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Real Anti-Racism:
Posted in Thoughts
Shaking the hand of someone you disagree with isn’t as much fun as shouting them down, but it is far more effective.
When you live in small groups on the savanna, as our ancestors did for most of our evolutionary history, it pays to be suspicious of strangers. Other groups were competition. Strangers didn’t drop by for a cup of tea and a friendly chat about our emotional well being. We couldn’t afford to see a stranger as a real person at all. It was an “us versus them” world. Fear and aggression were the only rational responses. People who did well in that world (AKA our ancestors, the people from whom we get our DNA), knew that the only safe thing was to beat strangers with a club first and ask questions later.
Fear of “The Other” is hardwired, and talking about it doesn’t help.
We may not live in small groups on the savanna any more, but our brains don’t know that. For better or worse we are stuck with our evolutionary baggage. Nothing is going to change that. When you encounter someone who your brain perceives as “other”– and by this I mean you personally, dear reader, as well as myself and every other human on the planet — all of that machinery jumps to life in milliseconds. Long before we are consciously aware of anything, our brains are screaming “Danger Will Robinson! Danger!”
Call this tribalism. Call it racism. Call it in-group/out-group dynamics. Call it identity politics. Call it polarization. Call it whatever you like. It all comes down to the same thing. When we perceive someone as other our reactions are hard wired, preconscious, and impossible to turn off.
Good intentions don’t matter. Get high and sing Kumbaya all night. Talk about it until the cows come home. Hold workshops. Post platitudes or scream about it on the internet. If you want to judge the effectiveness of those strategies all you have to do is pick up the paper. The louder the mob screams, the more ground they lose. We’ve tried those approaches. They make things worse, not better.
Quoting Einstein’s famous parable, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
There is only one solution: Humanize yourself by embracing the humanity of others.
If you perceive someone as other you will respond to them as a threat. There’s nothing we can do about that. Or is there? Take a step back and the answer is obvious. We can’t change how we react to other, but we can change who we perceive as other.
There is going on 70 years of really fascinating sociological, psychological, political and even neurological research that all supports the same conclusion: If you know and respect someone, it’s hard not to care about them. Break bread together, laugh together, talk deeply, listen, show respect (even when it’s difficult), build bridges, find common purpose and work arm in arm.
I could dig into that research, but mercifully for you I won’t. Instead I am going to share an uplifting and illustrative story of what effective anti-racism really looks like.
How did a Black musician change the hearts of hundreds of Klansmen?
Daryl Davis is a Black blues and jazz musician with a very strange hobby. He goes to events like KKK rallies not to shout or protest, but to listen, shake hands, talk, and befriend. Literally hundreds of the Klan members who Daryl Davis has become friends with have renounced the Klan. He has a large collection of their robes, including the robe of a man who, when they met, was the Grand Wizard himself.
Read that last sentence again. Then if you honestly care about fighting racism you owe it to yourself to invest 18 minutes and listen to Daryl Davis’s story in his own words.
This is not your Woke friend’s Anti-Racism.
It feels good to gang up and shout at people. The difference between the shouters and the shoutees makes it really easy to tell who is “us” and who is “them.” Our brains love that. The dopamine flows like a river.
But that is not what Daryl Davis did. There was no shouting about racism. Terms like “White privilege” and “White fragility” were never used. Daryl Davis never complained about microaggressions or political correctness. DEI workshops were not part of the program. Mr. Davis did not wear his feelings on his sleeve. Quite the contrary, Daryl Davis listened even to open hatred and tried to understand where it was coming from. There was no talk of victims and oppressors. There were no social media attacks or calls for deplatforming. There was no virtue signaling about Wokeness.
Instead, Daryl Davis treated those who were predisposed to hate him with dignity and respect. He listened. He questioned. He befriended. He humanized himself by seeing and acknowledging the humanity of others, including those with whom he deeply disagreed. In the process he did what few have ever accomplished. Daryl Davis changed the hearts of hundreds of the most committed racists in the nation.
This is what real, effective anti-racism looks like. And as Davis mentions at the end of his talk, if he can do it, so can we.
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Watching Rome Burn & Hell Freeze
Posted in For Your Consideration
What do record fire seasons in the West, record hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, record winter storms in the South and the hottest years in history have to do with each other? Everything.
