The basic ideas of Daniel Pink’s Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us have entered the intellectual mainstream, but they haven’t had much impact upon the world of work. This is a shame. Continue reading Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us →

Edward Thomas and Robert Frost

Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is probably America’s best-loved poem. It is a lyrical delight and I long ago committed it to memory. What is less well-known is the origin of the poem Continue reading The Road Not Taken Wasn’t Meant To Be Serious →

The prisoner’s dilemma as a briefcase exchange

(I think the PD sheds light on so much of human life. We continuously find ourselves in situations with its structure. Here is a brief explanation of the PD.) Continue reading The Prisoner’s Dilemma →

E. B. White (1899 – 1977) at age 77, writing in the boathouse of his home in Maine.

I learned most of what I know about writing from two books: William Strunk and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style, and William Zinsser’s On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Continue reading Good Writing →

Will Durant                                                            Bertrand Russell

Here are examples of great writing about the value of philosophy from two great prose stylists Will Durant and Bertrand Russell. Continue reading Great Prose →