The IFOD
The Interesting Fact of the Day Blog
My Ten Favorite Sci-Fi Reads
As an avid reader of science fiction, I've had the pleasure of delving into countless worlds and experiencing mind-bending adventures through the pages of some truly remarkable books. Today, I share with you my top 10 favorite science fiction books – the ones that...
The Harsh Reality of Book Sales: My Experience as a First-Time Author
My first book, The Uncertainty Solution: How to Invest with Confidence in the Face of the Unknown, was published one year ago today. It's been a fun year, as I've been on 30 podcasts and 15 radio shows and have given speeches about my book all across the country (and...
Are You in the Top Half of Readers? The Surprising Reading Habits of American Adults
The Economist surveyed 1,500 American adults in mid-December 2023, mostly about politics, but a few questions centered on books. What it revealed about American reading habits is fascinating. Depressingly, the survey found that most people don't read very many books,...
The Counterintuitive Power of Career Setbacks
Two Careers: James and Alexis Consider two people who entered the workforce a few years ago, James and Alexis. James's early career is going well. The company at which he works is thriving, and he's a solid performer. He's gotten nice raises and been promoted out of...
The Parenthood Happiness Paradox
They look happy, but are they really? Having Children Decreases Happiness About a decade ago, I heard Havard professor and happiness expert Daniel Gilbert speak at a conference. His theme was that having children makes us unhappy. He understandably got pushback from...
The Resilience Rule of 2: Why Less is More When Making Life Changes
I worked with a swim coach back in my 30s when I used to compete in triathlons. During our first lesson, he told me that we would focus on one or two things, and only when I'd mastered those changes would we move on to the next area of focus. He said focusing on more...
How a Fictitious Town Became Real and Then Disappeared Again
Sometimes, mapmakers make small, intentional errors in their maps to thwart their competitors from copying them. These "copyright traps" allow mapmakers to sue for copyright infringement if the intentional error shows up on a competitor's map -- it's like a watermark...
Beefcakes vs. Dad Bods: Decoding Female Attraction to Male Muscularity
I was traveling this week and visited my hotel's gym yesterday morning. There was one other guy at the gym, and he was a total beast. Big, bearded, and super muscular, he was throwing around 50-pound dumbbells (the heaviest in the gym) like they were nothing. I...
Are Jobs Just About Paychecks? The LEGO Experiment Sheds Light on Work Motivation
Work as a Disutility Classical economics views work as a "disutility"—a negative that requires money to entice you to undertake. In this view, work is the opposite of leisure (the more you work, the less leisure time you have), and what people really want is more...
The Paradox of Preferring Busyness Yet Needing Justification for It
Having an abundance of free time sounds great, especially if you feel like you are constantly short on time. But it turns out that we dread idleness. Having too much discretionary time is associated with a lower sense of well-being. In fact, as I have previously...
The Cruel Curve of Forgetting: We Rapidly Lose Most Memories (But We Can Fight It)
A friend recently recommended a book by an author whose previous book I had read. She asked me, "What was that (prior) book about?" My response: "Uh. . . umm . . . I can't remember." I had drawn a total blank -- I couldn't recall the main characters or even the plot....
No Ordinary Moments: Amanda Knox’s Powerful Epiphany on Finding Purpose While in Prison
How would you feel if your life was derailed through no fault of your own, leaving a chasm between the life you wanted to live and the life you were stuck with? (Maybe you are in this situation now?) This is what happened to Amanda Knox after she was wrongfully...
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jjennings[at]Stlouistrust.com