Elemental Truths

Behavior Support Services

2014-06-29T13:34:00.001-05:00

After 30 years of providing behavior support and instruction in the public school systems of four states I have decided to offer my services to the private sector. Initial services are offered in the Tampa Bay area.

If you need someone to speak on your behalf in the school system, I am also a special education certified teacher.

If you need a complete behavior assessment, I have been trained by the best at Nova Southeasten University.

If you need a plan designed specifically to your needs, I have more than 1500 hours of successful supervised experience.

If you just need a consultation to determine if your needs require a full program, I can provide that.

If you don't have insurance coverage, I provide a sliding fee scale based on the clients ability to pay.

Don't try to go it alone. Reach out to me and I will help.

You can reach me at regadkins@gmail.com

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Five Steps to Recover From Disaster

2014-06-10T12:38:00.001-05:00

All temperaments will, on occasion, encounter what they see as insurmountable obstacles. A wave of emotions will ensue. With this onslaught will come very physical pain. Depending on where their temperament falls on the spectrum the emotions will run the gambit from panic, desperation, anger, self-hate, blame and denial. It is paramount a path be found to get through the quagmire of pain and agony.
These suggestions prove helpful no matter the temperament.
Write out on paper what you believe is happening. Begin with the establishing event and work all the way through the outcome. Put it away for 3 days before reading it again to see if you still agree with the thoughts. This pause may give time for perspective and the dust to settle.Make a thorough inventory. Consider all factors, relationships, possessions, health, financial. You have to know where you are to plan where you are going.Make a plan for what's next. If repairs can be made, begin them. If the damage is irreparable begin planning the next stage of your life.Schedule a mental break. Assign it a clear beginning and ending date. Read some positive books and let your mind heal.Get some exercise. The body and the soul work together. Exercising releases the endorphins that may allow you to find mental clarity.
As a final caveat, a chat with an old friend is an excellent way to get your mind right.

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Conflict Management Styles Survey

2010-11-30T15:09:00.000-05:00

***This is an informational piece. It is a compendium of many different works. It is not a stand alone tool. See inspirational sources at the bottom.***

We each have our own way of dealing with conflict. The techniques we use are
based on many variables such as our basic underlying temperament, our personality,
our environment and where we are in our professional career. However, by and
large there are five major styles of conflict management techniques in our tool box. In
order to address conflict we draw from a collaborating, competing, avoiding,
harmonizing or compromising style of management. None of these strategies is
superior in and of itself. How effective they are depends on the context in which they
are used.

Each statement below provides a strategy for dealing with a conflict. Rate each
statement on a scale of 1 to 4 indicating how likely you are to use this strategy.

1 = Rarely 2 = Sometimes 3 = Often 4 = Always

Be sure to answer the questions indicating how you would behave rather than how
you think you should behave.

1. I explore issues with others so as to find solutions that meet everyone‟s needs.
2. I try to negotiate and adopt a give-and-take approach to problem situations
3. I try to meet the expectations of others.
4. I would argue my case and insist on the merits of my point of view.
5. When there is a disagreement, I gather as much information as I can and keep the lines
of communication open.
6. When I find myself in an argument, I usually say very little and try to leave as soon as
possible.
7. I try to see conflicts from both sides. What do I need? What does the other person
need? What are the issues involved?
8. I prefer to compromise when solving problems and just move on.
9. I find conflicts challenging and exhilarating; I enjoy the battle of wits that usually
follows.
10. Being at odds with other people makes me feel uncomfortable and anxious.
11. I try to accommodate the wishes of my friends and family.
12. I can figure out what needs to be done and I am usually right.
13. To break deadlocks, I would meet people halfway.
14. I may not get what I want but it‟s a small price to pay for keeping the peace.
15. I avoid hard feelings by keeping my disagreements with others to myself.

How to score the Conflict Management Quiz:

As stated, the 15 statements correspond to the five conflict resolution styles. To find
your most preferred style, total the points in the respective categories. The one with
the highest score indicates your most commonly used strategy. The one with the lowest
score indicates your least preferred strategy. However, if you are a leader
who must deal with conflict on a regular basis, you may find your style to be a blend
of styles.

