Скотт Адамс перечисляет приметы деградации современного общества:if you someday find yourself in a movie titled "The Hangover Part III," that's a good time to sell all of your stocks and invest in gold
Scott Adams делится с читателями WSJ своими соображениями о том, чему и как следует учить студентов и, соответственно, что этим самым студентам имеет смысл изучать.I understand why the top students in America study physics, chemistry, calculus and classic literature. The kids in this brainy group are the future professors, scientists, thinkers and engineers who will propel civilization forward. But why do we make B students sit through these same classes? That's like trying to train your cat to do your taxes—a waste of time and money. Wouldn't it make more sense to teach B students something useful, like entrepreneurship?Свою мысль автор обильно иллюстрирует примерами из собственного опыта и даже даёт практический рецепт достижения успеха в жизни:
It's unlikely that any average student can develop a world-class skill in one particular area. But it's easy to learn how to do several different things fairly well. I succeeded as a cartoonist with negligible art talent, some basic writing skills, an ordinary sense of humor and a bit of experience in the business world. The "Dilbert" comic is a combination of all four skills. The world has plenty of better artists, smarter writers, funnier humorists and more experienced business people. The rare part is that each of those modest skills is collected in one person. That's how value is created.Адамс заканчивает свой реферат (рекомендуемый к тщательному изучению) на мажорной ноте:
Remember, children are our future, and the majority of them are B students. If that doesn't scare you, it probably should.
Scott Adams приветствовал выпуск новой версии флагмана умной телефонистики статьёй, подробно объясняющей далёким от техники читателям, почему сейчас (всё ещё) имеет смысл покупать акции компании Apple. Рекомендуем к тщательному изучению весь текст, а здесь приведём лишь его центральный тезис.Recently I bought something called an iPhone. It drops calls so often that I no longer use it for audio conversations. It's too frustrating. And unlike my old BlackBerry days, I don't send e-mail on the iPhone because the on-screen keyboard is, as far as I can tell, an elaborate practical joke. I am, however, willing to respond to incoming text messages as long as they are in the form of yes-no questions and my answer are in the affirmative. In those cases I can simply type "k," the shorthand for OK, and I have trained my friends and family to accept L, J, O, or comma as meaning the same thing.
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My point is that I hate Apple. I hate that I irrationally crave their products, I hate their emotional control over my entire family, I hate the time I waste trying to make iTunes work, I hate how they manipulate my desires, I hate their closed systems, I hate Steve Jobs's black turtlenecks, and I hate that they call their store employees Geniuses which, as far as I can tell, is actually true. My point is that I wish I had bought stock in Apple five years ago when I first started hating them. But I hate them more every day, which is a positive sign for investing, so I'll probably buy some shares.
