Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

On the Chaiten Front

Chaiten Ash

To keep us up to date on the goings-on at Chaiten in southern Chile, well, the volcano is still erupting! Yes, two weeks in and heavy ash is still being erupted from vent. The latest reports are vague, but Chilean officials are saying things like “There’s been additional volcanic activity that we’re really worried about…” Now, I can only speculate what this means, but this might be an indicate that the SERNAGEOMIN are really beginning to seriously consider that the whole volcano may collapse.

The town of Chaiten, even without a collapse, is pretty much been wiped off the map. 90% of the town has been ravaged by flood waters/lahars from the eruption. The town itself has been declared off limits for 3 months … but that is a conservative estimate at this point.

A pixelated image of a person in a white hoodie walking in the woods, with the person's face obscured by pixelation. The background features reddish handwritten text overlay.

Neuropsych

25 years since Columbine: We’re closer to decoding mass-shooter psychology

Public mass shooters almost always have worldviews shaped by the "3 Rs": rage, resentment, and revenge.

An edited image of elmo peeking out from a trash can, positioned among scattered multiple cartoon-like chat bubbles expressing humorous thoughts.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: “Is there anything wrong with trauma dumping?”

When does "oversharing" become an issue?

Bald man in casual attire sitting on a stool with a strategic diagram background in yellow.

Leadership

Adam Grant on how to identify and develop high-potential leaders

The ability to toggle between abstract and concrete thinking is a key differentiator of high-potential leaders.

A split image with a close-up of a blue eye on the left, and a classical painting of a woman resting her head on her arm on a sofa on the right.

Business

Want true success? Be more philosophical about “good” and “bad” failure.

Bob Dylan gave us the paradoxical gem "there's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all." He had a point.

Starts With A Bang

The idea that matter is mostly empty space is mostly wrong

Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Chaiten Eruption, Day 7

nn Another day, another development at Chaiten. Military stationed near the volcano helping with evacuations reported “booming noises” and saw incandescent blocks getting hurled from the vent area. This suggests that lava […]