Friday Links 08-06-13

From the Web

Worries on the Job, Not a Lack of Time, Prevent Balance – Tim Ferriss interviews Dr. Stewart Friedman. Friedman suggests that a lack of time isn’t the biggest problem to maintain healthy work and off-work lives. Instead, he argues that psychological interference, where your mind isn’t focused on what you should be doing, is a bigger problem. Definitely worth reading through if you have the time.

From the Archives

The Virtue of Failing Fast – I’m a believer that life needs to take a lesson from open source software. Run everything in constant beta, where you bruise a bit more, but learn a lot faster.

From the Shelf

Guns, Germs and Steel – “A short history of the last 13,000 years” according to Jared Diamond, the book’s author. This book answers the question of why some societies (such as Europeans) conquered other societies (such as North Americans). Starting with the initial environmental factors, Diamond goes on to provide an anti-racist thesis. He argues that “progress” was slowed down in many societies, due to the geographical and ecological conditions of those places, not genetic or cultural superiority.