Category Archives: Reference Materials

MIYAMOTO MUSASHI

In an interview, Nishio sensei unapologetically labeled Musashi as “the lowest form of human being.” Understandable. Nishio looked at how little human emotion and human engagement Musashi exhibited; he never married, never started a family, and spent a life dueling to test his skill and mettle. Musashi manifested a coward’s response, by developing skill fromContinue reading “MIYAMOTO MUSASHI”

HUMAN FRAILTY

The human body has numerous design flaws. Poor eyesight (40% of Europeans and 75% of Asians need corrective lenses), an optic blind spot, choking remains a problem (air and food enter via the same tube), etc.; simply stated, humans could be better engineered. But our big brains and the division of labor allowed us to become theContinue reading “HUMAN FRAILTY”

PAIN AS A TEACHER

I learned of Abraham Wald from Jordan Ellenberg’s How Not To be Wrong.[1] It is a story well worth reading because it provides a poignant reminder of the power of thinking critically. During WW2, Wald was part of the Statistical Research Group working through real-time problems to make strategic decisions. Among the questions posed to the groupContinue reading “PAIN AS A TEACHER”