Style Corresponding Statements: Total:

Collaborating: 1, 5, 7
Competing: 4, 9, 12
Avoiding: 6, 10 15
Harmonizing: 3, 11, 14
Compromising: 2, 8, 13

Collaborating Style: Problems are solved in ways in which an optimum result is
provided for all involved.
Both sides get what they want and negative feelings are minimized.
Pros: Creates mutual trust; maintains positive relationships; builds commitments.
Cons: Time consuming; energy consuming.

Competing Style: Authoritarian approach.
Pros: Goal oriented; quick.
Cons: May breed hostility.

Avoiding Style: The non-confrontational approach.
Pros: Does not escalate conflict; postpones difficulty.
Cons: Unaddressed problems; unresolved problems.

Harmonizing Style: Giving in to maintain relationships.
Pros: Minimizes injury when we are outmatched; relationships are maintained.
Cons: Breeds resentment; exploits the weak.

Compromising Style: The middle ground approach.
Pros: Useful in complex issues without simple solutions; all parties are equal in power.
Cons: No one is ever really satisfied; less than optimal solutions get implemented.

Upcoming I will take a look at how these management styles might be used and possibly overused.

*** MBPT, TKI, Arnold Temperament,FIRO-B and many others***

November 14, 1970

2010-11-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

On November 14, 1970 the plane carrying the Marshall University football team crashed in Wayne County, West Virginia, killing all on board.

I was nine years old.

I was born in Huntington and lived in Wayne. The devastation was felt throughout our community.

On than rainy, dreary day I knew I would someday attend Marshall. In the mid eighties my wife, Patricia, and I graduated from Marshall and the memorial was still a big part of our community. My daughters tell me they want to be part of the Big Green as well.

May all the sons and daughters of Marshall remember and reflect on this day.

Carl Jung

2010-11-08T19:51:00.000-05:00

Carl Jung wrote the book Personality Types, or more correctly "Psychologische Typen." The book was originally published in German. Which, I thought was a little weird because he was actually Swiss; in a little town called Kesswil. So, I figured the language would be either French or Italian. But, I guess I should never underestimate the influence of German expansion..

Anyway, Carl Jung wrote this book about personalities. It was basically an exercise in self discovery. See Jung felt from his early childhood that he was two different people. He even referred to himself as Personality number 1 and Personality number 2. He considered himself an out going, happy go lucky school boy. He also considered himself a stoic reserved many of dignity and reserve.

It was of interest to me that his dad was an impoverished and very reserved pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church. On the other hand his mother was the daughter of a well to do Hebrew professor.

His mother was a firm believer in the spirit world and held steadfast in her belief that she was visited by spirits on a nightly basis. It is fair to say that her view of reality was somewhat askew. But, what the hey. Most of the time she was really good fun to be around. That is until bouts of depressed found her sequestered in her bedroom for time on end.

The following is an excerpt from the Daily Grail.

For much of his career Jung obscured his interest in the occult, in his later years his writings on Gnosticism, alchemy, the paranormal, spiritualism, and even flying saucers brought these otherwise marginal areas into the field of respectable research. Predictably, Jung’s occult inclinations led to criticisms of irrationalism. Like Ludwig Klages, Jung has been seen by many on the left as a dangerous exponent of völkisch ideas. The neo-Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch, himself no stranger to Rosicrucianesque utopias, once described Jung as a “fascistically frothing psychoanalyst.” Other neo-Marxist philosophers, like Theodor Adorno, likewise branded Jung a fascist. The tag was perhaps first made seriously by the German-Jewish cultural philosopher Walter Benjamin, who, unlike Adorno, had some interest in occult ideas, specifically the cabala and graphology, a discipline he shared, ironically, with the “fascist” Klages. (Benjamin was also a close friend of the cabalist scholar Gershom Scholem, who, as mentioned, was an associate of Jung at the Eranos lectures.) Adorno, Bloch, and others saw Jung’s psychology as a simple celebration of the unconscious, a rejection of the rational, critical mind in the same vein as the work of the more straightforward irrationalist Klages, whose ideas about “soul” in opposition to “spirit,” they argue, helped prime the German psyche for Hitler. The fact that Jung, like many others, at first believed that the creative potential of Germany might find fruitful expression through Hitler couldn’t have helped. According to Jung’s psychology, the “shadow” side of the psyche, though associated with “evil,” can often be the source of “good,” of new life and transformation, and Jung reportedly spoke of the Nazis as “a chaotic precondition for the birth of a new world,” a nod to Nietzsche’s remark that “One must have chaos within oneself to give birth to a dancing star.” This, in a way, exemplifies the dangers of “holy sinning,” and reminds us that even great men can be blinded by their ideas.

