Understatement of the Week?

"In setting the nation on a course to map the active human brain, President Obama may have picked a challenge even more daunting than ending the war in Afghanistan or finding common ground with his Republican opponents."

–The opening sentence of the article "Connecting the Neural Dots" by John Markoff in today's New York Times.

Winter Week-End Indoor Flower-Blogging!

(Click images for full-screen).

I was just trying to photograph some tulips...

Compelling and Devastating.

"The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" by Michael Moss will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine.

Not Speaking & Still Wanting to be Heard

I have severe laryngitis. I can't say "hello" or "thank you". I can't yell at my cat to stop eating my Valentine's roses. I can't cry for help. It seems that I can't immediately be heard.

This is an interesting and insightful condition for a communication coach, and for someone who essentially earns a living by speaking.

Has this happened to you? Have you been in a situation when you could not speak? Has it changed the way in which you approach writing, facial expressions, or bodily expression?

Title of the Week!

The article, "When Pinocchio's nose does not grow: Belief regarding lie-detectability modulates production of deception," appears in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

"Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s."

"Now, if we want to make the best products, we also have to invest in the best ideas. Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy – every dollar. Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s. They’re developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries 10 times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation. Now is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race. We need to make those investments."

-Remarks by the President in yesterday's State of the Union Address.

Missed a birthday!

Ten days ago, NeuroCooking became four years old! Thanks for joining us here!

Mid-Winter Dog-Blogging!

Bucky, 2/7/'13.

(Click image for full-screen view.)

Free. Jazz. (or, Sidney & her man Clovis)

May I suggest that you set aside an hour before clicking through to listen to Jason Moran's amazing (and free!) "Live: Time On The Quilts Of Gee's Bend" Suite?

From the NPR website:

Jason Moran, composer and piano
Alicia Hall Moran, vocals
Bill Frisell, guitar
Tarus Mateen, bass
Nasheet Waits, drums

"What if he was the city?"

"Perceptual capillaries filled the entire indoor space, superexfoliating, dully aching, all of them translucent, and all of them [his] own; or had the shopping center shrunk, in all that sick sensation of tininess, until it fit in [his] ear and reduced the thousand sounds to auditory dots, compressing them, in the shell of his cranium, into the pure white rushing of a lifeless ocean?"

-from page 216 of the Picador edition of "The Twenty-Seventh City," the 1988 novel by Jonathan Franzen.

Edward I. Koch, 1924-2013

Be Confident.

My most recent post at the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog explores the difference between confidence and certainty in communication. 

Here's an excerpt:

Confidence allows for fallibility and flexibility, and therefore helps you to develop trust with your audience. Think of the sometimes off-putting perfectionism and certainty of Martha Stewart, versus the humility and benevolent confidence of Oprah Winfrey....

Madeline Albright said, "Certainty comes from believing we have learned all there is to know. Confidence comes from the effort to learn all we can."

And here's a link to the entire short piece.

Be confident!