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Schools in the Time of COVID
Posted in Thoughts
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. Yes, schools are desperately important to kids. No, COVID-19 doesn’t care, and COVID is making the rules right now. Attempts to open schools this fall will fail of their own accord. The relevant question is how to meet the needs of children, families and the community in the face of that reality.
COVID-19 Arrives
Posted in Thoughts
Currently new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona are doubling every 7 days. ICU beds in the state are already full. The rest of the country isn’t that far behind us. You do the math.
Correctly Predicting Failure
Posted in Thoughts
Now is not the time for scientists to be circumspect and silent. We are on the short end of a battle over whether truth even matters. If scientists do not stand up for what is real, who will?
Typhoid Mary on Two Wheels
Posted in Thoughts
The morning cyclist in my neighborhood may not be standing in the Michigan Statehouse carrying a gun and demanding her right to spread contagion far and wide, but she may as well be.
Pine Boxes
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
You know those nice charts and graphs that make it look like we are over the hump of COVID-19 and that things are about to get better? Those predictions are dead wrong, with an unfortunate emphasis on “dead.”
Scientists Stuck Inside
Posted in For Your ConsiderationThoughts
Imagine three gregarious scientists, each with the gift of the gab, all coping with stay-at-home orders. Of course we started a livestream/podcast talk show! What else would we do? Welcome to the kickoff episode of Scientists Stuck Inside.
After COVID’s First Wave
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
Even after COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands in the U.S. over the coming weeks, we will still be almost as vulnerable to the pandemic as we are today. We’d all love to “get back to normal” after that, but the price could be a second wave, worse than the first. Some see us facing either economic Depression or allowing vast numbers of preventable deaths, but that is a fool’s choice. There are better options if we have the will to find them.
COVID-19
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
There is a lot of information about COVID-19 out there, much of it misleading. When looking at the future, start with what the science really says.
Great Deceiverism 101
Posted in For Your ConsiderationUnreasonable Faith
If someone can’t tell you how they would know that they are wrong, they don’t have a clue whether they are right.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
One Step at a Time
Posted in For Your ConsiderationUnreasonable Faith
Once seemingly incomprehensible, the origin of life no longer seems such a mystery. Most of what once appeared as roadblocks are turning out to be superhighways.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Click on thumbnail to select post:
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Shaking the hand of someone you disagree with isn’t as much fun as shouting them down, but it is far more effective.
When you live in small groups on the savanna, as our ancestors did for most of our evolutionary history, it pays to be suspicious of strangers. Other groups were competition. Strangers didn’t drop by for a cup of tea and a friendly chat about our emotional well being. We couldn’t afford to see a stranger as a real person at all. It was an “us versus them” world. Fear and aggression were the only rational responses. People who did well in that world (AKA our ancestors, the people from whom we get our DNA), knew that the only safe thing was to beat strangers with a club first and ask questions later.
Fear of “The Other” is hardwired, and talking about it doesn’t help.
We may not live in small groups on the savanna any more, but our brains don’t know that. For better or worse we are stuck with our evolutionary baggage. Nothing is going to change that. When you encounter someone who your brain perceives as “other”– and by this I mean you personally, dear reader, as well as myself and every other human on the planet — all of that machinery jumps to life in milliseconds. Long before we are consciously aware of anything, our brains are screaming “Danger Will Robinson! Danger!”
Call this tribalism. Call it racism. Call it in-group/out-group dynamics. Call it identity politics. Call it polarization. Call it whatever you like. It all comes down to the same thing. When we perceive someone as other our reactions are hard wired, preconscious, and impossible to turn off.
Good intentions don’t matter. Get high and sing Kumbaya all night. Talk about it until the cows come home. Hold workshops. Post platitudes or scream about it on the internet. If you want to judge the effectiveness of those strategies all you have to do is pick up the paper. The louder the mob screams, the more ground they lose. We’ve tried those approaches. They make things worse, not better.
Quoting Einstein’s famous parable, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
There is only one solution: Humanize yourself by embracing the humanity of others.
If you perceive someone as other you will respond to them as a threat. There’s nothing we can do about that. Or is there? Take a step back and the answer is obvious. We can’t change how we react to other, but we can change who we perceive as other.