How to Plan Training for Executives and Professionals

2010-10-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

The main purpose of executive training goes far beyond instruction about current innovations, the key purpose is to build a collaborative unit capable of long term success.

Content Considerations

When you plan to bring together a group of professionals it is very important to demonstrate that you respect their time as a high value item. In order to demonstrate that respect it is imperative that you provide the training in digestible segments. For a day long planning you should never attempt to train on more than three main concepts. Any training that could be conducted in less than that amount of time should be provided as independent material for that self-starting professionals are capable of absorbing on their own. Any training that requires more than a day broken into four segments is too large for one training and should be deconstructed into manageable portions.

Let's Break that Schedule Down

To make the absolute best use of the time break your morning into two blocks of ninety minutes. Plug in a decompression break between the two morning sessions. Schedule a lunch break with enough time for participants network process and absorb. Develop the afternoon session on the same pattern. Never, expect participants to attend to training for more than ninety minutes at a time. In fact, that ninety minutes is really a series of shorter focus elements that combine to create the actual ninety minutes.

Avoiding Death by Power Point
One of the most prevalent complaints listed on professional development feedback forms is frustration participants experienced at being read to. One more time for emphasis. DON'T READ TO YOUR PARTICIPANTS.

Successful professionals didn't get to be successful professionals by not being able to read. What need is valuable information presented in a manner that allows dialogue and interactions.

Slides are a jumping off point. A good rule of thumb is no more than one slide every three to five minutes. More than that is distracting. Less than that can be monotonous.

Expert Insight
Keep in mind the average adult attention span is about twenty minutes. That mean in order maximize your impact the most important information of your training should take place in the first twenty minutes of each session. That means each of your ninety minute sessions into four twenty minute sessions with time for transition and refocus between each focus topic.

Keywords

training plan
powerpoint
training

Reference

Preparing and Effective Presenttion: Brad Vander Zander, Professor University of Tennessee, Concentration computer instructional tools for teachers. [http://www.cs.utk.edu/~bvz/presentation.html]
Microsoft Office Power Point [http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/]

Resource

The Complete Idiot's Guide to PowerPoints [http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Microsoft-Powerpoint/dp/0789718669]

How to Respond to Left Wing Viral Emails

2010-10-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

My friends and family of the left wing persuasion have finally taken me off their distribution lists for those viral emails. But not for the reason you might think. Not because I expressly don't engage in political pontificating. Not because I asked them not to send me these messages. No, it was another reason entirely.

You see I research the facts and then reply to those emails. I systematically deconstruct the talking points. You turn on the light of day enough times, and they take you off their email lists.

Now, not everyone is as much of a wanker as I am but, break down one or two and you will make your point.

Here is WSJ's Fred Barnes take on the issue.

The Truth About Myers Briggs Personality Tests

2010-10-17T18:47:00.000-05:00

First do you know who Myers Briggs is?

Well, actually Myers Briggs isn't anybody. But Myer, Briggs are two people. What they are is a mother and daughter who became enamored of a book Carl Jung wrote in 1921 called Psychological Types.

Katherine Cook Briggs read a book and got all excited about it. So, she told her married daughter Isabel Briggs Myers about the book.

Well on to their qualifications. Katherine Cook Briggs as near as I can tell was an upper middle class housewife with a lot of free time on her hands. I don't find any record of her formal education. But, her dad was on the board of directors of a university and her husband was an attorney. So, she had access to a lot of people to try out the survey she was creating and legal protection if things didn't go well.

On the other hand Isabel Brigs Myers did have a degree. After being home schooled by her mother, who by the way was home schooled by her own mother, she was able to obtain a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science. Yes, Political Science.

Really? Yes, really. In fact a quote from Isabel's writing may bring things into clarity for you. " you can do things without having formally studied them."

Okay, so who is Carl Jung, again?

The answer to that question will be the subject of the next post.

9 Tips For A Sanguine Looking For Work

2010-09-20T13:14:00.000-05:00

One of the temperaments types that often finds itself in trouble is the sanguine. They have such an outgoing personality that is so driven to keep the party going that they often make agreements which require much more commitment than they are capable of providing.

A number of times I have found sanguines utterly miserable because they have chosen a field which wasn't "social" enough for them. Often they find themselves in the health profession. The initial flash of this job draws them like a moth to flame. However, they soon find themselves chaffing at the long term commitment necessary for the care of others.

If you are a sanguine at a time in your life that you are considering a career change, you should give some thought to real estate.

Here are some attractive factors for the sanguine interested in the real estate profession.

Now matter how much you plan your schedule must be able to change at the spur of the moment.
Being out of the office for a couple of days doesn't mean you won't make money.
Real estate is a constantly changing market.
There will ALWAYS be a market for real estate.
Real estate is an EXTREMELY social business.
You can create your own schedule.
You will make a enormous impact on the life of others.
There is an excellent income potential.
You work for yourself and outsourcing of your position will never be a problem.

15 Insights Into Personality in Handwriting

2010-09-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

These are some possible insights into temperament via the way we express ourselves in written form from Handwriting Pro Dot Com.

Curved: openness, unselfishness, yielding
Top Opening of A – O: emotional
Angular: selfishness, self-preservation and self-defense
A Angles: reactivity, resentment
B Angles: persistence or stubbornness
C Angles: shrewdness, manipulation
Touching Letters: apprehension
Forward Slant: languor, abandonment
Upright: self-possessed
Backward Slant: tendency to contradiction
Straight Extensions: inflexibility
Stable on the Line: firmness
Rising: presumption
Descending: moral weakness, discouragement, yielding
Planted on the Line: seriousness and reliability

6 Things You Didn't Know About Constitution Day

2010-09-17T12:31:00.002-05:00

This post is for those of us seeking to satiate our phlegmatic needs for facts in the fluff.

Every where we look something is being written about Constitution Day. So, let's answer the key questions.

What is it? Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the Constitution.
When is Constitution Day? Constitution Day is September the 17th.
Is it a singular day? No, Constitution Day is actually part of Constitution Week.
Is Constitution Day unofficial. No, Constitution Day is actually Public Law 915, signed into effect by President Eisenhower on August 2, 1955.
Can we blow it off? Not if you receive federal education funding. In 2004 Senator Byrd of West Virginia got the bill amended to require schools who receive federal monies to teach about the Constitution on Constitution Day.
Is there any place I can search to find EVEN MORE information about Constitution Day. Yep. Right here .

Don't forget to add any information links on this topic that you have. All the phlegmatic detail people will love you for it.

5 Things The Media is Wrong About

2010-09-04T12:52:00.000-05:00

This post is for my fellow Phlegmatics, and Melancholies out there.

When we watch or listen to the news we accept that bad news is what is reported. In fact, we have come to a peace with that.

However, that which we have not, nay never shall, come to accept is laziness on the part of the news providers giving us wrong information. This is especially the case when it comes to softer news, or local interest pieces.

Here are some of our pet peeves.

Chipotle - It's "chee-POHT-lay" not "chip-ole-tee".
Soduko - It's "soo-doe-koo".
Espresso - It's "ess-press-o" there's no x.
Meme - It rhymes with team.
Gyro - It's "yeer-oh" don't pronounce the G.

Thank you. I feel much better now.

How Do You Relate?

2010-08-28T17:06:00.000-05:00

I found this survey on David Brown's site. He doesn't publish anymore but there are some nuggets there.

According to David......

This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept at many of
the major corporations today. It helps them get a better insight
concerning their employees and potential employees.

It's only 10 simple questions, so...

Grab a pencil and paper, keeping track of your letter answers.
Make sure to change the subject of the e-mail to read YOUR total.
When you are finished, forward this to everyone you know, and also
send it to the person who sent this to you. Make sure to put YOUR
score in the subject box.

Ready?? Begin...

