Wisdom – Page 17 – Jeremiah Stanghini

Blogging at Genuine Thriving: Moving in a New Direction

When I first started this blog over a year and a half ago, my intention was to write ‘articles’ that could — theoretically — appear in magazines or newspapers. Of course, the quality of the writing and some of the series I’ve written (Who I’m Following on Twitter, among others) might render the articles unacceptable for print. As time passes and the amount of demands on my time grows, I’ve found it harder and harder to sit down and write a well thought out article. That’s not for lack of ideas, but more for lack of time.

This past week, I came across a couple of articles/posts on the internet (here and here) that made me rethink my ‘strategy’ for writing here at Genuine Thriving. Both of these posts were motivated by the recent “self-plagiarizing” by Jonah Lehrer. There seems to be opinions from both sides (he did vs. he didn’t) and others who think that the argument should be framed completely different.

As a result of some of these revelations, I thought I might change the way I write here at Genuine Thriving. Instead of waiting until I am able to dedicate enough time to write a well-thought out article, I might just write more posts similar to the one of my more recent posts with a mishmash of ideas. More accurately, I think I’ll begin doing a post whenever I get an idea.

Instead of waiting to fully cogitate on the idea, I’ll simply post the idea and my initial thoughts about the idea. In this way, the blog will serve more as a storehouse of ideas rather than a collection of seemingly well-thought out articles. I think by doing this, there will be a lot more posts in the coming future. I’m looking forward to this new switch and I hope you will, too.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 8

It’s been quite awhile since I last did a post in my series of ”Who I’m Following” on Twitter. In fact, it’s been 6 months! That’s almost half as long as I’ve been participating on Twitter. In looking at the some of these old posts (see below) of who I’m following, I seemed to have unfollowed a number of folks. I wish I had kept a list of the people I’ve unfollowed, so I could offer reasons as to why I decided to unfollow some folks. Briefly, I can say that sometimes the reason is because the person isn’t very active on Twitter. Other times, it’s because I became frustrated with the amount of negativity (sometimes in the form of the person retweeting “trolls” or people being unnecessarily negative in the form of ad hominem attacks). I most certainly won’t be able to get to all the new people I’m following on Twitter (it’s approximately doubled!), so look for a few of these posts in the coming weeks (or months).

If you missed any of the earlier posts in this series, here they are:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

Here we go!

@bigthink: Big Think aims to, “help you move above and beyond random information, toward real knowledge, offering big ideas from fields outside your own that you can apply toward the questions and challenges in your own life.”

@wired: Wired is the digital home of Wired Magazine and it acts as a daily technology site.

@Austan_Goolsbee: Goolsbee is a Professor of economics and Economics at the Booth School of Business (University of Chicago). He is also the former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

@R_Thaler: Thaler is a Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the Booth School of Business (University of Chicago) and the co-author of Nudge.

@brainpicker: “Brain Pickings is a human-powered discovery engine for interestingness, culling and curating cross-disciplinary curiosity-quenchers, and separating the signal from the noise to bring you things you didnt know you were interested in until you are.”

@changemakers: “The latest in innovation, social entrepreneurship, and how you can make a difference. Why? Everyone Can Be a Changemaker.”

@Ashoka: “Ashoka is an international citizen-sector organization that is leading the way to an Everyone a Changemaker World.”

@rickmercer: Mercer is a Canadian comedian and political satirist. He’s an alumnus of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and is currently the host of the Rick Mercer Report.

@jbarro: “I write on fiscal and economic policy issues at all levels of government. Areas of particular interest for me include tax policy, entitlements and public employee compensation.”

@mattyglesias: “Matthew Yglesias is Slate‘s business and economics correspondent. Before joining the magazine he worked for ThinkProgress, the Atlantic, TPM Media, and the American Prospect.”

@lifehacker: “Lifehacker curates tips, tricks, and technology for living better in the digital age.”

@TPCarney: “Timothy P. Carney is the Washington Examiner‘s senior political columnist.” Carney is also a prominent conservative voice.

@TheStalwart: Joe Weisenthal is the Deputy Editor Of Business Insider. “He previously was a writer and analyst for Techdirt.com, and before that worked as an analyst for money management firm Prentiss Smith & Co.”

@bobraeMP: Bob Rae is the current (interim) Leader of the Liberal Party (of Canada). He was previously the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party.

@mediaite: “The site for news, info and smart opinions about print, online and broadcast media.”

@AmbassadorRice: Susan Rice is the US Ambassador to the United Nations. According to Wikipedia, she is not related to Condoleezza Rice.

@joshrogin: “Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.”

@abumuqawama: “Andrew Exum is a Senior Fellow with the Center for a New American Security,” and “Abu Muqawama is a blog that focuses on small wars and insurgencies in addition to regional issues in the Middle East.”

@SlaughterAM: “Princeton Professor. Director of Policy Planning, U.S. State Dept 2009-2011. Foreign policy curator.”

@librarycongress: “We are the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in our collections.”

@TheScienceGuy: “‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist.”

@BillCosby: “Bill Cosby is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist.”

@levyj413: “Jeffrey Levy is the EPA Director of Web Communications, Co-Chair of the Federal Web Managers Council, and Gov’t 2.0er.”

@Ed_Husain: “Ed Husain is a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of ‘The Islamist.'”

@dandrezner: “Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.”

@realjohngreen: I just wrote a post about John Green’s Crash Course in World History. Check it out!

@AmazingPics: This Twitter feed regularly posts some of the best photographs. You’ll want to see these.

@kellyoxford: Kelly Oxford’s current Twitter Bio: “Writer. Designed to make you feel like everything is going well. I am your Perestroika.”

@Randazzoj: “Joe Randazzo is currently the editor of the satirical newspaper, The Onion.” As you might think, his tweets are often sarcastic (and funny).

@KenJennings: Of Jeopardy! fame. He’s written a bunch of books, including Maphead. His tweets are often intended to be funny.

@sethmeyers21: “Seth Meyers currently serves as the head writer for Saturday Night Live and hosts its news parody program segment Weekend Update.”

@anjeanette: I found Anjeanette’s twitter feed as a result of this article. “The aspiring actress isnt afraid to let the sarcasm fly and sometimes thats just the sort of thing you need to pop up on your screen.”

@acarvin: “Senior strategist at NPR. Online community organizer since 1994. Former director of the Digital Divide Network. Writer. Photographer. Dad.”

@AJELive: “Breaking news alerts and updates from Al Jazeera English, a 24-hour news and current affairs channel.” By now, you should all know that I’m a big fan of different perspectives (here or here).

@brianstetler: A really good person to follow if you enjoy things in “meta.” Stetler reports on TV & Media for the New York Times.

@johmaeda: “President, Rhode Island School of Design, RISD, College, Museum, USA, 1877, Laws of Simplicity, MIT, Design, Art, Business, Technology, Life.”

@OMGFacts: As you might expect, this Twitter feed specializes in tweets that are facts that might “knock your socks off.”

@BuzzFeed: “BuzzFeed is a website that combines a technology platform for detecting viral content with an editorial selection process to provide a snapshot of “the viral web in realtime.”

@timoreilly: “Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media. Watching the alpha geeks, sharing their stories, helping the future unfold.”

@jayrosen_nyu: “I teach journalism at NYU, direct the Studio 20 program there, critique the press and study new media. I don’t do lifecasting but mindcasting on Twitter.”

@daveweigel: Dave Weigel is a political reporter for Slate. While his main focus is politics, his tweets are often laced with humor.

@markknoller: Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House Correspondent. Similar to Stetler, he sometimes comments on what other networks are reporting.

I’m well past my self-imposed 1000 word limit, but I wanted to begin to squeeze a bunch more feeds into one post (because I have a lot to make up in this series). As always, I welcome your suggestions in the comments or tweet me!

Harvard University’s Justice with Professor Michael Sandel

This past semester I had the good fortune of taking a class in ethics. I rather enjoyed the class and it sparked my interest in deepening the learning on the subject. As a result, I did some digging and came across a course that has been put online (Aside: I am a big fan of iTunes U!). The course is called “Justice” and it is offered by Harvard University. The professor: Michael Sandel.

I find the subject of ethics fascinating. I think it is a subject that everyone should have at least a basic understanding of. That is, I think people should have read some of the basic texts or at least know some of the basic arguments from the different theorists or theories (eg. Utilitarianism, Aristotle, Locke, Rights Theory, etc.).

Back to this course: it’s fantastic! There are 12 ‘episodes’ that are really a total of 24 classes. There’s a different subject each week and the professor really engages the students. There’s a great deal of discussion between the students and the professor on a range of moral issues.Here’s a quote from the professor during what could have potentially become a rather contentious point in the last episode: “We’ve done pretty well over a whole semester and we’re doing pretty well now dealing with questions that most people think that can’t even be discussed in a university setting.”

