The New Ideas Blog

I saw a study of happiness levels from around the world. Denmark was at the top of the list, but you might be surprised at how many countries with awful conditions were ahead of richer ones (The United States was number 23). Some may say that happiness can’t be measured, but the only real argument is about how accurate such measurements are. After all, anyone can think of people they know and confidently pick out one who is happier than another. That’s measurement.

Of course, as is typical with such studies, many (more…)

Yesterday I was reminded how important basic principles or “key ideas,” cab be to our everyday understanding of things. I pulled a frozen meal out of the freezer yesterday and noticed the incredible amount of packaging it had. Why? It seems so wasteful, and yet there are several contributing factors to this situation, based on some key ideas about politics, economics and psychology. Understanding these suggests (more…)

If no congressman I vote for has ever been elected, am I represented? This isn’t a hypothetical. I don’t like any of the choices on the ballot, and when I have voted in national elections, none of my choices have been elected. This is a problem that isn’t unique to me.

A possible solution is to get rid of the house of representatives (more…)

Reading riddles and jokes seem to “wake up” our brains, giving us more creative energy. But inventing them is where the real brain exercise is. I’m convinced that the best comedians have unconscious “humor algorithms,” at work in their mind, and that we can identify them and use them consciously to produce humor more efficiently.

For example, some comedians instinctively look (more…)

Those of you who follow my writing on various websites know that I frequently suggest making “problems” into opportunities. In my Brainpower Newsletter I might propose this as an exercise in creativity, while in my Unusual Ways To Make Money Newsletter I suggest it as a way to create profitable ideas. But there is a more important aspect to this.

Our ideas about “problems” can make us miserable, and changing them can (more…)

A recent article in Newsweek magazine (October 14, 2008) reported on research into how processing digital information can “rewire” the neurons in your brain. UCLA neuro-scientist Gary Small says that the ways in which we gather information and communicate has caused a rapid evolution which could change the human brain. He says, “As the brain evolves and shifts its focus towards new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills.” (more…)

I brainstormed ten new invention or product ideas in an hour Wednesday, using some of my favorite idea-generation techniques. I have included three of them here. Two are related to air travel, probably because I did this exercise while waiting for my wife at the Denver Airport.

I started with one of the most basic techniques, which simply involves (more…)

Want million-dollar ideas? Start with whatever annoys or irritates you. This could be anything from dirty theater seats to showers that are always a bit too cold or a bit too hot. If it is something that irritates enough other people, find a solution - and that might be a million dollar idea.

A great recent example of this is (more…)

Futurists suggest that we can know something about what will happen by looking at trends that are in place and have reason to stay in place. Saying when something will happen is difficult, but certainly anyone who watched the trend in ever riskier loans and constantly increasing debt could have safely predicted that at some point we would have serious financial trouble in the United States. Many people did predict it.

Look closely at the trends in China and India, and you can see that (more…)

I just got a “robo-call” from Rudy Guiliani on behalf of John McCain. He (or at least his recorded voice) just wanted to let me know that Obama is against mandatory sentencing for sex offenders and other violent criminals. I don’t really want to vote for Obama, but McCain keeps convincing me how bad a choice he is too.

Mandatory sentencing is a classic (more…)