Who writes all this?
I am a journalist who loves psychology, technology and the internet.
Before going to college, I tried waiting tables, working construction, selling leather coats, building and installing electrical control panels, and owning pet stores.
As a journalist, I cut my teeth covering Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast and in the Pine Belt for several newspapers. Since then I’ve been a beat reporter, an editor, a photographer and everything in between.
I work in new media for a broadcast television company where I also produced a television show focusing on the music of the Deep South.
I started this blog because I missed writing and love the topic. I never expected it would become so popular or result in a book. I thank all the people who come here daily and share my stuff. This is so much fun.
You can contact me by clicking this link.
You can learn more about what this blog is about here.
Trackbacks
- How I learned to like gays and country music « The connection
- You Are Not So Smart – Misconceptions vs. The Truth | All My Faves | Blog
- The Sunk Cost Fallacy | Chris Ainslie
- The war inside your brain « here's the thing:
- The art of doing to learn not to succeed… | johnkeiller
- The Sunk Cost Fallacy « Paul Oliver's Blog on Technology and Business
- PodcampAZ 2011 Prize List (so far) | PodCampAZ
- Persona and Facebook « NWA Friends of Jung
- Netzfund #8 - viernullvier
and he usually refers to himself in the third person.
just teasing.
yes, but WHO is he?
One of the major phrases that has stuck with me for decades is “the irresistible pull of self-delusion.” I see it in politics, business, entertainment, art, religion, freeway design, and all “belief” systems. Where will yours be?
I truly dislike people who come to other people’s websites with the specific intention of putting that person down. It’s rather like going to a news site, and reading comments that say ‘this is news?’ It’s sad that some people are just ‘too cool for the shade’ or whatever. If you were REALLY that cool, you’d have your OWN blog or have made your name in some way. It’s old, trite and boring. Please stop. (You are NOT being ‘ironic’, if that’s what you were thinking.)
dear carolina,
1. i didn’t see anything that anyone wrote that put anyone down.
2. having a blog doesn’t make one “cool,” nor is it an accomplishment when clearly anyone can do it. some blogs are fabulous and have meritorious content. some are useless rants. all are easily gotten, so again it’s not much of an accomplishment.
3. i’ve had a blog for about seven years. i’m not cool, and it’s not an accomplishment. nationally syndicated journalist and film critic extraordinaire even posted on his blog that he reads my blog. i’m still not cool, but maybe it’s an accomplishment. point being – that’s a weak arguement.
4. i came here with the intention to read the bio of mr. mcraney. i did not come here with the intention to put anyone down, which i didn’t do. point being – do not pretend to know what my intentions are.
5. have a great day.
6. apologize to mr. mcraney for lying on his blogsite.
@rmv: Sorry, that wasn’t addressed to you. I was speaking of PeteriNova, whom, it seemed to me, was speaking personally of/to Mr. McRaney. I also didn’t mean that simply having a blog makes one ‘cool’. It’s obvious it does not. I’ve been to many poorly written (or worse) blogs. However, I do maintain that there are many people in this world who’s sole reason for visiting any blog is to ‘go trolling’. Again, I was NOT pointing a finger at you. If you knew you were innocent of the accusation I made, why would you respond? I easily saw that your comment was made ‘in jest’.
This all being said, I DO think that people who have well-written, informative blogs ARE ‘cool’. Since I don’t have that talent myself I appreciate it in others. It also depends on one’s definition of ‘cool’, I guess. I’m not referring to the ‘hipster’ type of coolness…which, in my opinion is far from cool. I CAN see and admit that I should have used another word, but I was in a hurry and should have waited to leave a comment at all. Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20.
I don’t know anything else I can say, except that I do apologise for the misunderstanding. I still do NOT understand why you felt I was speaking to you personally. I hope you accept my apology.
oh, also, of all the comments that were left, none of the others seemed to be anything to complain about, so i assumed you mean my comment.
no apology necessary. you were wrong with some of your comments, but you had good intentions. intentions are more important sometimes than results.
see #5
Your mother is fat
funny people! my laugh of the day.
That was just rude.
There is some deep way that we misunderstand our psychology that explains why “poo” would drop in here to say that, about which our gentle host may one day write for us, just as there is likely some similarly deep misapprehension of how we think that led rmv to conclude that your comment was pointed at rmv. So much fodder for future posts.
