Ben Nesvig's Blog, page 5
December 9, 2013
Why People Actually Buy Things: Superiority Theory
When you’re meeting a man from Craigslist in a dark empty parking lot at 9pm and he asks you to get in his car, what do you say? I noticed he had a car seat, so I figured he at least has a kid and is therefore (probably) harmless. But then I also thought he could be someone extremely clever like some of the psychopaths who used to pretend to have a broken arm or leg to lure women into their car. I decided to roll the dice because I’m tough and/or desperate to sell an iPhone before it complete...
December 1, 2013
Lessons From Writing 750 Words a Day for 365 Days
One year ago I set out to write 750 words a day, using the site 750words.com, without any set goal in sight. I just wanted to improve my writing and I figured that getting in the habit of writing daily could only help. Somehow, I was able so stick with it, despite a few days where I had to miserable mash my fat thumbs on my phone for all 750 words.
10 Things I Learned From Writing 750 Words a Day For 365 Days
1. Process Over Product
Early on I learned to not concern myself with the output of my...
November 16, 2013
The Coach Who Never Punts
Few people ever top to ask what the purpose is of most things. “This is the way it’s been done and the way other people are currently doing it so that’s how we’ll do it,” is the common thinking. Most of the time it’s right, but never all of the time.
Shoes existed for thousands of years before someone asked, “Why do we make the same shoes for both feet when each foot is shaped different? Doesn’t it make more sense to make a left shoe and a right shoe instead of just straight shoes?” It wasn’t...
November 12, 2013
Systems Will Set You Free
There are some things in life that don’t have solutions, yet optimistic people keep trying to find a cure: death, unjust suffering, and convincing someone they should rinse out their coffee cup with water before placing it in the sink.
There are people who are “hoarders” messy and there are people who are OCD clean, where they intuitively know if a DVD isn’t in alphabetical order. Most of us fall somewhere in between, though likely more toward the messy side. But there is no reason for any of...
October 30, 2013
Happy Halloween
Like most people, I spent last weekend with a bunch of strangers I met on the internet so we could dress up our dogs in costumes together. It was a slightly absurd experience, all of us standing in a circle, watching French Bulldogs dressed up as bacon, a shark, a gold fish, a caterpillar, a hula dancer, and a few others.
It was obviously worth it, but just a little weird. I recently read a book on Hannibal Barca which mentions how the Roman military used to bring elephants into battle to tra...
October 28, 2013
People Love Confidence
Most descriptions of food and drinks are forgettable. Actually, most of everything is forgettable. But the majority of food descriptions are food porn at best and marketing fluff at worst. I’m sure that $8.99 steak is “savory” until the very last bite. Then my eyes stumbled on the Arrogant Bastard Ale, which has one of the best written descriptions I’ve seen for any drink.
The writing is funny, but it’s also smart because it plays upon the human desires of wanting what we can’t have and doing...
October 19, 2013
Random Thoughts: Sushi, Sleeping, and Never Ending Pasta Bowls
When my wife (and every female alive) looks upon a full rack of clothes and says, “I don’t have anything to wear,” later specifying that she doesn’t like any of her options, I could never really understand it. I have 259 drafts on this blog, most only just titles and had the same exact thought. My blog has nothing to wear.
There is such a thing as too much customer service. When we live in a society where immediately after I order a sandwich at a coffee shop, the barista assures me it will be...
October 2, 2013
Will They Miss You When You’re Gone?
About 4 years ago, someone recommended a TV show to me. Having nothing in my Netflix (by mail!) queue, I got the first season on DVD. It wasn’t mind-blowing, but had a solid premise and was good enough to keep watching the next season, which was currently in progress.
Halfway through season 2, without a cable subscription, I was waking up an hour early before work on Monday morning to buy/watch the episodes as fast as possible. Hooked.
For the next three seasons, Breaking Bad somehow continued...
September 21, 2013
Louis C.K. on Cell Phones
This is one of the funniest and most insightful clips I’ve seen recently. Lately I’ve been trying to drive without listening to an audiobook or music on my phone, as in the silence, which I usually avoided, I find my mind generally wanders to an interesting insight on something. And though I agree with Louis CK entirely on cell phones, I still found myself at a Verizon store last night getting the latest iPhone which I don’t need, but still felt compelled to buy.
September 18, 2013
The Paradox of Not Caring What People Think About You
Three of my favorite videos involve “weird” people. All three people genuinely don’t care what anyone thinks about them, which is exactly what makes them so interesting.
Most people have a strong desire to be liked. It’s human nature. This becomes an issue when it is worn like a bad cologne that people can sense, paradoxically pushing people away. Like opposite ends of a magnet, the neediness works as a repellent. Anyone who is in sales or has asked someone out on a date has probably experienc...
