As part of my thinking about a possible World After Capital, I have been looking into human needs. A framework that is frequently mentioned in that context is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is a great example of something that remains a popular reference point despite being largely a conjecture and having been superseded by subsequent research (which tends to be much less well known). There are two psychological needs though that appear to be quite robust across different studies: purpose an...

In a previous edition of Homeschool Wednesdays, I had written about different ways of motivating the study of math. In particular I suggested that showing how math can be beautiful may be one way to get some kids interested in it. My first foray into that was showing how spirals occur in nature and can easily be modeled using math. In my presentation this past Sunday I talked about waves. Here it is: Math & Beauty 2: Waves from Albert Wenger When I presented it, the embed on Slide 10 actually...

One of the many things I love about homeschooling is the ability to use current affairs to motivate the study of history and civics and more. And it is hard to imagine a richer quarry than NSA surveillance and spying. It has everything! Civil rights. Government balance of power. International relations. Computer security. Data analysis. History of spying. And so much more. We took the kids to see the Fifth Estate and have We Steal Secrets and Mediastan on the to watch list. Our son is in a de...

It is definitely Homeschool Wednesday in our household, as Susan has a blog post out about raising active decision makers. My post today will be about math. There are a great many problems with how math is taught in schools but the one I want to focus on is motivation. Generally math is presented as something you just have to know, i.e. as a requirement for other things. In the lowest form that’s a requirement for passing the upcoming test or eventually the SAT to get into college. This is es...

I am a huge fan of Dan Ariely’s writing because I believe it makes behavioral economics relevant to every day business decision making. I have just finished the first two chapters of his new book “The Upside of Irrationality” and can already strongly recommend it. Chapter 2 in particular is be a must read for anyone who manages people but in particular for folks who manage engineers. In it, Dan describes a series of experiments involving MIT students building with Legos that are cunningly con...

At the DLD panel on education – which was moderated well by Simon Levine from Accel – there was an interesting discussion about the role of teachers and motivation in learning. On one side was Shai Reshef, an education entrepreneur, who is preparing to launch a free online “University of the People." On the other was Alexander Olek, who has helped create a successful school program in Germany that is similar to the KIPP program in the US in that it emphasizes in school learning (longer days, ...