Here’s one for ya…Comments are like arseholes everyone’s got one.
another player with words !!
:)
I found your blog today, it’s awesome. I really enjoy reading your posts!
Oh! You’re married. :(
i’m not! ;)
hmm..nice…
“”GENIOUS” It’s about time someone actually puts this down on paper for all to read!
I for one, am forwarding to all “ignorant” people I know…
signed; Social Service Worker.
Ottawa, Ontario. Canada
ha ha – read about the tribes… you mean to say the other “tribes” I know.
Ok, I’ve copied everything down for future reference. Now, whats next since you may have stumbled on a new calling. Go for it! Teach the masses.
This is my first time here and I’m already a fan! I’m going to come back often
Great blog-just came across it yesterday and have really enjoyed the posts I’ve read.
Total greatness.
I grew up always getting on everyone’s nerves because I would never take a strong stance on anything. I always thought there was another side that would de-bunk my opinion. So, in the spirit of the ‘Golden Rule” and “walking a mile in another man’s shoes” I never backed anyone up in their absolute-ism. So I now have this long-standing belief that most people are full of shit.
After reading/scanning your blog, it explained a few things while confirming my biases.
Ha!
Keep up the badassery!
Thanks for reading. Huzzah!
I truly dislike people who come to other people’s websites with the specific intention of putting that person on a pedestal. It’s rather like going to a news site, and reading comments that say ‘Its so cool that a news site writes news!’ It’s sad that some people are just ‘too cool for real life’ or whatever. If you were REALLY that cool, you’d have your OWN life to improve or be a genuine social worker in some way.. It’s old, trite and boring. Please stop. (You are NOT being ‘helpful’, if that’s what you were thinking.)
I’m not sure whether the author of the original post noticed this comment, but it’s a delightfully mordant gesture on your part; I commend you the playful attempt.
Thanks for bringing me down a peg, writer guy. I am pretty interested in psychology, and these articles are damn well-written to boot. Is there any chance you will do an IAMA on Reddit?
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/
Thanks for reading. I had never heard of IAMA before your comment. I might give it a whirl.
I stumbled across your blog today and found it absolutely awesome! You made me realize that I’m really not so smart (a must-needed slice of humble-pie) whilst tickling my brain and making me think. I’ll definitely be coming back to read more!
Great blog! I have a degree in psychology and people expect me to explain the world to them all the time. And I wish I could, but due to the relatively technical nature of the lectures that were supposed to teach me some of the concepts you address here, I never seem to be able to relate the proper theory to any particular situation in peoples’ lives. I’m the perfect example of the scientist in her ivory tower… So thank you, thank you for making these concepts tangible – now I can re-direct everyone asking me to explain the world for them to your site! ;-) Love it!
Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for writing great articles on such an interesting subject. Thank you so much, please keep up the great work.
@Luke Richards – Thank you for stopping by. I hope to keep this site going for a long time to come.
I like this blog. Great stuff and thoughtful.
or am I deluding myself?
I won’t let a page slip off, indeed. Please keep writing more!
You are great! I love the style of writing and off course the topics of the articles
thanks for sharing it to the world :)
Love the site; it’s precisely what I would be writing if I had the patience and wherewithal. Keep up the great work and fighting the good fight ;-)
@cøntraba\an¢e – Thanks for reading, and go ahead and give it a shot. It gets easier once you take the plunge.
brilliant.
I believe I will be looking for a new job after they fire me for reading this all day long. At first I just caught the first article but now that I see it goes on, I’ve saved this as a bookmark. I will be sharing this with everyone I know.
Let me know when this is turned in to an ‘app’ so I can be forced to get an iphone and have this with me at all times.
@trevismyusername – Don’t endanger a steady supply of currency, sir. Temperance.
This site is the bee’s knees and the owner should throw more ads on here, indeed.
@anonymoose – I’m afraid I’m completely ignorant about ads and pretty wary of crapping up the site with them.
@Karen Carpenter:
I’m not married. :D
I don’t know if I’ll appeal to you, but thought I had to take the chance anyway. 8->
There’s buzz floating about the net. It contains this site.
I’ve seen it pop up three times now from different folks.
Love the cogsci and bias fun. Great detailed examples and blog focus.
ps: I’m not as smart as I think I am, but hopefully not as stupid either.
Brian Cooper was the third signal on this blog:
http://www.google.com/buzz/brian.s.cooper/ZVrz1ZtCrdw/Really-digging-this-site-http-youarenotsosmart-com
If you have time David could you go comment there and freak him out, thanks.
@Mark Essel – Tell Brian Cooper I said, “Thank you for adding to my buzz.”
Hello, I would just like to thank you for this website that is so full of entertaining and educational reads. It’s the kind of thing I love, and it got me through many a bored afternoon at my last job.
Thanks, man. Glad to help.
Nice. Now I can pretend I am smart and show all my comrades who believe themselves to be smart that they are not in fact smart!
Victory to the uninteligentsia :D
These are some of the most brilliant articles I have ever read. Amazing.
I too am a lover of psychology. I stumbled upon one of the articles in this site through a friend. I read a couple of other posts and i became a fan of urs. The ease with which you are able to put the science behind the delusions is what attracts me. I never manage to express my views on why/how of normal human thoughts/delusions to my ‘ normal’ friends. They end up confused. Anyway i love ur blog and will be looking forward to some discussions or debates in future as i too keep note and have opinions on most of ur observations.
Lord, rmv, you sound like little short of an incredible jackwad when you say to Caroline – or anyone, for that matter:
“you were wrong with some of your comments, but you had good intentions. intentions are more important sometimes than results.”
“You were wrong?” About an opinion? Awesome. I happen to 100% agree with Caroline about great writers being cool. Yep, cool.
(This is your cue to tell me I am wrong and how you are smarter and more correct in many ways.)
rmv, carolina and josh – HAHAHAHA! that killed me!!
for everyone else, i am smart…just dont have the patience for linears :P
nifty site.
The next post should be about the You-Are-Not-So-Smart-Blog Effect :
Misconception : This is the best blog ever, this will change my life and others’.
The Truth : I do want to acquire all the knowledge in this blog and change my mind about every little things I thought were true. I do want to teach this to all my family and friends. I do not want to tell them about this blog, don’t want them to know more than I by reading all those precious informations. MuAhAHAHA
Anybody here suffering from the same syndrom ?
Haha, I feel your pain :) But I’m gonna share it anyway, only with the really cool friends though ;)
oh my god cedrick hahahahaha thats exactly what ran through my mind!
but i wouldnt do such a thing….not i….not ever……
but maybe they would *points over there*
scoundrels.
While I love the subject matter and the in-depth analysis on your site, I feel compelled to leave a bit of constructive feedback.
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but your writing—while technically very well worded—is almost impossible to read in large chunks due to the overuse of the return key. Very rarely will a paragraph consist of more than a single sentence, which, combined with your generous line spacing, effectively destroys any sort of flow your narrative may have; It’s a very staccato sort of reading pattern, akin-to-placing-hyphens-between-each-word. I very much want to spend more time with your blog, but as it is, getting through a single post is more of a chore than it really needs to be.
I know you’re an accomplished journalist and are probably not fishing for grammar consultation; like I said, I just felt compelled to ask about it. Wonderful blog, either way.
This is actually the way journalists are trained to write – one idea per paragraph. In the book I moved away from this style. Thanks for the criticism.
I am curious as to why you phrase the blog posts in the way you do. It is as if you are suggesting that all people reading the blog posts are all ignorant to their faults and subsequently make no effort to correct them, and that it is your blog that is set to enlighten them.
I like the posts and they are interesting. It is also true that MANY people believe many of the “Misconception” sections to be true, and are in need of correcting…though I do not think it should be phrased as if ALL people misconceive their brain states.
I looked through the first full page of blog posts and all articles were ones that I had previously read in either Science News Magazine, or Skeptic Magazine (and I am not suggesting that you stole them in any way) so those, as well as years of training in philosophy and critical thinking at the university have helped both myself and several of my friends/family to (mostly) overcome all of the issues you stated.
Good site, and keep it up, though I would suggest a change in phrasing so as to not offend those who actually do pride themselves on having worked past the misconceptions of human brain perfection.
Thanks.
RB
It is purely a style choice to encourage engagement from the reader. Thanks for noticing it, but it is done in jest.
The fact that you pride yourself on “having worked past the misconceptions of human brain perfection” probably lands you smack bang in the middle of one of these misconceptions…
The blog is titled “You Are Not So Smart”. To move away from addressing the reader directly would confuse the issue and be rather clunky… and I’m not sure changing the title of the blog (or book) to “Some People (But Not You) Are Not So Smart” would be a savvy move.
At no point does David suggest that he is smarter than any of his readers. He does not condescend the reader with his writing, and I think should be commended for the inclusive style with which he tars us all.
I’m sure there’s a blog post here that covers pride, but i’m too lazy and feckless to bother finding it…
…great blog though! Thanks!
Any chance that the guy in the banner at the top with the pipe is the same one I saw in Bamberg Germany who asks, “does you english cut the mustard?”, if so who is he?
Hi,
I really enjoyed reading this blog and I read most of it straight through. Now I need some new posts from you please to explain why I’m not so smart :-)
Jo
The Misconception: Never judge a book based on its title.
The Truth: The title of your blog is the entire reason I even took the time to click on its blog link while reading the newest entry of one of my favorites- crimeandfederalism.com
I merely glanced at the list of other blogs that the author enjoys, all that glanced back at me was “You Are Not So Smart” and I immediately judged– “thats f**king awesome” while thinking “ohhh I’m going to like this…” as I click on the link and face its wonderful real truth which sometimes really needs to be punched into peoples faces before they even begin the ponder the ‘radical idea’ as a possible truth in their head.
There is entirely way too much I could continue on with…but I’ve bookmarked and subscribed to your blog already–which gives me time to expose such intensity in much smaller doses– easier to swallow.
MWAHAHAA! Yes, my cunning plan worked. Thanks for reading and “getting” it.
Greetings Sir McRaney. First may I congratulate you for giving us all something worth reading. Great food for thought. I also wanted to inform you that I have quoted you in my blog in a collage of quotes and theories twined together. I do hope you really don’t mind. (If you do then I apologize and shall remove) http://mavrokou.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/independent-self/
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Is still the Cash McCool open?
@Louis Diaz – Never heard of it. So, I guess not.
where are you? i so look forward to new posts. dang.
@brooke – Sorry, I just moved into a new house and it put me way behind on the blog. Also, I’m writing a lot of content for YANSS which isn’t showing up here right now. More on that in a few weeks. Thanks!
Long Live Steve Munsey, praise the lord
an interesting site; though in learning these things I feel I am only perpetuating my “self-serving bias” by telling myself I am now somehow better informed and more aware than the average person. hmm… I think I can only reach a sort of post-modernist conclusion that we are nothing but the sum of interactions of forces beyond our control and any sense of self-direction we may have is an illusion. unfortunately, this is a conclusion which leaves me absolutely nothing to do as a result other than continue on with the status quo.
I appreciate ur real-time examples..
Thanks!
Nice blog.
Content here is pretty interesting. Thanks for the great reads!
Somebody wrote the name of this site in the window of a coffee shop in London, I was curious so I checked it out at home. Pretty cool, I’m a psychologist too. “What are the odds” :) Love it, thanks for posting!
@Caramel Gazelle – That is super cool. I’d love to see a photo of that.
Hi xxx,
I guess the name is missing :)
I find your blogs very interesting. have subscribed to your RSS feeds in my google reader. I have shared a lot of your blogs via my Google profile.
One topic which I have in my mind is comparing music of different cultures.
I am a big fan of Indian Classical music (To be more specific its Hindustani classical music. Here is the wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindustani_classical_music).
Many Indian classical musicians have made it big in the west like Pt. Ravi Shankar, Anoushka Shankar, Pt. Jasraj (He has a training institute in NewYork), Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, etc.
At the same time, Western classical music too has many connoisseurs. In fact, it reaches far more people and is far better organized than its Indian counterpart.
I would like you have a look at this topic. How does music from different regions converge?
In case you need more information, do let me know. I have given my two email ids and my blog link as well.
Regards,
Vivek
@Vivek – I’ll look into it. Thanks for the idea.
hello man, your blog is really cool, i like the clean and content focused design and of cource content. bookmarked, will come back to read every article.
@meditationguru – Thanks a bunch.
For those who asked who he is, he is David McRaney. I followed the link he provided.
For Mr. McRaney, excellent site and commentary on the fallacies of thinking.
Love it!
Hello! Do you do interviews? :) I’m interested in talking to you for my podcast – details at http://www.tokenskeptic.org. :)
That was a fantastic read, sir. Thank you very much.