After watching all 12 episodes, I think that his quote is spot on. The students (and the professor) spoke about a number of contentious and possibly controversial subjects without descending into ad hominem attacks. In fact, the way that the students engaged in civil discourse is what I’d like to think that our politicians and pundits could do to set an example for the citizens of the world.

Here’s a short video preview of the course, in case you’re interested:

On another note, I’m really looking forward to reading Michael Sandel’s new book called: What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets.

If You Can’t Explain It Simply, You Don’t Understand It Well Enough

The title of this post comes from one of my favorite historical figures: Albert Einstein. Although, there is some discrepancy as to whether or not he actually said it. In today’s fast-paced internet climate, it’s important to be mindful of attribution. Remember the one that made the rounds during MLK day this past year? I’m sure you’ve seen Williamson’s famous quote attributed to Mandela. And one of the lesser known misquotes, H. Whitman when it should be H. Thurman. I’ve read a lot of Einstein’s work (more than the average person, that is), and I would say that it sounds like something he would say.

I’ve had quite a bit of post-secondary education and as a result, have been exposed to quite a bit of jargon. The psychological literature has a fair bit of jargon. Part of that is necessary because researchers of psychology are — at times — creating new ways of understanding human behavior. Through this new understanding, new language is sometimes necessary.

In the business degree I’m currently working on (nearly halfway done!), I’ve been exposed to quite a few disciplines: economics, finance, marketing, operations, etc. All with their own unique set of jargon. Sometimes, it can be difficult to keep the jargon straight as some words used in one discipline are the same words used in another discipline — but in a different context or with a different meaning.

Jargon can be quite useful when communicating with people who understand the jargon. The “in-group,” as it were. However, jargon has a tendency to severely exclude the “out-group.” Sometimes this is intentional, but I’d rather talk about the unintentional exclusionary nature of jargon. And that’s why I chose the Einstein quote as the title of this post.

“If you can’t explain something simply, then you don’t understand it well enough.” As I said, jargon can be useful — at times — but at other times, it can be really painful. That is, it can be quite demeaning to be in a group of people who are speaking in what may seem like a foreign language, while you sit there trying to make sense of it. Part of the problem is that, sometimes, people using the jargon really don’t understand the material well enough to explain it to you in analogous terms. There’s also just the habit of using certain words when talking about certain concepts and as a result, it can take a concerted effort to not use jargon.

Don’t get me wrong, I like jargon. I enjoy expanding my understanding of language and the different words we have to describe things. (Today, I just learned what eleemosynary means: charitable or philanthropic.) Although, I think it is important to take note of one’s company. If you’re working on a project and not everyone is of the same understanding of the topic, it is of paramount importance that the language used be accessible to all (or most) parties involved.

For anyone that has been on the receiving end of jargon-filled discussion, there is likely greater compassion when noticing that someone else is experiencing a sense of culture shock, with regard to jargon. Maybe this all stems from a person’s conscientiousness. This is one of the personality traits from the “Big Five.”

It’s ironic that in a post about jargon, I find myself slipping into the habit of using some jargon to explain things. That’s how easy it can be to not notice that you’re doing it. The next time you’re in a conversation with someone or in a group-setting, take notice of the reactions of those people around you, particularly, when you hear a piece of jargon spoken. I bet you could use it as an opportunity to quietly explain the concept in more accessible terms and you just might make someone’s day.

Tying up Loose Ends: Or, a Mishmash of Ideas in one Post

It’s been awhile since I wrote a post (March 14th) and even longer since I wrote consecutive posts (January 16th and January 17th). Obviously, I’d like to have written more, but that’s just not how things have worked out. Regardless, I thought it might be a good idea to write a “post of posts” of sorts. That is, I’ve had a list of “ideas to write about” for over a year. Some of the things on the list are recent (thought of in the last few months) and some have been there for at least 9 months. As a way to inject some fresh energy into that list, I thought I’d write a post where I spent some time talking about a number of things on the list — rather than writing a post about just one of those ideas. Hope you enjoy!

