elstaffe > Recent Status Updates

"Authors Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner later expanded on Lewin's model to explain how different cultures have different layers of information that they divulge publicly or reserve for private relationships. These models are frequently referred to as the peach and coconut models of personal interaction." (175)

"At the same time, countries in the southern hemisphere such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are growing in global weight." (171-172) I did a double take here and truly had to bring up a map, because I was doubting my own recollection, but no, Saudi Arabia is not, in fact, in the southern hemisphere (and only some of Indonesia is). Maybe she meant "Global South", but I don't know that that's right for Saudi Arabia...

"...applications-first thinkers like to receive practical examples up front; they will extract learning from these examples. In the same vein, applications-first learners are used to the 'case method,' whereby they first read a case study describing a real-life story about a business problem and its solution, and then induce general lessons from it." (102) so...just like this entire book

"If you have members from more than one high-context culture on your team, lay out the issue and have the team develop their own solutions, as Pedro did. Don't wait until problems arise. The best moment to develop the processes is when the team is forming, before miscommunication takes place." (57)

"Before people got wise and figured out that pinching pretty eggs straight from the nest of wild birds was not a good thing to do (and made it illegal), it was a popular hobby called oology—a great word because all the o's look like eggs. But at least all those stolen eggs aren't going to waste; they're kept in museums where scientists can study them." (30) all of them did?

"In the apothecaries' system of weight units, a pound is divided into 12 ounces, which each consist of 8 drams. A dram is then 3 scruples, each made from 20 grains. I hope that made sense. A grain is one 5,760th of a pound. But not a normal pound: this is a troy pound. Which is different from a normal pound. And people wonder why the metric system was invented." (78)

"Thankfully, this was way back in 2015, and in the years since then, people have become much better at spotting fake news online." (78) ow it hurts though

"I guess the idea is that the aircraft was lucky to survive a dangerous situation, so having a part of the plane should bring good luck. But then again, the vast majority of airplanes don't crash at all so, strictly speaking, this plane was bad luck. I bought a piece of the fuselage and attached it to my laptop, which does not seem to have crashed more, or less, than usual." (83) badumchhh

"Overnight, in November 1983, the index jumped from the incorrect 524.811 up to the newly recalculated
1098.892. That is an increase of 574.081 overnight* with no corresponding change in the market. I have no idea how stock traders respond to such an unexpected jump up; like some kind of anti-crash. I assume they jumped back in through windows and blew cocaine out of their
noses." (123)

"[caption] A laser ready to shoot financial data between cities. It holds the world record for the most boring laser ever." (134)

"Yet in the story of 'Deaf Dulac,' an American supervisor complains that his French subordinate lacks the sophistication to grasp his meaning, while the French manager seems happily oblivious to the message her boss is trying to convey." (8-9) a cultural consultant who uses Deaf as a nickname in this way, very cool, instills a lot of confidence in her cultural knowledge

"In reflecting on the story of my awkward engagement with
'Silent Bo,' it's natural to assume that something about Chen's personality, my personality, or the interaction between us might have led to the strained situation." (4) like you using a Jay and Silent Bob reference to talk about him?

" ...joy is what happens when you jump off the edge of what is known, into the adventure of what is true." (310) this is something that sounds good as you're reading it but falls apart if you stop for more than half a second to try to understand what it actually means. which feels like it shouldn't belong in a "science-based" book

"Because pleasure only happens in a context where your brain feels safe enough to be completely and entirely you, without shame or social performance or 'shoulds.'" (302) this feels like a "no true Scotsman" problem, but I suppose only if you try to reverse apply it

"Ser that brings you closer to your partner 'advances the plot,' as opposed to gratuitous sex, for no reason other than that you can.
To have more and better sex, give yourself a compelling reason to have sex, something important to move toward." (149) this makes this section sound more coherent than it was

"I've been discussing this idea of sex that advances the plot with my women friends, and every time, their eyes widen and they say something like, 'And after you're married, the story's over. Happy ending, no more plot. Oh.'
Which ... yeah. But it makes the solution obvious. Add more plot!" (136) and then... she proceeds to never come back to this

"The hrst good news is that sex you crave often isn't sex that feels good remember, liking and wanting are not the same thing. This is 'solace sex,' which is 'soothing but unerotic,' in contrast to 'sealed-off sex,' which is 'erotic but empty.' Solace sex can feel like a relief, because you're easing fear. But let's not mistake relief for pleasure." (236) neither of these options sound great, Nagoski

"She could read during recess, that would be okay. She had a lot of books to read. It would just be like she was a leper, and leprosy really wasn't so bad once you made it part of your routine." (114)

"'Or maybe they're in the process of transforming into some thing else.'
'A turtle!' said Jeremy.
'He means a werewolf' said Adelaide." (106) I don't know why this made me laugh, but it did

"Being with the tribe doesn't replace the Feels built into completing the cycle." (145) oh FFS. How can you be so chronically online you cutesily use the word "Feels" instead of "emotions" in your scientific book and also so in a bubble you use the word "tribe" to describe being among "your people" -- oh, it's white privilege, isn't it. Never mind.

"But a guy who wants sex more when he's anxious or depressed may have less sensitive brakes. A woman who wants sex more when she's anxious or depressed may have a more sensitive accelerator." (60) Italicizing words doesn't actually prove anything about sex differences in the dual control model of sexual desire." (60)

"Dr. Montagu is the author of many papers and books in his several fields, among them The Fallacy of Race (1942), The Natural Superiority of Women (1953)" (309) damn, Montagu

"No faucial injection" (300) oh just you fast forward 87 years, sir, and you'll encounter a true Fauci-al injection

"Dr. Norman Pickles" is an EXTREMELY Rocky Flintstone name

"Good God — I mustn't lose consciousness! What had the Professor said to my wife? 'I don't administer a general anaesthetic to Europeans, for the risk is twenty-five per cent less if a patient remains conscious.'" (283)

"Many men of affluent fortunes, who have given employment and sustenance to hundreds every day in the year, have been abandoned to the care of a negro, after their wives, chil-dren, friends, clerks, and servants had fled away, and left them to their fate." (262) YIKES

"Acquaintances and friends avoided each other in the streets, and only signified their regard by a cold nod. The old custom of shaking hands fell into such general disuse, that many were affronted at even the offer of the hand." (260)

"Slow as I had seen the effects of medicine in the comparatively trifling disease of young females" (241) yikes

"Judged a ravishing beauty by her contemporaries, [Jane Burden] appeared to Henry James as 'strange, pale, livid, gaunt, silent, and yet in a manner graceful and picturesque,' with 'wonderful esthetic hair.'" (55) esthetic hair

"Judged a ravishing beauty by her contemporaries, [Jane Burden] appeared to Henry James as 'strange, pale, livid, gaunt, silent, and yet in a manner graceful and picturesque,' with 'wonderful esthetic hair.'" (55) esthetic hair