I got my copy of the latest edition of Mindscape Magazine in the post this morning and it is another great compilation of interesting articles... http://mindscapemagazine.com/
My latest article is all about Common Purpose and also, more broadly, about not for profit organisations and think tanks... It is interesting that since submitting the article the defence minister Liam Fox has been forced to resign over issues linking him to Adam Werrity and also to alleged funding from not for profit companies such as Pargav and Atlantic Bridge. It seems that there might not be a formal investigation into these matters but at least one labour MP is calling for answers... see http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/85903,news-comment,news-politics,how-did-adam-werritty-fund-his-trips-to-meet-liam-fox-the-truth-emerges and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/8829666/Liam-Fox-How-his-best-man-Adam-Werritty-brought-him-down.html
William Hague has called for a lobbying review in the wake of this scandal - it would take more than that to restore my faith in the system of government but more transparency has to be a step in the right direction...
Friday 21 October 2011
Wednesday 7 September 2011
Reading Material
I don't get as much time to read as I used to but love to settle down with a good book as often as I can.. what are you reading at the moment? How do you choose what you read..? Do you follow specific authors or subjects or wait until somebody gives you a new book?
The most recent book that I read is called 'Flipnosis - The Art of Split Second Persuasion' by Kevin Dutton, Amazon link to Flipnosis . I was inspired to read this after researching the area of government think tanks and coming across the 'behavioural insight team.' This all sounded very Orwellian to me and I wanted to investigate further. I have read about the subject in the past and like many people I am interested in psychological experiments; but it is interesting to consider how these results are applied.
One experiment discussed in the book is the 'Milgram' experiment where individuals were told to give electric shocks to a person in another room. The person in the other room was fictional but the operators did not know this; it was scary how many of the operators continued to 'shock' the victims even when there were audible screams. It clearly showed the effect of authority on our behaviour Milgram experiment. Of course, to some extent our perception of authority depends on our social circle and our background but the results are surprising.
This links together with the book that I am currently reading; 'The Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser Amazon link to Filter Bubble. It explains how the internet is becoming more personalised and therefore influencing our choice of news, shopping, friends and entertainment. The power of Google and Facebook to collect our data is probably not surprising but the way that data is used might be...
The most recent book that I read is called 'Flipnosis - The Art of Split Second Persuasion' by Kevin Dutton, Amazon link to Flipnosis . I was inspired to read this after researching the area of government think tanks and coming across the 'behavioural insight team.' This all sounded very Orwellian to me and I wanted to investigate further. I have read about the subject in the past and like many people I am interested in psychological experiments; but it is interesting to consider how these results are applied.
One experiment discussed in the book is the 'Milgram' experiment where individuals were told to give electric shocks to a person in another room. The person in the other room was fictional but the operators did not know this; it was scary how many of the operators continued to 'shock' the victims even when there were audible screams. It clearly showed the effect of authority on our behaviour Milgram experiment. Of course, to some extent our perception of authority depends on our social circle and our background but the results are surprising.
This links together with the book that I am currently reading; 'The Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser Amazon link to Filter Bubble. It explains how the internet is becoming more personalised and therefore influencing our choice of news, shopping, friends and entertainment. The power of Google and Facebook to collect our data is probably not surprising but the way that data is used might be...
Friday 12 August 2011
Falling down the rabbit hole
I'm currently working on my next article for Mindscape Magazine, whilst also editing my second book 'Journey to Rainbow's End' and sometimes I feel like I've fallen down the rabbit hole and I love it!
As some of you know my research is triggered by dreams and intuition; often I start in one place and have no idea where it may lead. Within minutes I find myself following a trail of internet links or ideas that can sometimes shock me to my core. As I said above - I love it, but sometimes this is challenging.
I'm not going to spoil the surprise by detailing my latest research here - you will have to check out the magazine but its fascinating stuff and I'd love readers to get involved in doing their own research too... You never know you might fall down the rabbit hole too!
As some of you know my research is triggered by dreams and intuition; often I start in one place and have no idea where it may lead. Within minutes I find myself following a trail of internet links or ideas that can sometimes shock me to my core. As I said above - I love it, but sometimes this is challenging.
I'm not going to spoil the surprise by detailing my latest research here - you will have to check out the magazine but its fascinating stuff and I'd love readers to get involved in doing their own research too... You never know you might fall down the rabbit hole too!
Sunday 7 August 2011
New Beginnings
Its been a while since I had the time to write. Since I wrote last I've had a gorgeous baby girl and taken a break from researching. However, I am back in action now and am editing my second book 'Journey to Rainbow's End'. I have also written an article for Mindscape Magazine http://www.mindscapemagazine.com/ the next edition is due out the beginning of next month - watch out for it in WHSmiths.
I have a huge backlog of research; current subjects I'm looking into are NLP, quantum physics, Coca Cola and the Knights Templar. I've just finished reading Mark Thomas' great book 'Belching out the Devil' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPJZU1U_ZZ0 I'm sure some of you will remember him from Channel 4 many years ago..
I promise to update this blog more regularly in future - not leaving a few years between posts!!
I have a huge backlog of research; current subjects I'm looking into are NLP, quantum physics, Coca Cola and the Knights Templar. I've just finished reading Mark Thomas' great book 'Belching out the Devil' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPJZU1U_ZZ0 I'm sure some of you will remember him from Channel 4 many years ago..
I promise to update this blog more regularly in future - not leaving a few years between posts!!
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