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (IMDb) – I saw this movie awhile back and thought it was rather good. The premise is that a teenager checks himself into an adult psychiatric ward. Some very serious issues are addressed and I think they were done so in an appropriate manner.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (IMDb) – This whole list won’t be of movies, but I thought I’d group the two. I saw the “Justin Bieber Movie” sometime this past summer. I didn’t really know too much about Justin Bieber, just that he was pretty famous with the younger age groups. While this movie wasn’t necessarily an unbiased biography, it definitely did showcase how much hard work Justin invested in himself. Hard work (by itself) will not get you where you want to go all the time (for example: Bieber was discovered on YouTube), but it will go a long way to getting you where you want to be.

What if the car (automobile) were invented today? – I wonder if the car were invented today, would we accept it as is? Meaning, given everything that goes into making the car and everything that is affected because of the car (read: environment), I wonder if consumers would accept it as a product.

Nordic spas – This past summer, just before moving to DC, I spent some time at Le Spa Nordik in Quebec. It was the first time that I’d seen the idea of (hot, cold, hot) in an establishment. Growing up in Canada, it was a common thing — in the winter — to sit in the hot tub for awhile, jump in the pool for a minute (or the snow!) and then get back into the hot tub. I remember trying to find some scientific evidence to back this up as a (positive) thing for the human body, but I couldn’t find anything. That’s not to say that there isn’t any out there.

Blowing in a dog’s face – I find it interesting that dog’s don’t like it when someone blows in their face — but — they can’t wait to stick their head out the window when you’re driving down the road. I wonder if this has something to do with carbon dioxide (on the exhale of someone blowing in their face) vs. oxygen (from the car ride).

Jaywalking – Intuitively, I would think that laws against jaywalking would have been written with a focus on keeping pedestrians safe. Believe it or not — this was not the case. I forgot where I heard it (maybe NPR?), but did you know that jaywalking was — in a way — instituted because of the automobile associations lobbying legislators? In doing some research for this (part) of this post, I found this article from three days ago talking about this very thing.

Visioning for a job? – Have you ever noticed how couples plan for a baby? Even before they’ve conceived, (sometimes) they’ve bought the crib, painted the room, and are in a sense, planning for this new part of their lives. I wonder why this is normalized, but doing the same thing for a job is viewed with some disdain. Why shouldn’t someone wake up and get dressed as if they’re going to work (even though they may not be)? They could even go to the “office” (library?) and prepare themselves for work.

Secret to happiness – Short and sweet. The secret to happiness is not wishing things were different from they currently are.

Evolution of the electric car – I wonder if there’s a History Channel special (or one in the works?) on the evolution of the electric car. I remember reading that the electric car was first invented in the 19th century, but fell out of favor when the internal combustion engine was invented (see: Wikipedia).

People’s relationships to their body – It’s interesting to see how people relate to their body (in general) in comparison to how they relate to their body at a place where the body can sometimes be more prominent (at the gym or the beach).

That’s narrowed down my list to four! Three of those are “recurring posts” (quotes, TEDTalks, and personality tests). There is one post that I do want to dedicate some time to, so I didn’t want to shorten it here. Look for it in the next little while.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Wisdom for Today from the Past

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I wrote about MLK day last year and suggest taking a look at that post, too.

There isn’t a lot I want to say today, but I do want to point to a speech by Dr. King. I couldn’t find this speech on YouTube, but there is some audio of the speech (but it’s only the final paragraph). Nonetheless, I thought the speech, especially in its context (Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, etc.), is quite powerful. Moreover, I think the words that Dr. King spoke are applicable to some of the issues that are facing the world today. I’m speaking particularly to the all-time lows in US Congressional approval and the continued unrest in the EU.

This speech was given in November of 1967 to the National Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace on the subject of the “Domestic Impact of War.”

As I move to my conclusion, let me ask you to indulge a personal reference. When I first decided to take a firm stand against the war in Vietnam, I was subjected to the most bitter criticism, by the press, by individuals, and even by some fellow civil rights leaders. There were those who said that I should stay in my place, that these two issues did not mix and I should stick with civil rights. Well I had only one answer for that and it was simply the fact that I have struggled too long and too hard now to get rid of segregation in public accommodations to end up at this point in my life segregating my moral concerns. [Applause]

