If weather is like the money in your pocket on any one day, climate is like your net financial worth over time. I liked this simple analogy to distinguish between weather and climate in a New York Times article by Kendra Pierre-Louis. While there are many causes of extreme weather, keeping this analogy in mind helps keep some overall context even when you’re in the midst of an unexpected cold snap.…If weather is like the money in your pocket on any one day, climate is like your net financial worth over time. I liked this simple analogy to distinguish between weather and climate in a New York Times article by Kendra Pierre-Louis. While there are many causes of extreme weather, keeping this analogy in mind helps keep some overall context even when you’re in the midst of an unexpected cold snap.WWW…
The overview effect is the ultimate example of "seeing the forest for the trees." It’s the realisation that we live on a fragile planet, that we are all connected, and that this is all we’ve got—our one and only home. Coined by author Frank White, this phenomenon is most vividly experienced by astronauts, who return to Earth profoundly changed by seeing our planet from space. Their reflections highlight the emotional and philosophical impact of this shift in perspective: “You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty.”
— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut Or this: “When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile … Anybody else who’s ever gone to space says the same thing because it really is striking and it’s really sobering to see this paper-thin layer and to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on Earth from death, basically. From the harshness of space.”
— Ron Garan, Shuttle/ISS astronaut This sketch is inspired by the iconic photograph of Earth taken from the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The image captures the striking beauty and fragility of our planet and perfectly embodies the spirit of the Overview Effect. This sketch appears in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Related Ideas to The Overview Effect Also see: Wabi sabi Time hierarchy Pace layers Lifetime reads Rivers and buckets…The overview effect is the ultimate example of "seeing the forest for the trees." It’s the realisation that we live on a fragile planet, that we are all connected, and that this is all we’ve got—our one and only home. Coined by author Frank White, this phenomenon is most vividly experienced by astronauts, who return to Earth profoundly changed by seeing our planet from space. Their reflections highlight the emotional and philosophical impact of this shift in perspective: “You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty.”
— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut Or this: “When we look down at the earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile … Anybody else who’s ever gone to space says the same thing because it really is striking and it’s really sobering to see this paper-thin layer and to realize that that little paper-thin layer is all that protects every living thing on Earth from death, basically. From the harshness of space.”
— Ron Garan, Shuttle/ISS astronaut This sketch is inspired by the iconic photograph of Earth taken from the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. The image captures the striking beauty and fragility of our planet and perfectly embodies the spirit of the Overview Effect. This sketch appears in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Related Ideas to The Overview Effect Also see: Wabi sabi Time hierarchy Pace layers Lifetime reads Rivers and bucketsWWW…
If you like pomegranate but are put off by the prospect of the effort of pulling out each individual seed and spraying pomegranate juice across the kitchen, then this is a fun and handy tip. It brings together two techniques: deseeding pomegranates in a bowl of water helps stop spraying when pulling them apart and naturally separates the light fluffy pith from the seeds, and whacking them on the back with a spoon is a surprisingly effective and fun way of making the seeds shoot out. Enjoy!…If you like pomegranate but are put off by the prospect of the effort of pulling out each individual seed and spraying pomegranate juice across the kitchen, then this is a fun and handy tip. It brings together two techniques: deseeding pomegranates in a bowl of water helps stop spraying when pulling them apart and naturally separates the light fluffy pith from the seeds, and whacking them on the back with a spoon is a surprisingly effective and fun way of making the seeds shoot out. Enjoy!WWW…
I love this concept of the study of social distance, or how humans use space. Distinct from ergonomics, which is more about how people fit into their environment, proxemics focuses on the social aspect of space. For example: At what distance are you intimate? Where does your personal space end? How far away should you be for a good conversation? Why are the big circular wedding and conference tables so bad? How close should desks be in an office to encourage collaboration without feeling jammed together? Dev Patnaik at Jump Associates used to give the fine example of how you will whisper politely and with awe in the vaulted ceilings of a cathedral, while the confessional box — for people to share their deepest secrets — is low and close. An olde English pub that you stoop to enter under the low ceiling immediately feels friendly and intimate, whereas you’ll struggle to have a deep conversation on entering a warehouse. Proxemics was coined by the cultural anthropologist Edward Hall. His book The Hidden Dimension has the details.…I love this concept of the study of social distance, or how humans use space. Distinct from ergonomics, which is more about how people fit into their environment, proxemics focuses on the social aspect of space. For example: At what distance are you intimate? Where does your personal space end? How far away should you be for a good conversation? Why are the big circular wedding and conference tables so bad? How close should desks be in an office to encourage collaboration without feeling jammed together? Dev Patnaik at Jump Associates used to give the fine example of how you will whisper politely and with awe in the vaulted ceilings of a cathedral, while the confessional box — for people to share their deepest secrets — is low and close. An olde English pub that you stoop to enter under the low ceiling immediately feels friendly and intimate, whereas you’ll struggle to have a deep conversation on entering a warehouse. Proxemics was coined by the cultural anthropologist Edward Hall. His book The Hidden Dimension has the details.WWW…