1. When do you feel your best?

    (a) in the morning

    (b) during the afternoon & early evening

    (c) late at night

2. You usually walk

    (a) fairly fast, with long steps

    (b) fairly fast, with short, quick steps

    (c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face

    (d) less fast, head down

    (e) very slowly

3. When talking to people you

    (a) stand with your arms folded

    (b) have your hands clasped

    (c) have one or both your hands on your hips

    (d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking

    (e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your
    hair

4. When relaxing, you sit with

    (a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by
    side

    (b) your legs crossed

    (c) your legs stretched out or straight

    (d) one leg curled under you

5. When something really amuses you, you react with

    (a) a big, appreciative laugh

    (b) a laugh, but not a loud one

    (c) a quiet chuckle

    (d) a sheepish smile

6. When you go to a party or social gathering you..

    (a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you

    (b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you
    know

    (c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay
    unnoticed

7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're
interrupted. Do you..

    (a) welcome the break

    (b) feel extremely irritated

    (c) vary between these two extremes

8. Which of the following colors do you like most?

    (a) red or orange

    (b) black

    (c) yellow or light blue

    (d) green

    (e) dark blue or purple

    (f) white

    (g) brown or gray

9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments
before going to sleep, you lie

    (a) stretched out on your back

    (b) stretched out face down on your stomach

    (c) on your side, slightly curled

    (d) with your head on one arm

    (e) with your head under the covers

10. You often dream that you are

    (a) falling

    (b) fighting or struggling

    (c) searching for something or somebody

    (d) flying or floating

    (e) you usually have dreamless sleep

    (f) your dreams are always pleasant

POINTS:

1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6

2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1

3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6

4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1

5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2

6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2

7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4

8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1

9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1

10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1

Now add up the total number of points.

OVER 60 POINTS:

Others see you as someone they should "handle with care" You're
seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others
may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't
always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with
you.

51 TO 60 POINTS:

Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive
personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions,
though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and
adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who
takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your
company because of the excitement you radiate.

41 TO 50 POINTS:

Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and
always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of
attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their
head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding;
someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

31 TO 40 POINTS:

Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They
see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest... Not a person
who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's
extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same
loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it
takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that
it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever
broken.

21 TO 30 POINTS:

Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very
cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really
surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur
of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from
every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this
reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

UNDER 21 POINTS:

People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who
needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the
decisions & who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or
anything. They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that
don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know
you well know that you aren't.

What say you? Does your temperament match your results?

The Four Types Of Truth

2010-08-26T08:15:00.003-05:00

Almost everything on Elemental Truths is a creation of my on undertaking. But, some things are too "good" not to share. I've had this article for so long that I have lost my references on who gave it to me. Read it and decide if it resonates or frightens you.

In 1995, The UN established a committee to discover the underlying reasons behind events that occurred in Bosnia and South African apartheid. The committee became known as the TRC or Truth and Reconciliation Committee.

Amidst their voluminous 1999-2000 report was a new categorization and/or redefinition of “truth”. They presented four types of truth as:

1. Forensic Truth - What happened to whom, where, when, and how, and who
____was involved. Basically the TRC tried to define this truth along the lines of
____the United States justice phraseology of “the truth, the whole truth, and
____nothing but the truth.” But a certain leniency was applied to this definition
____because of the elusive nature of a truth not confined to the “strictures of
____science”
2. Personal or Narrative Truth - This is truth of personal recollection and
____memory. In the words of the TRC, “Memories of pain, however flawed with
____forgetting, indelibly scar the victims of unjust suffering inflicted by agents of
____the state...””Personal stories are not the whole of truth, but they are integral
____to the truth that leads to new justice.”
3. Social Truth - TRC jurist Albie Sachs defines this as “The truth of experience
____that is established through interaction, discussion and debate. Another
____member of the committee, Alex Boraine states, “the process of dialogue
____(among South African apartheid victims) involved transparency, democracy,
____and the participation as the basis of affirming human dignity and integrity”.
____Simply put when a number of stories of a given society are told publicly,
____together they form a “social” truth, or more aptly put, a “societal” truth.
4. Reconciliatory or “Healing” Truth - Also called “Public Truth” is the
____exposing of the past events in order to raise a public awareness of atrocity
____and to elicit a “never again” position toward such atrocity resulting in a
____“healed” or “reconciled” society.