And I made it very clear that I recognized that justice was indivisible. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And then there are those who said ‘You’re hurting the civil right movement.’ One spoke to me one day and said, ‘Now Dr. King, don’t you think you’re going to have to agree more with the Administration’s policy. I understand that your position on Vietnam has hurt the budget of your organization. And many people who respected you in civil rights have lost that respect and don’t you think that you’re going to have to agree more with the Administration’s policy to regain this.’ And I had to answer by looking that person into the eye, and say ‘I’m sorry sir but you don’t know me. I’m not a consensus leader.’ [Laughter – Applause] I do not determine what is right and wrong by looking at the budget of my organization or by taking a Gallup poll of the majority opinion. Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. [Applause]

On some positions a coward has asked the question is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question is it right? And there come a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right. [Applause] (Audio of the last paragraph)

It’s Amazing How Quickly Things Change

I was in the backyard playing with the dog when I started to think about how things have changed for me over the last 5 years (or since I graduated with my bachelors degree). As I walked across the stage with diploma in hand, I was saying goodbye to a place where so much had already changed in my life.

I pursued post-secondary education mainly to pursue my boyhood dream of becoming a major league baseball player. I walked on to the varsity team and remained redshirted my first year. During that time, I started to realize just how much practicing with the team felt like “work.” There’s nothing inherently wrong with work, but baseball was my passion. I loved playing the sport, through and through. I spent most of my childhood on baseball diamonds and virtually all of my teenage years driving across Ontario and up and down the eastern states of the US to play baseball. I was dedicated.

As my passion for playing faded, I found a new interest — student life. I became heavily involved in the campus community at SVSU, which was a stark contrast from high school. Although in high school, I was more focused on baseball, so who knows if I would have gotten involved with student groups in high school had there not been baseball in my life.

I started out my student life ‘career,’ in part, because the hall director of the building I lived in asked me to do so. My first position was as the vice-president of the residence hall’s council. It turns out that was just the springboard I needed to dive headfirst into extracurricular activities. I spent time as a resident assistant (2 years), went to state/regional/national conferences (8 in total, 4 in my first year), volunteered often (in 3 different countries), participated in university committees/boards, and was even elected as the student body President my senior year. On top of all this, I still had time do well academically such that I was accepted into the international honor society in psychology (Psi Chi) and be part of a poster session at an Association for Psychological Science convention.

Upon graduating, I was getting ready to begin studies for a clinical psychology PhD. Little did I know that 3 academic quarters into the degree, I would realize that I didn’t want to “save the world one person at a time.” Shortly thereafter, start my own business/practice. And shortly after that, move to New Zealand!

It’s been quite a whirlwind over these last few years. California, New Zealand, British Columbia, Hawaii, and now Washington, DC. Here I am working on an MBA. I have three semesters left until I’m finished. As I try to project into the future where I’ll be (or what I’m doing), I can’t help but chuckle just a little bit. Three years ago, I would never have imagined I’d be living in the DC area, much less in business school. But here I am — on both accounts.

I wouldn’t be surprised if you stopped to reflect on your life and found a similar thread of unanticipated changes in your life. And those changes, (by their very nature [and definition, in this regard]) could not have been predicted prior to their occurrence. They took you by surprise. They’ve certainly taken me by surprise. Sometimes, we fall into the trap of being critical of these changes (or sometimes, lack of changes). I would implore you not to do so. It’s impossible to know how pursuing scenario X, being presented with scenario Y, or being surprised by scenario Z, will eventually lead you to ultimate fulfillment.

Instead, today, simply look back and reflect on the abundance of synchronicities that have conspired to bring you to where you are today. Smile as you think about the unlimited possibilities that await you and the myriad ways they can transpire.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 7

Finally, finally, finally. I have caught up my ”Who I’m Following” series to the actual people I am following on Twitter. Youll notice a decided conservative-flavor to these Twitter accounts because I noticed I was following a number of liberal folks. As a result, I wanted to make sure I was getting the viewpoint from the conservative side, too. If you missed any of the earlier posts in this series, here they are:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

So, without further adieu, here are the people I have followed since my last post.

@jonahlehrer: Jonah writes on psychology, neuroscience, and the relationship between the humanities and science. You can find his columns/posts on the Wall Street Journaland WIRED Science.

@sciam: Scientific American has been covering science news for the last 165+ years. A reputable source of science news for certain.

@UtneReader: The best of the alternative press are digests of independent ideas and culture. Not right, not left, but forward thinking

@Change: the worlds fastest growing platforms for social change, empowering millions to start and join campaigns for social change in their communities.

@counterparties: Counterparties is a curated snapshot of the best finance news and commentary. It combines what we [Felix Salmon and Ryan McCarthy] find interesting, overlooked, and important.