Campbell’s law, rather pessimistically suggests: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Campbell's law is kind of a Goodhart’s law with more explanation. It pretty much seems to work with everything, unfortunately. If you measure the performance of an employment office by the number of cases handled you may get quick but ineffective placements and interviews. If, instead, you measure them on number of persons placed in jobs you may unintentionally drive a focus on placing the simplest cases at the expense of those who most need the service. When customer support is measured by number of tickets dealt with I’ve heard of writing quick answers that don’t fully solve a question in the knowledge that the customer will soon come back with another ticket to solve. When policing effectiveness is judged by crimes reported and the number of unsolved cases you may get both under reporting of crimes, and a form of plea bargaining where a criminal may be encouraged to confess to extra crimes — therefore fewer unsolved cases — in exchange for more lenient sentences. Campbell notes that: It seems to be well documented that a well-publicized, deliberate effort at social change–-Nixon’s crackdown on crime–-had as its main effect the corruption of crime-rate indicators, achieved through underrecording and by downgrading the crimes to less serious classifications. Measuring schools on attendance encourages creative reasons for children being taken out of school. Assessing learning can quickly become teaching to, and cramming for, the test. When reviews come to dominate purchase decisions pressure increases for fake reviews. And then there’s elections and voting… Campbell, Donald, Assessing the Impact of Planned Social Change, Dec 1976. (pdf) Also see: what gets measured gets better and Seth Godin’s take on Campbell’s law: Speedometer confusion Scott Carter gave a pithier paraphrasing of Campbell’s law: “What gets measured, gets corrupted.”…Campbell’s law, rather pessimistically suggests: "The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor." Campbell's law is kind of a Goodhart’s law with more explanation. It pretty much seems to work with everything, unfortunately. If you measure the performance of an employment office by the number of cases handled you may get quick but ineffective placements and interviews. If, instead, you measure them on number of persons placed in jobs you may unintentionally drive a focus on placing the simplest cases at the expense of those who most need the service. When customer support is measured by number of tickets dealt with I’ve heard of writing quick answers that don’t fully solve a question in the knowledge that the customer will soon come back with another ticket to solve. When policing effectiveness is judged by crimes reported and the number of unsolved cases you may get both under reporting of crimes, and a form of plea bargaining where a criminal may be encouraged to confess to extra crimes — therefore fewer unsolved cases — in exchange for more lenient sentences. Campbell notes that: It seems to be well documented that a well-publicized, deliberate effort at social change–-Nixon’s crackdown on crime–-had as its main effect the corruption of crime-rate indicators, achieved through underrecording and by downgrading the crimes to less serious classifications. Measuring schools on attendance encourages creative reasons for children being taken out of school. Assessing learning can quickly become teaching to, and cramming for, the test. When reviews come to dominate purchase decisions pressure increases for fake reviews. And then there’s elections and voting… Campbell, Donald, Assessing the Impact of Planned Social Change, Dec 1976. (pdf) Also see: what gets measured gets better and Seth Godin’s take on Campbell’s law: Speedometer confusion Scott Carter gave a pithier paraphrasing of Campbell’s law: “What gets measured, gets corrupted.”WWW…
In Don Norman’s classic book The Design of Everyday Things, Don gives an example of how to break into an office: just turn up at the door with a bunch of unwieldy computer equipment that looks difficult to carry and ask someone if they can open the door for you. Generally, someone will. Which goes to show no matter how well your system is designed, how seemingly impregnable your defences are, or how robust your processes, human risk — people doing things they shouldn’t or not doing things they should — are most likely the biggest ones. Like accidentally leaning on the keyboard before sending a bank transfer. The sketch is loosely based on a story, which is not true but illustrates the point nicely, that the Mongols got past the Great Wall simply by bribing the guards. If you like behavioural science, cognitive biases and the like, and want to build a better understanding of human risk, take a look at the human risk newsletter run by a long-time patron of Sketchplanations Christian Hunt. You can listen to a fun, example-packed conversation of human risk in our podcast episode on human risk with Christian Hunt.…In Don Norman’s classic book The Design of Everyday Things, Don gives an example of how to break into an office: just turn up at the door with a bunch of unwieldy computer equipment that looks difficult to carry and ask someone if they can open the door for you. Generally, someone will. Which goes to show no matter how well your system is designed, how seemingly impregnable your defences are, or how robust your processes, human risk — people doing things they shouldn’t or not doing things they should — are most likely the biggest ones. Like accidentally leaning on the keyboard before sending a bank transfer. The sketch is loosely based on a story, which is not true but illustrates the point nicely, that the Mongols got past the Great Wall simply by bribing the guards. If you like behavioural science, cognitive biases and the like, and want to build a better understanding of human risk, take a look at the human risk newsletter run by a long-time patron of Sketchplanations Christian Hunt. You can listen to a fun, example-packed conversation of human risk in our podcast episode on human risk with Christian Hunt.WWW…
