson" in the September 16 issue of National Review. His third book is "Going Down Together: the Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde." Based on the book I'm reading, and the lofty review of Manson, I suspect readers will not be disappointed with any of the the three books.
Nate Silver has stated the media is wildly overplaying/overestimating the political impact of the shutdown at this point in time. The article is at grantland.com and its good (and very encouraging) reading,
Government Shutdown Hilarity
Scott lies. These images are magic. Do not believe Scott. ;-P
tryanmax, In my experience, people who claim to be "big picture thinkers" are generally intellectually lazy. Basically, it is very easy to come up with an idea if you aren't actually claiming responsibility for making it workable.
... I imagine flying cars!
Woo, brilliant, visionary, genius!! No. Not brilliant. It's incredibly easy to imagine something that is simply different than it is today. It's very hard to imagine something different than it is today that can actually be brought into being. That's where detail people work.
To me, the key is that the truly "visionary" people tend to be whole picture thinkers. They have an idea others don't. They grasp how the idea can be implemented and they lay that out so that they or others can make it happen. And they can be in any field, from science to art. It's the same thought process -- seeing something original and explaining how to make it work..
And in my experience, those people never call themselves "big picture thinkers." That a title I only ever hear from people who just want to pass of their half-cocked ideas.
Jed, Thanks. I may actually check that out. I'm curious about Earp because there seem to be so many different versions of his life and they typically conflict.
Anthony, I agree with that. I see ZERO evidence that the public at large (not to be confused with wonks and talk radio) care at all. That's the real problem for the Democrats. As I've said before, if the public gets used to the idea that they can live their lives with the government "shutdown," then they are less likely to believe in the power of government to help things.
LOL! I love the WWI one at the end... and the tree that fell.
tryanmax, Now I'm sad. I read the comments and most are pretty funny. Then I ran into this by "Heather"...
Sure, people can still stroll without government, but with few or no rangers on staff to deal with emergencies/violence/law-breaking/etc., it's a huge liability for these people to just wander around like they own the damn place.
Someone should buy Heather a big plastic bubble so she can live the rest of her pathetic existence protected from life.
Andrew, I'm sorry you had to see that. I actually didn't check the comments. Also, I avoided linking to another, similar post that tried to do the opposite of the one I linked. Bottom line: it didn't work and it wasn't funny.
My favorites were the tree and the guy who "hates Abraham Lincoln" LOL!
tryanmax, The Lincoln thing was funny too. The whole thing was really funny actually.
As for "Heather," some people are just sad, aren't they?
Tourists of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your yellow tape!
Just read the article.
I had no idea Belgium had to go 589 days without a government.
Kit, Belgium is less a country these days than they are two warring camps.
As for tourists disobeying local laws, that's how WWII started.
Andrew, I knew that Belgium is divided between the Flemish and the Walloons. I just had no idea it had gotten that crazy.
Kit, I read about this some time ago and if memory serves, there's actually a good reason why they are split beyond simply disagreeing. If I remember correctly, the country really functions as two countries. And by keeping the main government shutdown, the two side can effectively run their own countries. So there is no incentive for either side to try to restart the government. Hence, they chug along.
In other words, it's not as crazy as it sounds.
Speaking of irrelevant Europeans, Kenya is thinking about leaving the International Criminal Court because they are going to try its current (democratically elected) president Uhuru Kenyatta for "Crimes Against Humanity" for possible involvement in the post-election violence in 2007-2008.
Kenyatta was elected President earlier this year in a free and fair election.
LINK
Kit, All these soft Euro-organization make their name by attacking people who voluntarily surrender. Getting dictators or people who resist would be asking too much.
And several countries in the African Union appear to be supporting them calling the Hague "neo-colonialist".
LINK
Sad thing is, this could really hurt Kenya, a country that is finally getting its act together.
Kit, The international left is having a hard time right now because all the third world countries have reached a phase where they are no longer willing to do as they are told. So they are attacking feminism, environmentalism, and Marxism as neo-imperialist.
De Tocqueville said "The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform" and Kenya is currently in that transition. I'm not saying Mr. Kenyatta is a great, or even a good, person (for all I know he's probably a corrupt bastard). But the country seems to be getting its act together and this trial could throw a wrench in it.
But, then again, what do those little black Africans know about running a country? They need European whites who are not impacted in any way by what goes on in Africa constantly meddling in their affairs.
Of course, the old colonialists, while they may not have been the nicest guys around, they at least had a direct stake in Africa and making sure it remained stable enough to make money of off it. The Hague has no such stake. They can do anything they want with Africa and it will have no impact on them whatsoever.
I should state something. The election was "free and fair" by African standards. But the losing (incumbent) party appealed it to the Supreme Court, as prescribed by their constitution, and the election results were upheld unanimously.
Of course, in African and Middle Eastern countries whenever there is an election the losing party will always scream fraud.
Uh, I hate to be the detail jerk here, but the article made a pretty big mistake. The memorial with the lone gate is NOT the WWI Memorial. It's actually the Second Division Memorial, honoring all vets from the Army's Second Division. (The confusion may be that it was dedicated after the Great War, in 1936, but was re-dedicated in 1962 in order to add new wings honoring veterans from WWII and Korea.)
Sadly, there is no national WWI Memorial in DC. The closest is a gazebo-shaped memorial off to the side of the Mall- hidden in the trees- dedicated to the Great War vets of the District of Columbia. There is, however, another memorial in DC. I've only seen it while riding on a bus as a part of a high school trip and can't exactly remember where it is. It's a massive marble slab with a statue of doughboy in front of it, given to the U.S. by Belgium for freeing the country from the Central Powers. (The actual U.S. National WWI Memorial is in Kansas City.)
You know, this is just part of a sad theory of mine that the U.S. has been on a warpath to forget it took part in the WWI. Think about it. The D.C. Vets Memorial was neglected for years- dirty, cracked, and covered in ivy until some people walking away from the newly-opened WWII Memorial saw it and were appalled. The vets didn't get to keep their conflict's name ("World War I" instead of the "Great War," implying their sacrifice was inferior in comparison to WWII), the name of their day of victory ("Veteran's Day" instead of "Armistice Day") and were forced to share, and their memorial- built in the 1920's and actually called the 'Liberty Memorial'- was, at the time, all the way on the frontier and as far from the capital as possible.
And, despite numerous requests from congressmen and regular citizens in 2011, Frank Buckles- America's last surviving WWI vet- was denied a state funeral in honor of his generation's sacrifices (like the final WWI vets for both Britain and France got).
Look, I know this a largely forgotten war in the U.S. and that it was a war "feared before it started, loved while it lasted, and hated after it was over," but the vets deserve better recognition for putting their lives on the line in the most hellish conflict ever known.
Rustbelt,
I agree.
Rustbelt, WWI suffers from the fact that after halftime, it picked right up with WWII in the third quarter.
Kit, spot on.
Andrew, that's taking sports/war metaphors to a new level. I like it.
Just wanted to wish Happy Thanksgiving to any fellow Canucks! Have a great one and be very thankful :)
darski......Merci beaucoup mon ami!! Just spent last night with extended family celebrating our annual get together.
And everyone else...No..we didn't spend it drinking "caribou" or eating pike! (Both traditional Quebecois activities we used to partake in "Up North."
darski,
You are a Canadian?
@ Kit... Huyep :D
Happy Thanksgiving, darski! I had no idea Canada also had a Thanksgiving! Cool.
Darski,
Then say hi to Ted Cruz for me.
@ Kit... I'll add it to my list :D
IMF chief warns that failing to raise the debt ceiling could potentially trigger another recession.
LINK
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