@jonasTSN1050: Jonas is one of my childhood friends (!) and he covers the Toronto Maple Leafs for TSN Radio 1050.

@RobLowe: Rob Lowe played one of my favorite TV characters, Sam Seaborn, and often tweets about an assortment of things including politics and Parks and Recreation.

@melissa_e_brown: I went to high school with Melissa she’s one of the smartest people I know. Shes just finishing up her MBA at Tuck and who knows what wonderful things shell contribute to the world.

@richardbranson: Richard Branson is probably one of the most successful serial entrepreneurs — ever.

@danecook: A hilarious stand-up comedian. One of my favorites from him was “Vicious Circle.”

@RepresentPledge: One of the most important documentaries — bar none. If you haven’t seen it, go see it — right now.

@LeafsBB20: Brian Burke is the current GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he’s got a reputation for disruptive tweets.

@odemagazine: “An international magazine for Intelligent Optimists about the people, passion, & possibilities changing our world for the better.”

@McCainBlogette: Meghan McCain is the daughter of former Republican Presidential Nominee, John McCain.

@JustinWolfers: He is a very reputable economist and has a number of appointments at universities and think-tanks.

@indecision: “Politics, election news and other jokes. From your friends at Comedy Central.”

@ThisIsSethsBlog: Seth Godin is one of the most influential people in business today, especially with regard to marketing.

@wsjgraphics: “Information graphics and data from The Wall Street Journal.” I’ve previously written about my affinity for data (in visual form).

@JenSiebelNewsom: Jen is the writer/director/producer of the documentary I mentioned earlier, Miss Representation.

@NelsonMandela: This is the Twitter account for the Nelson Mandela Foundation… “contributing to a just society by promoting the values, vision, and work of our founder.”

@sdwillia: I went to university with Shane and he currently works in the non-profit industry. He’s sure to do great things!

@AncientProverbs: This Twitter account provides proverbs and quotes. I do enjoy a good quote.

@DavidBrooksNYT: He is… “a political and cultural commentator who considers himself a moderate and writes for the NYT.”

@ReihanSalam: “I write in the hope and expectation that people read people with whom they disagree to challenge their settled views. Suffice it to say, this isnt generally the case, but Im happy to continue behaving as though it is, as it is true of enough people to justify the effort.” (from here)

@KarlRove: Ken Wilber, a modern-day philosopher in his own right, has said that Rove has read Integral Theory.

@RameshPonnuru: “Ramesh Ponnuru is a senior editor for National Review, where he has covered national politics for 15 years.”

@NYTimeskrugman: I have written about following Paul Krugman before. Seems like I unfollowed him and refollowed him.

@gallupnews: “Gallup news and tracking data on politics, business, wellbeing, and the world.”

@DeepakChopra: Do I really need to tell you who Deepak Chopra is? Just in case I do, go here.

@sbnation: A sports network of over 300 blogs maintained by part-time writers who love their team.

@JoeNBC: Joe Scarborough is the co-host of Morning Joe and is a former Congressman from Florida.

@biologyofbelief: This is the official Twitter account for Bruce Lipton not to be confused with @brucelipton.

@HamOntCakeLady: Erin Andrews, (one of my sisters-in-law), is affectionately known as Hamilton, Ontario’s Cake Lady.

@cbellatoni: Christina Bellantoni is the Politics Editor for PBS NewsHour. She was also a fellow at the IOP this past fall.

@michaelbd: Michael is a Politics Editor for Business Insider and is a noted conservative voice.

@davidfrum: Frum is a former economic speechwriter for George W. Bush and clearly, is a noted conservative.

@TEDNews: “ALL the news from TED: TEDTalks, TED Conferences, the TED Prize and more.”

@McKQuarterly: “The business journal of McKinsey & Company. Our goal is to offer new ways of thinking about management in the private, public, & nonproft sector.”

@HarvardBiz: “The latest Harvard Business Review blog posts, Management Tips of the Day, Daily Stats, and more.”

And there you have it. You’re all caught up on the the accounts I’m current following on Twitter. As always, if you have any recommendations (based on the flavor of the people I follow in Parts 1 through 7), feel free to leave me a note in the comment section of tweet me.

