Links of the Week II

Dogs, frogs, owls and chickens... this week's links are full of animals!

Oh, and don't forget to check out some of the world's best beards ;-)

German:
Snoopy als Trauzeuge? Ja, warum denn nicht!
Internationale Deutsche Bartmeisterschaft in BaWü
Der "Skywalker" von Moskau und sein Ausblick (Fotostrecke)
Jetzt weiß ich, was ich beim nächsten Italien-Urlaub unbedingt machen muss!

English: 
The inflation of everything
Japanese woman defies gravity (I highly recommend looking at the photos in full-screen mode)
Sometimes frogs need to chill too!
An owl as mother of chickens

Quote of the week:

"Texting and e-mail and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if we wish to, we can delete. Or retouch: the voice, the flesh, the face, the body. Not too much, not too little - just right. Human relationships are rich; they're messy and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning them up with technology." (taken from Sherry Turkle's article The Flight From Conversation in the online version of the NY Times)

What American Football and Dating Have in Common

I've never tried online dating. I don't think I ever will.
But if you had asked me why I don't want to give it a try, I would not have had a very reasonable answer for you. It was just a feeling, a hunch that I wouldn't really enjoy it, that it wouldn't lead to finding a long-term partner anyway. I couldn't explain it... until now.

Why Don't You Prove It?

We all like proof. Come on, admit it. How many times have you asked someone to "prove it"? Especially when they're telling you something that just doesn't sound like it could actually be true.

"No, I can't believe that! Seriously? ... Prove it!" 

As it turns out, asking for proof might not always be such a good idea. I recently came across Jonah Lehrer's article The Truth Wears Off, which was published in The New Yorker in December of 2010. In it, he writes about the so-called 'decline effect', which has recently become a heavily debated issue within the scientific community. 

Links of the Week

Every Sunday I will (try to) post my favorite links of the past week, some in German, some in English.

So here they are for this past week:

German:
Inder findet Mutter mit Hilfe von Google Earth
Bodo Wartke erklärt, wie die Welt ohne Werbung wär'
Sie haben mal wieder zugeschlagen: die Yes Men

English:
Did Women and Children Really Go First on the Titanic?
Rich people will always find a way to hide their money from the state's reach!
I wish I was as creative as this 9-year old :-)

The women's vote: does it really matter?

Once again, the Daily Show makes the point like no one else can:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

So what do you think? Do women actually matter now? ;-)

How to Enjoy the Hot Tub

I love reading. People who know me well can confirm that, I'm sure. Recently I started reading a book called The Upside of Irrationality (The unexpected benefits of defying logic at work and at home) by Dan Ariely and yesterday I stumbled on a - in my opinion - very interesting chapter entitled On Adaptation. The subtitle says Why We Get Used to Things (but Not All Things, and Not Always), which intrigued me right from the start, because I'm usually good at adapting. I tend to see myself as a pretty "flexible" person that doesn't have too much trouble adapting to new surroundings, new people, etc. So I was curious to find out if there was something new I could learn about adaptation and especially if it is always a good thing. 

Welcome to My Blog!

Hi and welcome to my blog!
If you've arrived here, you have at least a slight curiosity as to what exactly is on my mind. Well, you've come to the right place...
Feel free to look around, read, reflect and comment on everything I write. Who knows, maybe you'll find yourself thinking about things that you didn't even know existed just a few minutes ago.
And if you realize that what's on my mind is so far removed from what's on your mind that you couldn't care less about it... don't worry, there won't be any hard feelings on my part - I promise!

Sincerely Yours,
Carsten