General Tips – Page 68 – ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

Keep your Sanity

2014-08-29

Some comments on how you can make your life a living hell -- and on how to keep your sanity.
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Responsibility to New Academic Hires

2014-08-28

Departments can shape or break you. But what is your responsibility to other PhDs and Post-Docs, if you work in a bad department, and they are just starting there?

Image: Somalia map from CIA World Book (see posting for the reason for this image)
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Science, Fraud, and the Flow of Data

2014-08-27

To be able to commit fraud in science, a person needs to have the opportunity to do so. In many cases this means exclusive access to the data. So let's have a look at a major red flag.
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Science! Inspire the Public or Expose the Muppets?

2014-08-26

Two very different YouTube videos with very different approaches to "educating the public".
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Listening to differening opinions

2014-08-24

A couple of interesting videos which are -- normally -- completely outside my view, but still, do have a point.
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PhD work vs Project Work

2014-08-23

In some countries, PhD students are hired to work on a project, usually funded by a national or international organization. This finances them while they are doing their dissertation, part time. Ideally the time is 50:50, but at least in Germany, in many cases it's the project work that takes precedence -- and the "PhD student" leaves after a couple of years ... without having completed his or her thesis.
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Using the Fraud Triangle to Explain Scientific Misconduct

2014-08-22

A look at explaining scientific misconduct by using the fraud triangle by Donald R. Cressey.
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The Actual Price of Things

2014-08-20

How much did you pay for the things you have bought? How much do you pay for the things you rent? Not in money, but in a more valuable currency.
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Randall Munroe’s “What if …” TED Talk

2014-08-19

Recommendation for a great TED Talk and the many uses of science.
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Save the Climate — well, kinda.

2014-08-18

A few comments on climate change.
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This is a private blog showing my opinions. If you have an issue with what I write here, either don’t read it or talk to me directly. Don’t waste your time — or mine — dragging my employer into matters where they hold no authority.

The institution I work for, or rather the people officially representing it, have already distanced themselves from this blog. I find this unnecessary, as I’ve clearly stated in the «About this Blog» section that this is a personal blog.

Frankly, I have nothing but contempt for those who lack the backbone to address their concerns directly and instead resort to passive-aggressive tattling to others. Such behavior strikes me as not only cowardly, but also spineless, gutless, and wholly unprincipled. Moreover, these efforts are as pathetic as they are futile.

That said, I might listen if you present compelling arguments and evidence, as constructive feedback is always welcome. Who knows? We might even both gain something valuable from the interaction.

A comment for those seeking to use this site for personal gain: Given the increase in requests, let me be clear. I write on this blog because I want to. It’s my hobby, my playground. Sometimes people point me to interesting products/services and I write about them. But any request regarding ads or sponsored placements ends up the trash without a reply. And if you think something would be of interest, differentiate yourself from the spammers by referring to a posting — in an intelligent way. (I get enough auto-generated mails to identify them immediately.)

BTW, posts can get updated after I published them if I spot spelling errors (not a native speaker) or think a different wording might improve precision and clarity.

This blog is not focused on a single topic, or method. As long as it is relevant to improving creativity (or allowing it in the first place), it's fair game.
Some postings on this blog deal with freedom, as I think that we need freedom of thought, of speech, of association, etc. pp. to solve mankind's problems. Thus, some postings may seem a bit remote when it comes to organizing creativity. Freedom is, however, the bedrock of creativity.
The heterogeneity of the postings can make reading this blog a bit cumbersome, at least if you are only interested in one topic. You can either use the search function (above), or use the categories or the tags to narrow down the postings you see.