The Astute Listener

02/26/2026

Topic: Lying and Cheating

There are many good experiments with young children cheating and lying.

A child is lead into a laboratory and asked to face a wall and told about a toy a few feet away. The experimenter tells the child not to peek and leaves the room. The child is secretly filmed. The experimenter returns a few minutes later and asks the child if they peeked.

Almost all 3-year-olds peek and half lie about it.

All 5-year-olds peek and they all lie about it.

Interestingly, when parents watch the films of their children peeking and lying, they are unable to detect whether their darling offspring are lying or telling the truth.

02/21/2026

The U.S. added 1.46 million jobs in 2024,
it added only 181,000 in 2025. Manufacturing lost about 108,000 jobs in 2025.

02/14/2026

People brag. Does anybody not brag?

Bragging is an effort to impress We try to impress others so people will like us. When people like us, it makes it easier to like ourselves.

If wanting to be liked makes us a little needy, then maybe everybody who brags feels a little needy.

Would you want to be around someone who doesn’t care if no one likes them? Is that safe?

If the above is true, then listening for the bragging becomes hearing that neediness. Maybe this neediness is just a normal part of being human.

When we notice the bragging, we can notice the normal human desire to be liked.

When we notice the bragging, we can decide whether or not we genuinely want to be impressed. It’s OK either way.

Listening for the bragging gives us something interesting to do when we’re listening to people talk. Bragging may be a human frailty. Maybe frailty is just part of being human.

02/12/2026

01/14/2026

A system for checking in with yourself. A timer app. Set it for 30-minute intervals. It makes relying on pure memory alone obsolete.

There are many apps. They are free or inexpensive.

01/13/2026

Notice a worry. A worry is a fear. Notice tension in your body.
Try to relax. Repeat.

01/12/2026

Emotional Reactions.
Is this how we learn about emotions?
By reacting? Too passive for effective learning.

01/11/2026

Emotions are incompatible with calmness.
The stronger the emotion, the less calm we feel.

01/10/2026

Who interrupts you frequently?
When with them, anticipate it.
Anticipation lessens the surprise.

01/08/2026

Interruption Exercise...

Put 5 paperclips in your pocket. Every time you hear an interruption, move a paperclip from one pocket to another.