What are you doing to that poor bird..??.The bird is saying “why don’t I tap you on the head”
I like to turn your text into speech and listen to it while on the bus going to work, gets me in the right frame of mind.
keep up the good work!
@Mark – That bird is the pet of a coworker, and yes, it is wearing a dress.
Excellent informative and amusing article. You just described my decision making process down to a tee. At least I have an excuse….it’s inate!
Thanks.
This blog is excellent. That is all.
Great blog!
Great blog. After reading a few posts, I now sleep better at night. Thank you.
I love the blog. You write clearly and interestingly, and the information on this blog is right up my alley. Please keep up the work!!!
i’m going to leave this comment now. i’ll read the blog later.
; )
in all seriousness, i really like the blog. i’ve read it for a while now, and each time i do, i think it’s refreshing that there is something out there, easily accessible and very thought provoking.
keep up the great work! i’m spreading the word.
Who is the chap with the pipe on your banner? Obviously, I’m not so smart, but he looks like he actually IS as smart as others might think he is. BTW, great blog. Your writing style is superb, your content sublime. ~WB
Epic Blog. I really enjoyed reading “You are not so smart- Misconceptions vs. the truth post. :)
Sepi.
Hi!
I’m a fan of your blog. Congratulations for your great job. I found out about this in http://www.lifehacker.com in the article about procrastination.
I’m actually having troubles with it and other fundamental psychological problems that can be easily translated in drowning in a glass of water. Oh, well. I just hope that i can get over it. I haven’t lost my hope in improving myself.
Anyway, great job on the blog and keep it going. Looking forward for your next post!
self deluded coincidences here: I am a blogger and I am a TV journalist and I am called Hattie which is part of where you live so there are some sort of coincidences and I didn’t even know such a place existed until I stumbled upon your blog which was suggested to me because of the topics I like and I like your blog so isn’t that a coincidence?
Great blog!
I loved your posts. Haven’t read all of em but I think I will read them pretty soon without procrastinating.
Great man.
Great Blog Mr.Mcraney! I’m buying a copy of the book ver. once it comes out.
So much nothing to do. Feeling useless as a bag of wet mice while walking the streets of Amsterdam like an inventor of depressing clichés. Day in, day out, day in, day out…
Then I came upon this blog. Read it. All. And the process of reclaiming my brain is in full swing. Wow, it feels good to feel free again. No more wet mice for me. Great content here!
Super site, super comments, even! At least it kept my atttention when I should have been doing something else. My blog, my personal page, http://www.bonniebmatheson.com gets few comments, even though I often post articles that might be considered controversial. From now on I am going to link to your blog because you have such “depth” here on so many subjects that I just touch upon lightly.
Reading this has been a true revelation to me about how to construct good content. I will come back again (especially if notified about updates) Good for you, for getting so much attention from others in the comment section. When you have their attention, you just may be able to enlighten others to things you feel are important!
As one whom you have recently enlightened, I think you.
I believe the key to a great blog is content which takes itself seriously on a very narrow subject with a clear, strong voice. Don’t give up. Thanks for reading!
I don’t like blogs. I don’t even like my own blog. But I really like your blog. A lot. Also, I kind of think I’m learning something so I’m going to keep on reading. I just wanted you to know that. Thanks Mister. (I also don’t like talking to strangers so this is a big day for me.)
Thanks for reading this blog and doing a number of other things you normally hate. I’m happy to have you here.
Think this is fantastic, love reading it.
Thanks so much.
(going to be really annoying and say ‘first comment of 2011′)
Thank you!
My bad, didn’t see the other comments from 2011.
So glad to have found your blog! I teach high school psychology and you’ve gathered a lot of intriguing material about self-delusion that will be a great resource for us. Thank you!
Thanks. Glad to have you as a reader.
You are not so smart, you just point out the obvious stuff dumb people dont think about.
@john you aren’t so smart either. Does it make you feel smarter to comment that all the stuff covered in this blog is “obvious”, implying that all other people are “dumb” but you aren’t? Get over yourself! Why not read “The Dunning-Kruger Effect” – I think it might apply.
I recently quit smoking, and reading your post about extinction bursts only makes me want a cigarette that much more.
Forgive me for my ignorance, but when will the context be over – and the writings return?
I’m a college student in China.Thanks for providing so many awesome articles for us! I’d like to translate some into chinese when I have enough time.