Alex Boraine, in his book “A Country Unmasked: Inside South Africa’s Truth and
____Reconciliation Commission”, further expounds on the “truth” findings of this
____commission. Much of this is re-digested in an article by the blogger Andrew
____Bernardin in a blog entry entitled “Four Types”

____1. Personal Truth - This is rehashed “subjective truth” that has been made
________popular by “Dr. Phil” the daytime talk show psychologist.
____2. Social Truth - Similar if not identical to the TRC version of “social truth”
________llisted above
____3. Human Truth - An odd categorization or “type” of truth, but is defined by
________Bernardin as pertaining to the universal dispositions and abilities of the
________Homo Sapien species. He lists sexual preferences and dominance
________hierarchies (i.e. the belief in a Deity)as indicators of truth relative to the
________human race.
____4. Universal Truth - Mostly akin to “forensic truth” listed by the TRC above.
________It is basically the retreat of those that once adhered to the idea that
________“all truth is relative”. The relativists realized that their very statement of
________truth was itself “absolute” and therefore, was self-defeating as “relative”
________or “subjective” and therefore, unnecessary for anyone to accept.

The following two points basically summarize the entire TRC redefinition of truth:
________Point One: Only certain truths are objective and/or absolute but they,
________the authors, are the ones who will define which truths are subjective
________or objective and absolute or relative, and not the reader.
________The second point these “four truths” make is that MOST “truth” is
________relative and therefore, only applies to an individual, society, or a species.

To get to the bottom of “truth”, Dr. Kenneth Hochstetter has kindly contributed an article that explains the basic building blocks of truth that will enable the reader to understand how to approach the topic of truth, and more importantly, how to engage in the exciting pursuit of truth in itself.

What is truth?
by Dr. Kenneth Hochstetter, Contributing Author

To this general and somewhat obscure question, one often receives a variety of quite obscure answers. Such answers include, “Truth is Love,” “Truth is relative,” “Truth is in the eyes of the beholder,” “God is truth,” Science is truth,” “There is no truth.”

What should we make of these answers, or even the original question itself? One doesn’t know quite what to say. Perhaps the reason why we get such a diverse and obscure set of answers is that the original question is itself too general and obscure. Let’s make it more precise.

What is it for a claim to be true? That is, what makes a claim true? Before considering possible answers, let’s make sure we are clear about what is being asked. Towards this end, let’s back up a bit. We use sentences (spoken or written) to make claims. However, we also use sentences for other expressions.

We use sentences to:
____(i) Make a claim (e.g., the Earth revolves around the sun)
____(ii) Ask a question (e.g., What time is it?)
____(iii) Give a command (e.g., Close the door!)
____(iv) utter an exclamation (e.g., yippy!)
____(v) to greet or say goodbye to someone (e.g., hello).

The first step towards clarifying our question, then, is to make sure it is clear that we are discussing only sentences that make claims, not the others. One big difference between sentences that make claims and the others is that only a sentence making a claim can be true or false. The others cannot.

To see this more clearly, note how the following sentences do not make grammatical sense:
____1. It is true that what time is it?
____2. It is true that close the door!
____3. It is true that yippy!
____4. It is true that hello.

The reason is that questions, commands, exclamations and greetings have no truth-value. They are neither true nor false. Truth and falsehood simply do not apply. On the other hand, claims do have truth-value; i.e., they are either true or false. Consider, for example, that the following makes perfect sense.

____5. It is true that the Earth revolves around the sun.

Also, notice that beliefs are very much like claims. While beliefs are “in” one’s mind and claims are not, they have similarities which are important for our purposes. First, they are both about something. My claim that

____6. Utah is in the United States is about the location of Utah. Likewise my belief that
____7. Iran is a threat to its neighbors is about Iran’s relationship to its neighboring countries.