Twitter: Who I’m Following, Part 6

Its been just about two months since I last updated the list of people Im following on Twitter. I thought today might be a good day to give a brief update. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll try to catch “all the way” up to who I’m following. In case you missed the earlier posts:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

So, without further adieu, here are the people I have followed since my last post.

@LouiseHay: Louise Hay is the author of one of the most the most famous self-help books of all time – You Can Heal Your Life. It lends credence to the idea that your thoughts can affect your biology.

@GreatestQuotes: “A collection of quotes that will challenge, motivate and inspire you to be the best you can be.” Curated by Sinead Duffy, Personal Development Trainer & Coach.

@BuddyRoemer: He is a former Governor & Congressman and is currently running for President in 2012. He has bee notoriously held out of Republican debates, but has some intriguing ideas.

@CNBC: CNBC is a cable television business news channel. They are dedicated to covering business headlines and financial markets.

@levarburton: LeVar Burton played the lovable character Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He’s also a big proponent of literacy.

@justinptrudeau: Justin Trudeau is the son of the famous Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau. Justin has gone on to become a politician in his own right.

@nycole_turmel: Since the passing of Jack Layton, Turmel has filled in as the interim leader of the NDP. Shortly, the NDP will pick their leader.

@Dahlialithwick: Dahlia is a Canadian (eh?) and mostly tweets about issues regarding law and the court system.

@Number10gov: This is the account of the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron. I’m not sure, but I think the account will stay with the Prime Minister’s office, regardless of party.

@melindagates: Melinda Gates is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest wealthiest charitable foundation.

@JimCarrey: Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario (I lived there when I was younger!) and is one of the funnier comedians of today.

@TheLewisBlack: Lewis Black is a stand-up comedian and is a regular on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His tweets are often funny.

@wordspy: “Word Spy is devoted to ‘lexpionage,’ the sleuthing of new words and phrases.”

@Steele_Michael: Michael Steele is a former RNC Chairman. He is a contributor to MSNBC (often representing the conservative viewpoint).

@anamariecox: She is currently a Washington correspondent for GQ and often has interesting commentary on the political debates.

@fourthofjulie: Julie is one of my friends from SVSU. She currently works for the American Red Cross.

@DalaiLama: The Dalai Lama is the most influential figure in Tibetan Buddhism. His “reign” has lasted over 60 years!

@MaddowApp: This twitter account is aimed at iPad users, but during “The Rachel Maddow Show,” it often tweets links to articles of which Maddow is referring.

@joestiglitz: Stiglitz won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 and is a very well respected academic.

@AliVelshi: I used to watch Ali back when he was on ROBTv (Report on Business Television). I always found him to be very intelligent.

@gatesfoundation: From the Twitter account: “We work to help all people lead healthy, productive lives, focused on health, poverty, and opportunity.”

@aaker: I listened to a lecture of Prof. Aaker (look for it in my upcoming post in the series “What’s On My iPod, Part 6.”)

@SSIReview: The Stanford Social Innovation Review: Informing and inspiring leaders of social change.

@BillGates: Bill Gates doesn’t tweet very often, but when he does, he often, “shares cool things he’s learning.”

@jack_welch: Jack Welch is one of the preeminent businessmen of our time. It’s great to be able to follow his commentary via Twitter.

@EconBizEd: Tweets to articles in The Economist that have to do with news or insights for business education.

@ECONdailycharts: I like to view information by way of charts, so it’s great that The Economist has an account dedicated solely to charts.

@EconBizFin: Tweets from this account are from The Economist and have to do with business, finance, or economics.

@ModeledBehavior: This is the Twitter account for a blog and there are often tweets about the economy, business, and finance.

@Humblebrag: This account retweets Humblebrags. As is made clear on their about statement, “Humblebrags are different from brags.”

@LaMonicaBuzz: Paul La Monica tweets — often — about stocks (what’s up, what’s down) and the economy. He’s quite a barometer for the market.

@Richard_Florida: Richard writes about social and economic theory. He’s current a Professor at the University of Toronto.

@Nouriel: Roubini is a rather famous economist. In fact, he predicted the collapse of the US housing market and the worldwide recession.

@felixsalmon: Felix Salmon is a noted finance blogger for Reuters. He’s won awards for his scientific reporting.

@GOOD: “GOOD is the global association of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits powering what works.”

As I said earlier in this post, I’ll do my best to catch up to the updated list of who I’m following in the next couple of weeks. As always, if there’s someone you think I might like to follow, leave me a comment, send me an email, or tweet me.