People share nearly anything online these days — including things that no one would ever have considered sharing publicly years ago. People post about their problems with lovers, their medical problems, their political attitudes, their struggles and triumphs with religion, and their fights with merchants. The express opinions on the mental acuity of presidential candidates,…
I posted about my prostate cancer one week ago. (Nothing’s changed — the outlook is still hopeful.) I’m sharing what I learned about empathy from the responses from people: what helped and what didn’t. This was a post for me, which was unusual Most of what I write is for you, my readers. It’s writing…
I was thinking about why I trust one particular doctor more than others. It comes down to two things: expertise and empathy. Neither, by itself, is sufficient. The doctor is Caroline Levine. She is a specialist who I visit at least twice a year, and who is protecting my health from serious jeopardy. She has…
Only the tough survive. It’s time to get tough, America. At its core, that’s the argument for Donald Trump in this election. What’s the alternative? Bleeding-heart liberalism that wants to take what you have and give it to people who don’t deserve it. Sympathy is weakness. To keep America great, you need to harden your…
Much of human conflict can be traced to a fundamental misunderstanding: giving people answers when they want empathy, or vice versa. Think about it. If you are in a serious relationship, what happens when your significant other comes to you in a state of upset about something happening in their life? When someone comes to…
Yesterday I told you that our leaders’ responses to events of Baton Rouge; Falcon Heights, Minnesota; and Dallas would tell us a lot about them and the years to come. Today, I rate those responses. President Obama and Hillary Clinton rate well; the other candidates rate poorly. I didn’t have high hopes; this is an…
From southern courtesy to corporate bullshit, you had lots of questions after last week’s webinar for Higher Logic. I’ve answered them here. (Questions edited for length and clarity; some questions are from multiple listeners.) Q. Isn’t this all things that we should have learned from “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White? How is this different? Strunk…