Posted in Creativity, Culture, Current Affairs, Design, Politics
Artists can help revitalize urban spaces but first city planners and developers must unlearn some of their ideas about what retail spaces can be used for. To the right is a picture of an abandoned Blockbuster video store. Pictures like this are only going to become more common as people unlearn their reliance on DVDs and…
Posted in Architecture, Construction, Design
Is there a better way to build a suspension bridge? According to researchers at Sheffield University the answer is "maybe." As this article explains, engineers may soon be able to build a more structurally sound bridge using less material. The only unresolved issue is whether the more complex design will offset the material cost savings…
Posted in Advertising, Creativity, Culture, Design, Film, Games, General, Hollywood, Humor, Sports
Check out the logo of the Big Ten Conference to the left. Do you notice anything? Do you see the number "11" embedded on both sides of the "T"? I never did and I live in Minnesota and am a big fan of the Big Ten conference (as evidenced by this recent post on Ohio…
Posted in Analogy, Aviation, Business, Creativity, Design, General, History, Quiz, Unlearn Strategy
Following up on yesterday's post, I invite you to look at the logo to the right. Undoubtedly, it is one you have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of times. How many of you, however, have ever noticed the arrow between the "E" and "x." It is a wonderful example of negative space and I want you…
Posted in Advertising, Business, Creativity, Design, Food, Food and Drink, General, Marketing, Retail, Television
While TiVo-ing through the Daily Show with Jon Stewart this evening, I stopped to watch an ad for Abolsut Vodka. (It is posted below for your viewing enjoyment.) It is a clever bit of advertising, but before you rush out and purchase a bottle, I suggest you review this now four year-old article entitled "A Humble Old…
Posted in Analogy, Books, Business, Creativity, Culture, Current Affairs, Design, Education, Games, General, Human Resources, Neuroscience, Parenting, Psychology, Science, Unlearn Strategy
Quick. I want you to say aloud what color you see in every word in the chart to the right. Do not say the word you read. (For example, sometimes the word "white" will be in the color red so you would say "red.") The quiz, better known as the Stoop task, is a classic…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Design, Education, General, Publishing
Reading. Most of us do it every day and it is so ingrained from such an early age that it is difficult to imagine that there is another way of doing it. Yet, there is. Last summer, I had the opportunity to sit down with Adam Gordon, the vice president of marketing for Live Ink,…
Posted in Business, Creativity, Culture, Design, Education, General, History, Innovation, Internet, Media, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Telecommunications, Unlearn Strategy
Earlier today I came across a tweet from a person (@riverblindmusic) in New Zealand who said that my post the other day (To Unlearn Learn to Disenthrall) was keeping him (or her) awake as he wrote a new song based on the word. At the time, I thought it was just a cool example of…
Posted in Business, Creativity, Culture, Design, Education, Games, General, Innovation, Marketing, Philosophy, Science, Unlearn Strategy, Unlearning 101 Episodes
Take a look at the picture to the right. Do you see the green and the blue spirals? Amazingly, they are both the same color. (For a detailed explanation read this article in Discover Magazine.) This optical illusion, which shows how our mind uses neighboring colors to make inferences about other colors, is a wonderful…
Posted in Business, Design, General, Manufacturing, Marketing, Media, Nanotechnology, Publishing, Telecommunications
Technology Review has a good article on the extraordinary advances now being made in the field of flexible (and stretchable) electronics. It can sometimes be difficult to imagine both how these advances might lead to new products in the near future and why some product designers and engineers will need to unlearn many of their…
