How to Be Brave

Captain Frederick Marryat (July 10, 1792 – August 9, 1848) was an English novelist, a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the sea story. He is now known particularly for the autobiographical novel Mr Midshipman Easy and his children’s novel The Children of the New Forest.

 

Why am I telling you this?  Because it gives some context to one of the powerful quotes on courage and overcoming fear that I’ve ever read.  These words come from Teddy Roosevelt, 26^th President of the United States of America, and an incredibly brave man. 

Having been a rather sickly and awkward boy, I was, as a young man, at first nervous and distrustful of my own prowess.  I had to train myself painfully and laboriously not merely as regards my body but as regards my soul and spirit…

When a boy I read a passage in one of Marryat’s books which always impressed me.  In this passage the captain of some small British man-of-war is explaining to the hero how to acquire the quality of fearlessness.  He says at the outset almost every man is frightened

In the Pink

I was reading through the latest copy of The Training Journal (as one does) and I came across a familiar name.

From 2-5 of December this year there will be a big event in London about leadership.  Some of the usual suspects will be there (Daniel Goelman and Rudy Giuliani) as well as a few curve balls (Garry Kasparov).  One of the more interesting speakers is Daniel Pink, who will conducting a masterclass on

Les Yeux Sont Le Miroir de L’Dme

I’ve raved before about the exciting work of Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Cambridge University.  He’s written what I think is the best book on the subject of how the sexes perceive and interact with the world differently.  The thrust of it is that men possess system-directed thinking while women enjoy empathy-directed thinking.   There are different sorts of test to assess just how much ‘S-type’ or ‘E-type’ you are.

One interesting test he designed is called Reading the mind in the eyes.   It’s included in his book but the online version is more fun.  It lets you see how well you can judge the feelings and thoughts of people by just looking at a photograph of their eyes.  Most people are actually pretty good at this… but women are slightly better than men.

Empathy is a great skill to have.  It’s the cornerstone of all types of ‘social intelligence’ and well as altruism.  Regardless of how skeptical you might be about Baron-Cohen’s central thesis, you have to admit that we leak far more information about our internal emotions form our eyes than you previously might have thought.

As the French never tire of repeating, “Les yeux sont le miroir de l’dme”.

 

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Say Hello to Snag IT 9

I’ve just started using Snag IT 9 for some screenshots for a client’s project.  I’d last used it several months ago when editing some pictures for myself.  This is version 9.

Are Storm Clouds Gathering?

The BBC and Workology, among others, have taken up the news of the British Chambers of Commerce July announcement - UK in ‘serious’ danger of recession.  Chamber Online expressed concern that business taxation might rise, squeezing an already thin profit margin, borne out by falling cashflow levels in the services and manufacturing industries.  That, added to the slowing up in house sales is making all of us decidedly twitchy…

Welcome to the Blogosphere

We’re delighted that QUB has commissioned us to design and deliver two new courses in October, Welcome to the Blogosphere: Blogging for Beginners and Social Networking.  Further details will be posted on the Current Events Schedule when they become available.