“Deviant behavior by members of our group is perceived as more disturbing, and produces stronger retaliation”

February 17, 2012

Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman’s “On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society” is a fascinating work. It’s required reading for much of the American military officers and law enforcement personnel. There’s many counter-intuitive points in there, including that the vast majority (approximately 80%) of soldiers during the American Civil War [...]

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Canals Don’t Create Water

February 16, 2012

Start with the water. Build the canal to move the water around. Building a canal on dry land? You’ll have an empty, dry canal. Business is similar. Start by finding a stream of money. Then build supports around it to make the money keep flowing. Don’t start by building supports around a desert. Nothing will [...]

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Scipio Africanus

February 14, 2012

I’ve covered some individual sections, but I’d like to specifically recommend the book. I’ve read better books, and I’ve read more succinct books, but I’ve never read a better and more succinct book. “Scipio Africanus” by BH Liddel Hart is really wonderful. It looks at the events, analyzes the strategies employed, and puts them in [...]

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Make no little plans

February 12, 2012

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will themselves not be realized.” — Daniel Burnham, via 37Signals

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Honest People Might Be Dangerous

February 11, 2012

“And if you’ve smoked any weed, had a joint in college, whatever — tell us the truth! This will not adversely affect you, it’s most important to us that you tell us the truth.” There were two officers at the front of the LAPD Reserve Officer Orientation. The Reserve Officer program was unpaid volunteer police [...]

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