There is going on 70 years of really fascinating sociological, psychological, political and even neurological research that all supports the same conclusion: If you know and respect someone, it’s hard not to care about them. Break bread together, laugh together, talk deeply, listen, show respect (even when it’s difficult), build bridges, find common purpose and work arm in arm.
I could dig into that research, but mercifully for you I won’t. Instead I am going to share an uplifting and illustrative story of what effective anti-racism really looks like.
How did a Black musician change the hearts of hundreds of Klansmen?
Daryl Davis is a Black blues and jazz musician with a very strange hobby. He goes to events like KKK rallies not to shout or protest, but to listen, shake hands, talk, and befriend. Literally hundreds of the Klan members who Daryl Davis has become friends with have renounced the Klan. He has a large collection of their robes, including the robe of a man who, when they met, was the Grand Wizard himself.
Read that last sentence again. Then if you honestly care about fighting racism you owe it to yourself to invest 18 minutes and listen to Daryl Davis’s story in his own words.
This is not your Woke friend’s Anti-Racism.
It feels good to gang up and shout at people. The difference between the shouters and the shoutees makes it really easy to tell who is “us” and who is “them.” Our brains love that. The dopamine flows like a river.
But that is not what Daryl Davis did. There was no shouting about racism. Terms like “White privilege” and “White fragility” were never used. Daryl Davis never complained about microaggressions or political correctness. DEI workshops were not part of the program. Mr. Davis did not wear his feelings on his sleeve. Quite the contrary, Daryl Davis listened even to open hatred and tried to understand where it was coming from. There was no talk of victims and oppressors. There were no social media attacks or calls for deplatforming. There was no virtue signaling about Wokeness.
Instead, Daryl Davis treated those who were predisposed to hate him with dignity and respect. He listened. He questioned. He befriended. He humanized himself by seeing and acknowledging the humanity of others, including those with whom he deeply disagreed. In the process he did what few have ever accomplished. Daryl Davis changed the hearts of hundreds of the most committed racists in the nation.
This is what real, effective anti-racism looks like. And as Davis mentions at the end of his talk, if he can do it, so can we.
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What do record fire seasons in the West, record hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, record winter storms in the South and the hottest years in history have to do with each other? Everything.
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. Yes, schools are desperately important to kids. No, COVID-19 doesn’t care, and COVID is making the rules right now. Attempts to open schools this fall will fail of their own accord. The relevant question is how to meet the needs of children, families and the community in the face of that reality.
Currently new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona are doubling every 7 days. ICU beds in the state are already full. The rest of the country isn’t that far behind us. You do the math.
Now is not the time for scientists to be circumspect and silent. We are on the short end of a battle over whether truth even matters. If scientists do not stand up for what is real, who will?
The morning cyclist in my neighborhood may not be standing in the Michigan Statehouse carrying a gun and demanding her right to spread contagion far and wide, but she may as well be.
You know those nice charts and graphs that make it look like we are over the hump of COVID-19 and that things are about to get better? Those predictions are dead wrong, with an unfortunate emphasis on “dead.”
Imagine three gregarious scientists, each with the gift of the gab, all coping with stay-at-home orders. Of course we started a livestream/podcast talk show! What else would we do? Welcome to the kickoff episode of Scientists Stuck Inside.
Even after COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands in the U.S. over the coming weeks, we will still be almost as vulnerable to the pandemic as we are today. We’d all love to “get back to normal” after that, but the price could be a second wave, worse than the first. Some see us facing either economic Depression or allowing vast numbers of preventable deaths, but that is a fool’s choice. There are better options if we have the will to find them.
There is a lot of information about COVID-19 out there, much of it misleading. When looking at the future, start with what the science really says.
If someone can’t tell you how they would know that they are wrong, they don’t have a clue whether they are right.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Once seemingly incomprehensible, the origin of life no longer seems such a mystery. Most of what once appeared as roadblocks are turning out to be superhighways.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Over his 30 year career as an internationally known astrophysicist, Dr. Jeff Hester was a key member of the team that repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. With one foot always on the frontiers of knowledge, he has been mentor, coach, team leader, award-winning teacher, administrator and speaker, to name a few of the hats he has worn. His Hubble image, the Pillars of Creation, was chosen by Time Magazine as among the 100 most influential photographs in history.
