by Eric Novak | Mar 18, 2019 | Articles
Distracted from Distraction by Distraction 1,350 words • 6 minutes In 1907 at an English fatstock and poultry show, Sir Francis Galton asked 787 villagers who were in attendance to guess the weight of an ox that was on display. Not a single person got the number...
by Eric Novak | Mar 12, 2019 | Articles
Hollywood talent – Were the actors really better back “then?” 1,250 words • 6 minutes Reading internet comments can be a real eye opener. Some are intelligent and some are downright scary. Opinions can range from those of a genuine expert to people who think the...
by Eric Novak | Mar 5, 2019 | Articles
A review of Luck — friend or foe? 1,455 words • 9 minutes Gloom, despair, and agony on me Deep dark depression, excessive misery If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all Gloom, despair, and agony on me Although England’s Cambridge University lies over 4,000...
by Eric Novak | Jan 29, 2019 | Articles
Would it have been better if Absalom had been bald? Also, a lesson from the French 1,375 words • 6 minutes Last year, in an attempt at self-betterment (don’t laugh please), I reached for William Faulkner’s heralded novel Absalom, Absalom! Now I know that there are...
by Eric Novak | Jan 22, 2019 | Articles
The tragedy of the three-minute pop song 1,675 words • 8 minutes For those of us of a certain age (and I use the word certain very loosely mind you), we have good memories of listening to pop/rock music on a transistor radio. Surprising as it is to young people, apart...
by Eric Novak | Jan 16, 2019 | Articles
How do we always seem to remember our hotel room number? 1,106 words • 5 minutes The next time you are traveling and staying in a hotel, I ask you to notice a little quirk of human memory. For some reason, most people find it remarkably easy to remember their hotel...