ainslies.org

Dan Gilbert is a psychologist and professor who is an expert affective forecasting. AF is a term he coined for “predicting how you would feel about a hypothetical event that occurs in the future”. This process applies to both positive and negative events. He’s studied how this applies to a person’s ability to predict what…

Four houses on my street recently sold. One was my 86 year old girlfriend’s home. Another was my 83 year old girlfriend’s home. The third and fourth are elderly neighbor’s whose moved into assisted living facilities. I knew all of these people from interactions during my dog walks and occasional chatting outside. Having lived in…

I realized the other day that I’m a prude. I don’t want to hear about anyone’s sex life. I especially don’t want to hear about someone else’s fantasies, turn-ons, problems or preferences. I don’t care if you’re straight, gay, or anything else on the “spectrum”. First, it is none of my business. Second, it’s not…

I wish I could claim that I invented this formula but I didn’t. Arthur Brooks said it on this podcast. He explained that most people focus their efforts on increasing “haves” through more work, more purchases and more consumption. Instead, Brooks argued that decreasing “wants” is the method to increase happiness. I agree since this…

I posted something in the GenX subReddit that went viral. Within 2 hours, it had more than 13,000 views and dozens of comments. By the next day it was over 250K views, 3600 upvotes and 300 comments. I’ve pasted the post below. It was a simple nostalgic memory I had that morning. I wondered if…

My wife was a natural listener and empathizer. Everyone knew it – even strangers who had never met her before would make eye contact and the next thing you knew, they were sharing deeply personal secrets, fears and stories. I used to tease her about it because it happened everywhere: at the grocery store, walking…

China’s strength, speed and ability to manufacturer products and infrastructure has been a frequent topic of discussion on many of the business and news podcast I listen to. Often the speaker will gloss over China’s dictatorship, government control of business, slavery/poverty wages, and dissent crushing tactics saying something like, “…although China is a dictatorship that…

I have always taken pride in my ability to grind through difficulties. This ability is a point of pride and core to my identity. It has enabled me to get through many challenges in life: I could add to this list for hours, but you get the idea. I may not be fast. I may…

I started noticing something during Covid that I’ve now become hypersensitive to observing. The numbers quoted in breaking news stories are made up. At best, they are broad estimates made by a person with a modicum of relevant expertise. At worst, they are wild-ass guesses often based on a single-source and then repeatedly quoted by…

I’ve been listening to the “What We Spend” podcast lately. In it, the host interviews a normal person about their financial situation (expenses, education, job history, earnings etc.). For the next week, that person records an audio diary of all of their spending. The host then does a final interview with the guest discussing the…