Every day, each one of us has to negotiate through a world that could kill us a thousand ways. From household chemicals that could poison you to bacteria in your food, accidents in the home, accidents on the street, diseases, violent attacks and unexpected acts of God, every day is a cornucopia of potential chaos.…
Author: Ian Fortey
It’s human nature to want to be recognized and acknowledged. Kids want to show off their art to their parents. Employees want to stand out at work. And even citizens of towns or whole countries get some kind of a patriotic thrill out of their place of residence being known for being the best or…
The world is full of unnatural things that humans have created for better or worse reasons. We make plastic; we make Pepsi; we make poisons. Some of the unnatural substances we create make the world a better place, like medicines. Others, like your average chemical or nuclear weapon, are devastating. Good or bad, however, there…
Writers rarely, if ever, crank out a perfect story on the first try. More often than not they go through a few drafts and sometimes the final product is vastly different from the original version. In the modern age, with stories being translated and updated from much older texts, not to mention being adapted into…
Someone once said that “without rules there is chaos.” Not to be outdone, many others have suggested that rules are meant to be broken. So, to summarize, humans want order that they can, when deemed necessary, violate. No one ever said we were an easy species to understand. That aside, it’s true we do like…
Spite is a powerful motivator in life, even if it’s often employed with little thought or consideration and, in hindsight, comes across as something closer to ignorance. Nothing combines all of those elements better than our penchant, as a species, to childishly rename a thing if we become angry with whoever is most associated with…
What’s the most remarkable thing you ever did in a single day? Your proudest achievement, if you will. Many of us accomplish great things in our lives but they’re often the result of a process. The first person in your family to go to college. Writing a novel. Traveling the world. There are all kinds…
They say the human brain has a storage capacity that is in the range of 2.5 million gigabytes. That said, our memory can be rather selective. Fresh things are easily accessible. Over time, those memories, especially less significant ones, fade away. For instance, you can probably remember any of the conversations you had yesterday fairly…
It’s always impressive when something record breaking happens. The hottest day on record. The most expensive hamburger ever made. Even a personal record can be remarkable, whether that’s running your fastest mile ever or beating your taco eating record. And while these onetime achievements are very interesting, there’s something to be said for a sustained,…
They say everyone has one thing they’re good at. The same can be said for countries, too. There’s a country out there that has the most of something, the least of something, the biggest, the smallest, you name it. Now, no one said the things these countries are famous for have to be good or…
A trademark is something used to confirm and secure your intellectual property. You make up a delightful cartoon mouse that captains a boat; you trademark it so no one can steal it and then build an empire. It’s easy. But sometimes those who want a trademark have issues with what exactly constitutes intellectual property and…
In movies, war is often depicted in a very straightforward and well-regimented way, at least in terms of how it’s planned and implemented. Things get terrifying and intense on the field of battle, but behind the scenes it seems like there’s a well oiled machine driving the force. In reality, war is remarkably unpredictable, and…
The American Kennel Club recognizes 195 dog breeds. The French equivalent, the Federation Cynologique Internationale, recognizes 360. So it’s safe to say, no matter whose guidelines you follow, there are a lot of dogs in the world. And that’s just dogs. There are anywhere from 40 to 70 breeds of cats, depending on who you…
There’s something to be said for having the skill, the drive and the tenacity to track something down even when it’s remarkably hard to do so. Once upon a time your ability to hunt and track may have been the difference between life and death. These days it’s less important for most of us, but…
On any given day you can wake up and do literally millions of things. You can ride a horse, climb a mountain, eat a turnip, the sky’s the limit. But do you ever stop to consider that there was a time that someone had to be the first? Everything that has ever been done or…
Some people say money is the root of all evil but few of us would deny that having money makes life easier. That said, getting money involves moving it from where it was to where you are. This happens millions of times per day all over the world with small, barely noteworthy amounts of cash.…
Every movie has to undergo an editing process to refine it down to something that tells a story. Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller famously shot 480 hours of footage that his wife edited down to a 2 hour film. Not every movie has to cut so much, of course, and some edits are…
It’s every entrepreneur’s hope that the business endeavors they undertake will be successful. No one likes being a failure and businesspeople especially like to succeed and make money off of their plans. While some entrepreneurs strike a chord with their customer base and get lucky, others seem to have the ability to make lightning strike…
An idiom is an expression that has the curious affectation of not making sense, strictly speaking. The meaning of an idiom can’t be derived from what the words in it say. In other words, the literal meaning is different from how it’s commonly used. For instance, if computer coding is easy for you, you might…
Given how important your brain is, we haven’t been studying it for all that long and still don’t know as much about it as maybe we should. That said, scientists are still working to unlock the mystery of how that meaty organ in your head controls every aspect of your being and we’re learning more…
Naming things is harder than you might think, at least for some people. The internet is rife with tales of dubious veracity claiming baby name consultants are being paid tens of thousands of dollars to help rich people name their children. And even if they aren’t real, there are a plethora of sites that exist…
Taste is a very subjective thing. Some people love pineapple on pizza, some hate it. Some folks are happy to eat a vegan diet, others are practically full-time carnivores. But what accounts for those foods that can change their taste over time. Is that you and your personal tastes changing over time, or is the…
The United States has had 45 different Presidents up to and including Joe Biden, who is the 46th President. How can he be 46 if there were 45? Because Grover Cleveland was elected to two non-consecutive runs and is considered both the 22nd and the 24th President. That was a first! But it was far…
The world is more at our fingertips today than ever before. You can head out in any big city and enjoy the cuisine from dozens of countries or, if you’re more adventurous, head to the internet and track down recipes and videos showing you how to make food from literally every corner of the globe.…