If you are reading this....

....and you already read my book - Thank you! I'd love to know your opinion. I really do care!

....if you have not read it yet - why? I'd love to know!

...if you don't know what on Earth I am talking about - check this out now!

The decline effect and the scientific method: newyorker.com

The decline effect and the scientific method: newyorker.com

It's amazing - here is the scientific proof that scientific proof is, well, not so scientific after all!

And may by, just may be, it points out something else - as to the way everything in this Universe is changing and nothing can be taken for granted.

Even the premise of gravity is not so certain after all.

Welcome to the real world! Just pick which real-ity you beleive in! :)

Am I my content's keeper?

In our days, when free content is abundant, are we responsible for the quality of it? And if we are - how do we know whether what we put out there is good or bad? One way to go is to watch the number of viewings/comments etc. Another - charge for the content and figure out what it's worth to the readers.
Which way is the future? A free style translation from a Russian poem: "We can not predict, how our words will resonate with the readers heart, but we have a blessing of premonition".... These days, it seems, not only did premonition became a rare phenomenon, but it's also got harder to see what's going on even after the fact (of putting one's content out there)

When a concept becomes a template...

Once upon a time there was a concept. It was a nice, happy concept, clear and useful to those around him. Then concept grew larger and more people learned about him, he was trying to make them all happy, but that was tough... And then one day the concept looked in the mirror and saw a template...
A lot of meaningful concepts share the story. One of them would be a concept of the business plan - initialy the idea was to explore the terrain ahead for the new business itself, and then it became a sales tool, or an item on "that's-what-you-need-to-tick-off-when-you-start-a-business " laundry list.
Victims of templatization are many and I am intending to ponder on it further, but just wanted to start a discussion, hear your thoughts and examples. Jump in!

Are You That Into You?!

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I see more and more people asking the almost proverbial "Is he/she that into me?". Yes, ladies, without breaching any confidentiality, I will reveal to you that men do ask this question too. After all they too are human, or at least are able to prove it when asked by a captcha. But I digress. So, back to the point.

When trying to figure out the answer to the question above people use various criteria - do we like the same movies? Are our backgrounds similar? Does the other person understand me? Is the sex good? Is there too much or too little? Did I meet the parents? Is that person willing to spend money on me? Time with me? Questions are aplenty. Yet the questions which are very seldom asked, if at all is "What does it really mean to me "to be into me"? "

"Am I into me?"

And from this starting point many interesting discoveries are made...

To be continued...

Now on Amazon!

"Rediscovering the power of 'No'", that is!

Sample, buy, spread the word!

It's right here !

Relationships in relationship vocations (Part I)

Part I

Questions, questions and more questions

“The way she looked at me…. She must really hate me! She probably always had!”

“How do I know he is not jealous, not secretly wishing he had everything I have? How can I trust him?”

“This guy thinks he is a baby, he should be taken care of all the time!”

By now, you might have assumed that I am about to tell you yet another story of stormy relationships and entanglements. And I almost am – except they are not the type of relationships that are usually discussed in public. Below I invite you to join me in terra incognita – “relationships in relationship professions”. I promise an adventure – and some food for thought. So, what is it all about?

According to Woody Allen, the sex is dirty only when it’s done right. The same applies to a broader context of a relationship. Any and all long term relationships between human beings include elements of aggression, possessiveness, anger, which go both ways – all the “dirt” that makes it what it is – human relationships. Yet there are whole industries build on relationships, where the “dirty” part is still kept in the closet, at least when it comes to the negative feelings and emotions of the service provider towards a client.

When I say relationship profession I am mean doctors, lawyers, therapists, personal wealth advisors etc. My own experience with these professionals and their clients clearly shows that, transactional part aside, the relations between a client and an advisor is a two way street and (gasp!) there are feelings and emotions, both positive and negative experienced by both sides. Here, I said it again: both positive and negative, on both sides!

At this point you might or might not be saying”So what? “.

The entire essay is now available for purchase on Amazon.com : Buy it now!

Freud, psychiatry, and mental health in China: newyorker.com

Freud, psychiatry, and mental health in China: newyorker.com

I wonder what my Chinese readers would say. Also would be very curious to know the current state of affairs with psychoanalysis in Russia.