Videos
Reality Straight Up: When everything is on the line, what can we really know?
Speaker demo video.
Segments:
1. The Foundation of Leadership is Knowledge
2. There are questions about which our opinions do not matter
3. The Illusion of Knowledge
4. Overcoming Confirmation Bias: A Different Standard of Knowledge
5. "I know it because we know it: Groupthink"
6. Success does not come from settling for a W.A.G.
The segments come from two keynote addresses given in June and July, 2013 to the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.
Speaker demo video.
Segments:
1. The Foundation of Leadership is Knowledge
2. There are questions about which our opinions do not matter
3. The Illusion of Knowledge
4. Overcoming Confirmation Bias: A Different Standard of Knowledge
5. "I know it because we know it: Groupthink"
6. Success does not come from settling for a W.A.G.
The segments come from two keynote addresses given in June and July, 2013 to the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.
Dr. Jeff Hester / Demo Video
Hubble's Amazing Universe was produced for the National Geographic Channel by a friend of mine, Dana Berry. I did several interviews for the program, which features some of my work. I'm posting the whole problem because it provides a nice overview of the Hubble Space Telescope and the ways it has shaped our conception of the Universe. The program is broken into 10 minute chunks.
Hubble's Amazing Universe - Part 1
Louis Pasteur famously noted that, "Chance favors the prepared." On the other hand sometimes you just get lucky. On the second dive of our first day in Kona and on my first dive ever with a camera I just bought last week we had one of those "I've heard about this happening but have never actually seen it myself" experiences. We were at about 60-65 feet at a site a few miles north of Honokohau Harbor on the Big Island of Hawai'i when four bottlenose dolphins including a mother and her calf decided to come hang out with us for a while. Very very cool, and very very laid back. Two of the dolphins spent most of their time rolling around in the sand. I got lucky again when one of the dolphins came up off the bottom, turned directly toward me, and then disappeared upward into the Sun. We told Steve at http://www.wannadivekona.com that we are certain he will deliver similar spectacles for the rest of the week we are diving with him! 😉
For those with an interest in such things, the camera used is an Olympus Tough TG-1 iHS in a PT-053 housing. I was also using an INON UWL-100 wide angle adapter lens which expands the field of view of the camera to something over 100 degrees when zoomed out all the way. That is good because the dolphins were ~big~ and quite happy to let me get good and close!
In addition to good video the camera also takes nice pictures. I recommend it. The TG-1 itself can withstand a drop from 2 meters and is waterproof to 40 feet, so if the housing starts to flood it's not end of the world time. My only real complaint is that it lacks a fully manual mode (come on, Olympus, just let me say I want ISO 100 at f/4 for 1/60 instead of making me try to trick it into going there!!!) although it does do a better job than previous versions handling a slave flash.
The video is not in strictly the same order in which I took it. I had actually fallen behind the group a bit and was videoing a horned helmet eating a sea urchin. I turned away to begin to catch up with the group and as I did so saw the dolphins come down to our right. I actually caught them on video as I first saw them. (Like I said, sometimes you just get lucky.) Vicki saw them next. The "sleigh bell" sound in the video at that point was Vicki shaking a rattle to get the attention of the rest of the group. (The motor whine noise is just that; the zoom motor on the camera.)
Note: When I tried to upload the full quality video it failed in rather ignominious fashion. I'll try again another time.
For those with an interest in such things, the camera used is an Olympus Tough TG-1 iHS in a PT-053 housing. I was also using an INON UWL-100 wide angle adapter lens which expands the field of view of the camera to something over 100 degrees when zoomed out all the way. That is good because the dolphins were ~big~ and quite happy to let me get good and close!
In addition to good video the camera also takes nice pictures. I recommend it. The TG-1 itself can withstand a drop from 2 meters and is waterproof to 40 feet, so if the housing starts to flood it's not end of the world time. My only real complaint is that it lacks a fully manual mode (come on, Olympus, just let me say I want ISO 100 at f/4 for 1/60 instead of making me try to trick it into going there!!!) although it does do a better job than previous versions handling a slave flash.
