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The Internet Part 3: Hansel and Gretel

By on November 13, 2012 in Social Commentary, Technology

“Now give me your hand!” he said. “We’ll get home safely, you’ll see!” The tiny white pebbles gleamed in the moonlight, and the children found their way home. –The Brothers Grimm: Hansel and Gretel  I started this series with a look at a TED talk given by Rachel Botsman, an expert on collaborative consumption. As [...]

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The Internet Part 2: Disappearing Bad Reviews

By on November 11, 2012 in Social Commentary, Technology

Two days ago, I wrote about how difficult it is to recognize what is true on the internet. Today I’d like to look at one reason why this happens. I’d like to look at language. Here’s the link to Part 1: http://ireneogrizek.ca/2012/11/08/4341/ Here’s the link to Part 3:  http://ireneogrizek.ca/2012/11/13/4638/ Think of some common phrases we [...]

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The Internet Part 1: People Lie? No Way!

By on November 8, 2012 in Social Commentary, Technology

Part 2 of this article is now available: http://ireneogrizek.ca/2012/11/11/the-internet-part-2-disappearing-bad-review/ Part 3 of this article is now available: http://ireneogrizek.ca/2012/11/13/4638/ I‘m posting an amusing video from Natalie Tran, the young YouTube sensation from Australia. The first 90 seconds of this video tell the story: Now apart from the humorous content, there is a real message here: a lot of [...]

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The Perils of Perfectionism Part 3: Sonnets 116 and 30

By on October 21, 2012 in literature, Social Commentary

In Part 1 of this series, I discussed the untimely death of Shyria Shah, the Nepali-Canadian woman who died descending Mount Everest. In Part 2, I posted a video of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the body-builder turned politician. He disparaged poetry in a speech inaugurating his think tank at the University of Southern California. In this, Part [...]

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The Perils of Perfectionism Part 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger

By on October 15, 2012 in Social Commentary

I’m going to open here with two videos, one from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor of California, and another from Sir Ken Robinson, a British creativity expert now living in the same state. What does Arnold Schwarzenegger have to do with perfectionism? I think we can all agree that Arnie is someone who reaches for [...]

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The Perils of Perfectionism Part 1: Mount Everest

By on September 27, 2012 in Social Commentary

Perils: Noun Plural: Serious and immediate dangers. The dangers or difficulties that arise from particular situations or activities. The Fifth Estate recently told the story of Shyria Shah, the Nepali-Canadian woman who died this past May while making her descent from Mount Everest. She was one of three climbers who died that weekend, the others [...]

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The Difficulties of Cooperation, Part 2

By on August 10, 2012 in My life, Social Commentary

Yesterday I wrote about how cooperation can be difficult. I posted a wonderful TED talk by Margaret Heffernan where she discusses how our unwillingness to disagree with others can lead to lost potential, particularly in organizations where creativity is necessary for both stability and growth. I’m still thinking about her talk because she raised a [...]

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The Difficulties of Cooperation, Part 1

By on August 9, 2012 in My life, Social Commentary

I recently had a falling out with someone I admire. I kept wondering what I was doing wrong. Was my ego getting in the way? Could I have done things differently? I have friends who follow 12 step programs and I’ve learned a lot from them. They say it’s our ego that causes us to [...]

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