I enjoyed that article about Procrastination. Of course, I should have gone to bed an hour ago because I’ve got work tomorrow, but… I’ve been putting it off.
Get the new SOCOM 4 April 19th only if your per-order at Walmart.com.
Seriously? This has to be a joke…
Hi! I just did a quick browse at your articles and I am fascinated by the Procrastination topic. I’ll read all about it tomorrow! LOL
I’m self delusional and I find these blogs untrue.
You are a genius man. I have never seen so many great insights all on 1 blog. Keep it up. :)
Fascinating stuff, exceptionally well written. Is now part of my daily routine. Thanks!
Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for writing great articles on such an interesting subject. Thank you so much, please keep up the great work.Looking forward to your book
Thank you for reading. Buy two. Give the gift of humility! No, seriously, thanks.
Very interesting read. The question I have is this – have there been any studies to determine the optimal ways to actually effect a change of opinion in others under similar circumstances? Has anyone ever done a study on ways (non-intrusive and non-rights-violating ways presumably – we’re all aware of brainwashing and cults) that a human being’s long-held beliefs CAN be shifted? What does it take? Obviously advertising and politics deal in similar concepts, as do many other fields, but I’m talking about actions like legitimately convincing a conspiracy theorist that unassailable facts contradict their theory, and getting them to adopt a new set of beliefs *instead* of strengthening their existing beliefs. I am sure this is quite difficult, but I wonder what psychological studies of the topic have been completed, and how legitimate psychologists or other serious studiers would go about it? What’s the shortest path to a total change of heart/mind?
I love this blog. Excellent writing, keep the articles coming! :)
Thanks so much.
In the past month, I must have referred to the backfire effect half a dozen times, most recently after brain-dumping a bunch of “facts” to back up my concerns about nuclear power in answer to a friend who called me a “Luddite” for having those concerns.
It breaks my heart to “know” that neither of us is likely to be moved by the other’s “facts”, but thank you, anyway, for showing me that I’m not so smart.
Many times in my life, when I won a debate or a competition or an argument, I felt a bit bored after winning. Because there was nothing more to do. As a student and later at work, I used to play cricket. On a couple of occassions, I was responsible for pulling the team out of the teeth of defeat and enabled them achieve a ‘draw’. These matches and the way I played are so vivid in my mind and I am at a loss to find an explanation for this. I am always tempted to take on the severest of challenges – intellectual of course – and try to come out successful and these days, I am aching for more but somewhere I feel that I am not finding the same juicy feeling which I used to enjoy in school or college.
Since you are a pschologist and a journalist, will you be able to let me grasp why do I not get the good feeling when I win as much as fighting a situation and preventing an imminent loss…
It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.
Your posts rock! Don’t quit writing, evar!
You make me slightly smarter by reminding me that I am not so smart. I’d just like to thank you for an awesome blog. :)
My adult son introduced me to your blog after we had a discussion of how and why I invest in the stock market (Sunk Cost Fallacy) … now I know why he’s such a liberal… he hangs out with people that’s got humanity all figured out LOL!
Hi! Firstly, your blog is awesome, and I’ll be buying the book.
Secondly, there is a typo on the last line of the “Who Writes All This?” post above. I think it should read “…..live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.” I suspect it occurred because your post was originally in the third person and you have retrospectively changed it to first person.
Sorry for pointing it out. I just can’t help myself!
ohhh, you’re a GirlNoWonder…..
Greaaat! Greaaat! stufff…. :D
Dude, whats up with all the guns?
In your promo video, in your avatar…
Kinda really creepy.
Great way to make money.
Are you “rich” yet?
Haha. Not even close.
The art of doing not to succeed? I succeeded by hardly no effort and by believing alone!
I don’t know if this is what you mean, I will try! 1. I always wanted to be a writer, so I write to the newspapers in the opinions sections and have done maybe 40 yeah…+ already…Don’t know if they do anything or help anyone etc, just do it because I like to!
Oh yeah… I also did a forward for a book, but because I am the writers friend.That book is really good though!
I won a writing contest a few times, got first place and a second place..so maybe I am a writer and I am not being delusional that maybe some day I will write, I just don’t make a lot of money and am not on the top of a best seller list.