The video is not in strictly the same order in which I took it. I had actually fallen behind the group a bit and was videoing a horned helmet eating a sea urchin. I turned away to begin to catch up with the group and as I did so saw the dolphins come down to our right. I actually caught them on video as I first saw them. (Like I said, sometimes you just get lucky.) Vicki saw them next. The "sleigh bell" sound in the video at that point was Vicki shaking a rattle to get the attention of the rest of the group. (The motor whine noise is just that; the zoom motor on the camera.)
Note: When I tried to upload the full quality video it failed in rather ignominious fashion. I'll try again another time.
Visit with dolphins while diving in Kona
I used to dive at night with manta rays on Kona years ago. In the interim it has become quite a production, complete with an on-site videographer and more or less official house mother to the mantas. Here are excerpts of the video from the night Vicki and I joining in the evening's gathering. Watch for Vicki in yellow mask and black hood. I am the guy sitting on the rock getting buzzed. The large lights attract plankton on which the mantas feed. The first time that I saw a manta coming at me my thought was of the original Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine." For those of you who remember the series you'll know what I'm talking about. The wingspan of the Manta that skimmed over my head in the video was about 16 feet.
Diving with Manta Rays / October 15, 2012
The kelp forests of the islands off the coast of Southern California are as eerie as they are beautiful. This is video from a live aboard trip to San Clemente and Catalina Islands, March 8-9, 2014. Vicki, Patricia, Casey and I were on the trip. Vicki and I learned to dive in the Pacific 25 years ago, but over the years the water seems to have gotten colder. But in a dry suit it is warmer than the Caribbean.
Dive Trip March 2014
Sea lions are always fun to dive with. I did a little dance with this one while diving at San Pedro Island. I was following him with the camera, which was a form of play that he clearly understood.
Sea Lions @ San Pedro Island, San Carlos, Mexico
Excerpts from the nationally televised NASA Space Science Update presenting the results of long-term observations of the Crab supernova remnant using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The backstory here is what it took to get the Hubble and Chandra teams to coordinate not one observation but dozens of observations over the course of several months. I think I still owe a few people cases of beer...
Crab HST Chandra SSU - Excerpts
A movie showing the dynamics of the inner part of the Crab Nebula made using the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Crab Chandra Movie
A side by side comparison of the dynamics of the Crab Nebula as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope (red) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue).
Crab HST + Chandra Movie
This is a simulation of the expansion of the torus and jets around the pulsar at the heart of the Crab Nebula. The model includes the effects of special relativity, which result in the distortion of the circular symmetry of the outflow in the torus.
Crab Torus Model
Space Science Update presenting our HST observations of the Eagle Nebula, known popularly as the "Pillars of Creation." This image was to become one of the best known and most iconic astronomical photographs of all time. In part the reaction was due to the fact that the picture was simply beautiful. Nothing like it had been seen before. In part the reaction was due to the fact that at least some of the science was broadly accessible. We were seeing the birth throes of stars; the same birth throes experienced by our own Sun and Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. And finally, this was the image that really said to the world that after a disastrous beginning, the Hubble Space Telescope was back and delivering the kinds of science that the world had been promised decades earlier. This has a lot of personal meaning to me because I was a part of the science team responsible for the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2, the camera that fixed Hubble and with which the Eagle Nebula image was made.
SSU Eagle Nebula
Excerpts from the NASA Space Science Update that I did along with Chris Burrows and Jon Morse discussing outflows from young stellar objects. These outflows, called "Herbig-Haro Objects," are formed when rapidly moving streams of material ejected by newly forming stars run into gas and dust in the surrounding region of space.
SSU Herbig Haro Objects - Excerpts
Excerpts from the Discovery Channel documentary "Secrets from Space" highlighting my role in the repair of the Hubble Space Telescope and some of the Hubble science projects (work on the Crab and Eagle Nebulas) that I have led since then.
Secrets from Space - Excerpts
I was featured in a discussion of space at the closing of the ABC documentary series, "The Century."
The Century - Excerpts
Excerpts from the PBS Nova documentary on the origins of our Solar System featuring my work on the Eagle Nebula.
Nova Origins - Excerpts
Excerpts from an episode of a National Geographic documentary featuring my work on what studies of meteorites tell us about the violent origins of our own Solar System.
