First things first

Here at UCI, it's the end of our winter quarter and the beginning of spring. Time once again to make our term plans.

I hate evaluating applications

It's application season again. Everyone is applying for grad school and postdocs and jobs; there are inevitably a lot of rejections, and they hurt. Of course they hurt. We're people; we have egos. And a lot of scientists (including me) have egos that are all about being good at science. It's who we are. So when we apply for something, it doesn't feel like a committee is judging our application; it feels like they are judging us. It's just guaranteed to make a person miserable.

Simonton's Equal-Odds Rule

Dean Simonton studies intelligence, creativity, talent and genius. He has spent a few decades trying to predict which scientists are likely to produce great work, and when in their careers they are most likely to produce it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gratitude is one of the best emotions. It's easy to fall into the habit of looking forward to things in the future, and thinking that our happiness depends on those things. We think, I'll be so happy when I finally finish this project. But when the project is finished, almost immediately we start thinking of the next project, and we imagine that we'll be happy when it is finished. Or we think that our happiness depends on getting something we don't have yet, like a bachelor's degree, or a PhD, or a job, or a partner. Sometimes I think that I would be very happy if I had a chocolate donut. But when I eat a chocolate donut, I'm usually disappointed.

Ninja Writing in the Forest (App)

Writing is hard. It just feels so much harder than all the other things one could be doing. And yet as academics, it's the most important thing we do. In our lab, we are big believers in writing every day, but we all go through periods where that feels easy, and other periods where it feels insurmountably difficult.

Resubmission

Congratulations to Ashley for resubmitting her paper on toddler's understanding of social hierarchies! We celebrate submissions rather than acceptances. Acceptances and rejections are out of our control--they are consequences of our work, but they are not the work itself. An accepted paper means the end of the project is in sight; a rejection means the end is still off in the distance. It hardly matters: Either way, we still get up and write every day. But to finish a revision and resubmit the paper it is a real accomplishment, and a moment worth enjoying.

Writing Can Happen Anywhere

Here is my view from my 'writing desk' at my neighborhood dog park. I've been writing here in the morning recently, while my dogs play and socialize. That's Athena in the foreground and Kipper near the tree. Their friend Bean, a chocolate lab, can be seen in the distance. 

Blocking out time for daily writing in the calendar is really important. But sometimes if I plan to write at a particular time and place and it doesn't work out, I start thinking that I won't be able to write that day at all. 

I try to keep an open mind. When I do, I find that it's almost always possible to write for at least a little while every day, wherever I happen to be.