Writing – Page 13 – ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

Interesting Debate: “The State of Free Speech in America”

2014-04-29

Reference to a very interesting discussion on YouTube about free speech, and a few thoughts on it.
[show the article]

A Short Comment About Digitizing Books

2014-04-24

When you digitize books by cutting them apart and transforming them into a DRM-free OCR'd PDF file -- what about the respect for the book and the respect for the author's work? Some answers.
[show the article]

Moving from Papers to Bookends (update)

2014-04-22

Some thoughts on moving from Papers 2 to Bookends (which seems well loved), and why Sente is not an option (for me).
[show the article]

Expert Feedback on a PhD Thesis

2014-04-20

If you do not have a knowledgeable supervisor involved in your PhD thesis, you are pretty much screwed. Here's why (hint: project planning). (image on left from a workshop on scientific writing)
[show the article]

Dealing with Negative Comments

2014-04-13

Some ways to handle criticism, including how the people in the image on the left dealt with it (Banner on the site of the National Post, advertising their feedback videos.).
[show the article]

Minimum Requirements to React to Comments

2014-04-11

How Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement might be used in a discussion -- to ignore comments below a certain threshold, and to get an idea of the argumentative qualities of the people taking part in the discussion. Also: Viking Ships.
[show the article]

Other Criteria for Good Discussions

2014-04-10

Two other criteria for good discussions: a level playing field (in several variables) and open outcomes. Yup, good discussions are rare for a reason.
[show the article]

Let the Bigots Speak Freely

2014-04-09

Reasons why bigot should have the right to speak, especially if you do not agree with them. Includes counter arguments against this proposal and rebuttals.
[show the article]

Hierarchy of Agreement

2014-04-07

I've adapted Graham's "Hierarchy of Disagreement" to evaluate different forms of agreement. After all, not all agreement is equal(ly good).
[show the article]

Thinking about Switching from Papers 2 to Sente

2014-03-31

Having a literature management program you can trust and that works for you is invaluable in academic work. I thought about switching from Papers 2 to Sente, but it's not an easy decision. Papers 2 is hate-and-love ...
[show the article]

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.