Tag Archives: mental hygiene

Smart/Dumb

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Robert Basil

In my profession some colleagues believe that marking hard – giving more D’s than B’s, for instance – correlates with a high level of “rigour” in teaching. To my mind, though, there is often no connection between grade distribution and … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mental Hygiene

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Robert Basil

In a post called “Cognitive” my good friend Jonathan Mayhew explores one of NoContest’s recurrent themes: There is the idea that you can prevent decay in cognitive function by doing inane, mindless games on the computer, such as those peddled … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Muse

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Robert Basil

I’m not a great creative individual by any stretch, but I do respect my muse and do *not* screw with it. My friend kat passed along this letter by musician Nick Cave, which he wrote to MTV in 1996, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nifty little animated lesson: The Psychology of Blame

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Robert Basil
Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Independent Creativity: Making Yourself Successful

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Robert Basil

The wonderful Molly Crabapple explains what she has learned, in fifteen paragraphs. Here are a half dozen: Companies are not loyal to you. Please never believe a company has your back. They are amoral by design and will discard you at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Goosebumps

Posted on January 19, 2014 by Robert Basil

This new ad, titled “Missing Work,” was created by Bell Canada for its “Let’s Talk Mental Health” initiative. It captures a moment – a short routine, really – very common among the chronically depressed. It is staggeringly understated and beautiful. … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Making your own career rules

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Robert Basil

Radhika Nagpal, a computer science professor at Harvard, has written a wonderful piece called “The Awesomest 7 Year Post-Doc or: How I Stopped Worrying and Love the Tenure Track Faculty Life.” It’s about maintaining good emotional hygiene in the academic environment. … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Make Room for Working

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Robert Basil

“Of the three goals to which all aspire – success in love, in society, and in profession – only two are plausible simultaneously: you can’t have a smooth love life, a rich social life, and still get your work done. … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Getting in a communication state of mind: 3 tips

Posted on March 28, 2013 by tierneywisniewski

Over the past few days, I’ve come across three great articles about mentally setting the stage for successful communications. Heidi Grant Halvorson’s “The 2 Epiphanies That Made Me a Better Negotiator” points out that viewing negotiation as a challenge rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Tierney's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment