Last year, I attended a memorial service online. The service meant a lot to me. The telephone rang, and rather than letting it ring and go to voicemail, I picked up and very quickly said I was attending the service and said goodbye. Even though the caller (“Jane”) was aware [Read More]
(Spoiler alert: I had so much fun putting this together several years ago that I feel a reprint is in order !) No, that is not a misprint. It is the date that John Adams (in a letter to his wife Abigail, dated July 3, 1776) predicted would be the [Read More]
If you have paid the slightest attention to the news over the last few weeks, you have noticed that a heat wave is gripping most of the nation. Excessive heat warnings seem to be posted everywhere. Thus, a recent New York Times article entitled “How Heat Affects the Brain” by [Read More]
Over the last few years, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been front and center. Indeed, the California State Bar has made one hour of continuing education in the technology part of the Mandatory Continuing Legal education requirement. If you take the one-hour webinar, it no doubt focuses on [Read More]
Misbelieving Several weeks ago, I went to a bookstore with my husband to pick up a book he wanted. He did not buy it, but I found an intriguing book: Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins, New York, 2023.) While the book discusses what [Read More]
As mentioned, I teach an online course at USC’s Gould School of Law, which is couched in employment law and teaches how to mediate from soup to nuts. The book we use advocates the use of joint sessions. But I always tell my students that, for some reason, in California, [Read More]
While we all think of “razors” as a tool for shaving, I learned that it also has a different definition. The term refers to a heuristic or shortcut (aka “rule of thumb” ) used by scientists to guide them in creating theoretical models. “The term “razor” refers to the “shaving [Read More]
I always thought that empathy was empathy. That is “…the ability to emotionally understand what other people feel, see things from their point of view, and imagine yourself in their place. Essentially, it is putting yourself in someone else's position and feeling what they are feeling” (“What is Empathy” by [Read More]