The Origins of the Solar System
A segment that I filmed for the series "Sightings." There is a funny story here. Sightings often concerned itself with the, shall we say, "fringe" crowd. The producer of this segment told me about a time they were interviewing a self-styled "expert" on alien abductions. When asked, "how can I know if I have been abducted?", this person's replay, given with a serious face, was as follows. "Go to bed with your underwear on backwards. If you wake up in the morning with your underwear on the right way around it means that you have been abducted by space aliens."
Sightings
A short segment that I did for National Geographic explaining how gravity arises from curved space-time.
What is Gravity? General Relativity in 90 seconds
Success of Hubble repair including first light with WFPC2 -- Part of "Reality Straight Up" presentation
First Light
Video of demonstration talk given to Network Together on Feb 6, 2013. This is Mike Chesworth's edit of the three camera video. The resolution has been reduced for quicker transfer. Mike did a good job. My only technical complaint is that it would have been nice to have a mic set to catch audience reaction and questions, but that is a minor concern.
Demo Video Feb 6, 2013
Reality Straight Up: When everything is on the line, what can we really know?
Speaker demo video. Dr. Jeff Hester at http://jeff-hester.com
Segments:
1. The Foundation of Leadership is Knowledge
2. There are questions about which our opinions do not matter
3. The Illusion of Knowledge
4. Overcoming Confirmation Bias: A Different Standard of Knowledge
5. "I know it because we know it: Groupthink"
6. Success does not come from settling for a W.A.G.
The segments come from two keynote addresses given in June and July, 2013 to the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.
Speaker demo video. Dr. Jeff Hester at http://jeff-hester.com
Segments:
1. The Foundation of Leadership is Knowledge
2. There are questions about which our opinions do not matter
3. The Illusion of Knowledge
4. Overcoming Confirmation Bias: A Different Standard of Knowledge
5. "I know it because we know it: Groupthink"
6. Success does not come from settling for a W.A.G.
The segments come from two keynote addresses given in June and July, 2013 to the Independent Bankers Association of Texas and the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.
Demo Video July 2013
Eric Schmidt is the Chairman and former CEO of Google. Asked by Fortune, "What was the best advice you ever got?", what was his answer? "Everybody needs a coach."
Eric Schmidt on the importance of coaching
Excerpts from a new USGS study designed to help municipalities plan for unintended seismic disturbances caused by fracking.
New Fracking Study
A commercial that I shot for Bulmer's Irish Cider. The shoot was a fun junket and an insight into the behind-the-scenes world of television. A dozen people, a week on the Spanish coast, and all the food and wine we could drink for what was to become 13 seconds of televised footage.
Bulmers Respect
"Reality Straight Up" - Version 1.0 Presentation to Meridian Elementary Staff as test audience / Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Reality Straight Up
A 22 minute video. Segments:
1. The way we naturally approach knowledge
2. WAGs and the reason behind 4 out of 5 business failures
3. The go along to get along species and habits of mind
4. Leadership
5. Innovation
6. Teamwork
7. Homework that will change your business model
8. Personal journey
9. How the Big Bang got its name
10. Courage in the face of uncertainty
11. How ideas become facts
12. Segment from NOVA discussing my work on the Eagle Nebula
jeff-hester.com
1. The way we naturally approach knowledge
2. WAGs and the reason behind 4 out of 5 business failures
3. The go along to get along species and habits of mind
4. Leadership
5. Innovation
6. Teamwork
7. Homework that will change your business model
8. Personal journey
9. How the Big Bang got its name
10. Courage in the face of uncertainty
11. How ideas become facts
12. Segment from NOVA discussing my work on the Eagle Nebula
jeff-hester.com
Demo Video - Speaking Page
You can't have certainty and knowledge at the same time. If you insist on certainty, you give up the right to claim that you actually know anything at all. Acting means acting in the face of uncertainty.
Courage & Uncertainty
Once we come by an idea -- whether through indoctrination by our group, appeals to wishful thinking, or whatever -- our natural tendency is to look for things that agree with that idea while ignoring things that don't. It is a vicious cycle that takes ideas and, regardless of their validity, can rapidly set them in stone.
Confirmation Bias
A discussion of "nudge theory" as a party game. I go on to talk about this in a different context -- the fact that it is uncomfortable to push on your preconceptions.
"Nudge" as a party game
This is taken from a talk that I gave to a group of East Valley business owners at a lunch and learn. There are two segments. One defines "WAG." The other talks about knowledge and uncertainty.