2. I also wanted to be a photographer in a way…becasue I like photography…So I Just started taking photos and now have a photo on the front of a book and other photos in other books. I Just do it to have fun and don’t make a lot of money, I believed I could be as good as others, just don’t have the smarts for making huge bucks. But Just like doing it anyway!I could tell you other odd stories, but I will leave you with these! Now all of it did not cost a whole lot..I did fight with my mind as to if I could go places doing this…I have but not far ..Oh well It’s fun anyway!Am I samart because I did what I wrote..Not really! I got there for the effort and believing maybe I could, it’s just fun stuff and “God” helped me out! : )
The “Wizard Of Oz” said it the best you could ever say it!!
He looks formiliar…Ever been to Central Wisconsin?
I like you posts, don’t how-ever like the gun you use in the video! I see unintentional subliminal messaging that could effect a person or might not be good for kids reading or seeing those posts! That is definitely not smart!
Brains are not needed to live, it’s the will power that guides us and Gods guiding hand also!
I don’t have to explain all the other stuff, you probably know that already!
Will Power to live and believing in yourself takes over brain power when you come down to it..all the other stuff does not matter!
I’m hearing this on Coast To Coast AM right now – I kinda like this dude! Carry on!
Hey David, Ive been reading your blog for two years. Its really great, thank you for all the info that you have presented. I hope you continue what you are doing. Greetings from Saudi Arabia
Thank you. Please don’t stop here. I’m just a writer/journalist. Keep exploring.
My AFTRA Performer ID# 74066. Come to our next meeting. Contact at 1-415-391-7510. 350 Sansome St Suite 900- San Francisco,CA.
you want to do a book about a fourty five year old loser that RAISED FOUR CHILDREN ALONE in poverty in canada has no job no car no anything
soon to be homeless after raising four children alone with no family and no support
OH wait of course not because no one cares about LOSERS LIKE ME
great title of a book i say LOSERS LIKE ME
Great blog David. I thought I was smart enough but now I know where I stand. Keep up the good work. Looking forward for some new posts…
Please write more.I am not so smart and need to read more smartening articles! Please!
I work in forensic psychiatry and recognise all of the concepts you speak about. Couldn’t help laughing out loud with your cool sense of humour and what I like the most is how you make them so relevant to our everyday lives.. wonderful job. Am off out to buy my copy.. enjoyed hearing you on Coast to Coast recently also. All the best
This is the kind of the book version of a magician pulling me up on stage and exposing my human nature, both for fun and brainfood :D
As a teacher of Adults, I find David’s book relavent to their cognative learning styles. thank you David for putting down on paper what makes perfact sense.
David, I heard an interview you gave on CBC Radio on Tuesday, Jan. 3 (or I heard it on Tuesday). I’m eager to have a look at your book.
You might really like the work of The Arbinger Institute. Their best-seller is Leadership and Self-Deception. Sounds like it might be right up your alley.
Best to you on the book sales!
Heather
Masterful writing and excellent breakdown of concepts that can normally be pretty confusing or too “heady” for some people to grasp. I ordered your book last night after hearing you in an interview on public radio. You articulated yourself so well, and with such a down to earth sense of humility that I had to look up your blog. I was not dissapointed. Thanks for all you do.
I never fail to learn something whenever I finally get around to reading your blog. Love this post in particular because I put off reading it until today, when my work was finished. Thanks for telling me why I cannot get anything done.
Dear Mr. McRaney
Your site is most interesting. You say you are interested in pychology, but do u have any formal education in it or just knowledge from private study?
-anthony
What are you some autistic kid who had his parents divorced sitting in history class with a school issued Mac and nothing better to do Junior year?
Autistic kids are smarter then people give them credit for and it is not fun making fun of anyone who is different!I guess I spelled smart wrong and my speller on this computer did not catch it either!Great articles here!I guess what I feel is we are all here on this earth for the time being for what ever God sent us here for. Maybe we will never know why, but one thing is for sure is… We all have a reason, a path to follow and we will all accomplish what he set out for us!That is good enough for me!
Was that in response to me?
Dianes right…lifes gonna work out just fine. A burning bush told me so. Also i dug up some gold tablets and an angel helped me decipher them…aperently we all must sacrifice our favorite coffee mug by throwing it in the ocean the day after halloween every year. I dont know why, but God commands it, so its probably just beyond human comprehension. No I dont still have the tablets, the angel took them with him, but you can be sure it happened. God would not choose anyone but an honest man to find his message.