On Writing and Reading: 7 short pieces

Just a Matter of Opinion? A fictional short-short story

Things That Perplex Me: Set 5

Curating

On Risk

A Word With Marty: "CURATE"

A Word with Marty: "GENIUS"

The Value of Reconsidering

True, first impressions are often right. We’ve all said, “I wish I would have trusted my first instinct.” And then there’s the advice on taking multiple-choice tests: Trust your first answer.

But when should you reconsider? I explore in my Psychology Today article today.

The Bar-Mitzvah: A short-short story about being judgmental.

As my PsychologyToday.com contribution today, I offer a short-short story that tells the thoughts of a person attending a bar-mitzvah. Does he deserve opprobrium as "judgmental" or praise for his discernment?

Becoming a Better Judge

University of Chicago Assistant Professor Ed O’Brien studies how accurately we appraise ourselves. For example, are we, overall, better people than we used to be? And how accurate are our specific predictions, for example, how likely we are to lose weight? O’Brien also looks at what affects our recommendations’ accuracy, for example, what movie to see? Finally, he goes beyond description and opines on how we might actually improve rather than just think we’re improving.

Pacific Standard named Ed O’Brien one of the Top 30 Thinkers Under 30.  His research has been profiled on NPR, The Atlantic, TIME, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.  He is my PsychologyToday.com Up-and-Comer interview today.