Demonstration Video for Home Page
A few thoughts about leadership and teamwork. This is not polished! I put it together quite literally on a moment's notice to give a potential client an idea of who I am and the kinds of things that I have to say.
Leadership and Teamwork 1 16 2013
When a reporter for Fortune Magazine asked, “What is the best piece of advice you ever got?”, Eric Schmidt, the chairman and former CEO of Google didn't have to think twice before answering.
“Get a personal coach!”
Over the last decade coaching has become THE go-to strategy for top performing executives all over the world, but for the most part it is new to professionals. To be honest, most of professionals that I talk to have never heard of personal coaching, much less understand how coaching works or what it could do for them.
That's unfortunate, because as a group, today's professional probably has more to gain from a personal coach than just about anyone else I can think of.
Here I talk about the challenges faced by professionals, my own experiences over a 30 year career as a working scientist, and why I decided to become a professional coach.
“Get a personal coach!”
Over the last decade coaching has become THE go-to strategy for top performing executives all over the world, but for the most part it is new to professionals. To be honest, most of professionals that I talk to have never heard of personal coaching, much less understand how coaching works or what it could do for them.
That's unfortunate, because as a group, today's professional probably has more to gain from a personal coach than just about anyone else I can think of.
Here I talk about the challenges faced by professionals, my own experiences over a 30 year career as a working scientist, and why I decided to become a professional coach.
Coaching for Today's Professional
These are a few excerpts taken from the Network Together demo video.
Segment 1: Definition of WAG.
Segment 2: Discussion of mismanagement of strategic risk. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The road to failure is paved with WAGs.
Segment 3: We are lemmings / Habit of mind
Segment 4: Leadership depends on quality of knowledge. The bad news... The good news
Segment 5: The fate of the Twinkie
Segment 6: Innovation. Actually I am a rocket scientist. Killer opportunity.
Segment 7: Teamwork
Segment 8: Your homework... This will change your business plan
Segment 9: I've done a bad thing to you. With great power comes great responsibility.
Segment 10: Personal journey. Don't settle for less.
Segment 11: The Big Bang
Segment 12: Courage to act in the face of uncertainty
Segment 13: How things become "fact"
Segment 1: Definition of WAG.
Segment 2: Discussion of mismanagement of strategic risk. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The road to failure is paved with WAGs.
Segment 3: We are lemmings / Habit of mind
Segment 4: Leadership depends on quality of knowledge. The bad news... The good news
Segment 5: The fate of the Twinkie
Segment 6: Innovation. Actually I am a rocket scientist. Killer opportunity.
Segment 7: Teamwork
Segment 8: Your homework... This will change your business plan
Segment 9: I've done a bad thing to you. With great power comes great responsibility.
Segment 10: Personal journey. Don't settle for less.
Segment 11: The Big Bang
Segment 12: Courage to act in the face of uncertainty
Segment 13: How things become "fact"
Segments from Demo Video
Psychologists call it "The Illusion of Knowledge." Some of what you think that you know is fine, but some is only a W.A.G. -- a Wild Ass Guess. The hard part is that you don't know which is which.
W.A.G.s and the Illusion of Knowledge
Most of the time failure is a failure of knowledge. Some of what you think you know is OK, some of what you think you know is a WAG, and you don't know which is which. What you naturally do is go out and look for things that reinforce what you already think. That is wired into your brains. If we are going to do better than that we need a different standard for knowledge.
A Better Standard for Knowledge
We are programmed by evolution to do whatever it takes to remain a part of our group. Pressure from your group is extremely difficult to turn away from. We are here today because we are at the end of a long line of ancestors who would say anything, do anything, and believe anything, so long as they got to remain a part of their group. We evolved as the go along to get along species. The effects of groupthink are sometimes subtle and sometimes overt, but regardless it is an extremely powerful force in shaping what we think that we know and the decisions that we make.
Groupthink
Talk given to the Phoenix Regional Mensa Gathering. It is worth noting that this audience is left-leaning, typically areligious, and as a rule very open minded. I have also spoken to them previously. As such, I was somewhat more free in my discussion of some topics than I would be in front of a corporate audience.
Reality Straight Up / MENSA / 24 Nov 2012
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Dr. Jeff Hester
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