Not only are both claims and beliefs about something, each “expresses” that something is the case. Notice that (6) expresses that Utah has a certain location, and that (7) “expresses” (perhaps ‘holds’ would be a better way to put it here) that Iran stands in a certain negative relationship to its neighbors. Given these similarity between claims and beliefs, we can say that beliefs, just like claims, are either true or false.
Ok, now that we have clarified, let’s consider some possible answers to our question. Here again is our question: What makes a claim (belief) true?
As a first attempt to answer this question, someone may offer this:

____8. What makes a claim (belief) true is that most people believe it.

This answer might initially seem to have a lot going for it. After all, how could a majority of us be wrong. The evidence, however, tells us that this is not right. There are countless cases in which a majority of people believed something, but were mistaken. Here is just one example. Prior to Galileo nearly everyone believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system, and that the sun, moon, planets, and stars revolved around the Earth. So, 1,500 years ago nearly everyone (if not everyone) believed and claimed that

____9. The Earth is the center of the solar system.

However, we now have very good evidence that they were wrong. That is, we now know that (9) is false. So, the mere fact that a majority of people claim or believe something cannot be what makes it true. Ok, perhaps what makes something true is that there is evidence for it. So, perhaps the following is the right answer:

____10. What makes a claim (belief) a true is that we have evidence for it.

This is certainly better than (8). After all, having evidence of something is how we know, at least in part, that something is true. While this is a good attempt, unfortunately it won’t due either. The reason is that we often have evidence for a false claim. Here is an example. Suppose that Sam commits a crime – he murders his neighbor Fred. However, suppose that Sam is very crafty. He has carefully studied the work of crime scene investigation and has learned how to cover his tracks and make it look like someone else did it. So, he does just this. Sam leaves evidence that his other neighbor Jim murdered Fred. So, when the detectives and crime scene investigators show up, and gather all the evidence, they conclude that it was Jim who murdered Fred, because the evidence supports that. That is, they have evidence, let’s even suppose good evidence, for

____11. Jim murdered Fred.

In spite of the evidence, we know that (11) is false. While the above story was fictional, we know that there are actual cases where this occurs. We also know that it happens in the sciences. Consider (9) again:

________9. The Earth is the center of the solar system.

Not only did most (all) believe this at one time, but astronomers had good evidence that it was true. This is one reason why it was hard for Copernicus and Galileo to get scientists to accept that it was false. Ok, perhaps what makes a claim true is that it is impossible to prove it false. So, we have

____12. What makes a claim (belief) true is that it is impossible to prove it false.

While it is true that if it is impossible to prove a claim false then it is probably true, this seems too strong. After all, there are some claims, which while they are in fact true, they could have been false, and had they been false then we would be able to prove them false. For example, it is actually true that Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th president of the United States. However, it is possible that he wasn’t. American voters could have given a majority vote to John McCain instead. Had they done so, then Obama would not have been elected to be the 44th president of the United States. So, while

____13. Barack Obama was elected to be the 44th president of the United States.

is actually true, it could have been false. And, had it been false, then surely we would have been able to prove it to be false. So, since (13) is possibly false, and is such that had it been false we would be able to prove it to be false, it follows that it is possible to prove (13) false, even though it is actually true. Therefore, (12) above is too strong. Someone may be led to conclude from all of this that there isn’t anything that makes a claim (belief) true. They may think that either there is no such thing as a true claim, or that while there are true claims, there is nothing that makes them true. The first suggestion, that

____14. There is no such thing as a true claim,

won’t work. The reason is that (14) itself is a claim. Thus, if what it says is true, then (14) cannot be true. That is, (14) is true only if it is false. This is clearly incoherent. So, we don’t want to go to the extreme of saying that there are no true claims or beliefs. But, the suggestion that there are true claims, but nothing that makes them true seems too strong as well. Surely what makes “Utah is in the United States” true is that Utah really is in the United States. The last point leads us to what we take to be the answer to our question. We propose that what makes

____15. Utah is in the United States.

true are the conditions of the world – namely the state of affairs of Utah actually being located in the United States. We can generalize from here. We propose the following generalization.

____16. What makes a claim (or belief) C is true is that C corresponds with the actual world.

This theory did not originate with us. It goes back at least to the ancient Greek philosophers. It is known as the Correspondence Theory of Truth (or CTT for short).
There are a few important points that must be mentioned about CTT. First, it truly is general. It covers claims or beliefs about anything. For example, we make claims and have beliefs about the concrete physical world. E.g., we believe and claim that

____17. Water is composed of H2O.

People also make claims and have beliefs about the concrete non-physical world. E.g., many believe and claim that

____18. God (of Christianity) exists.

And, we make claims and have beliefs about countless other matters. Here are just a few more. We claim and believe that ‘2 + 2 = 4’, that ‘murder is wrong’, that ‘Santa Claus is jolly’, etc. CTT covers all of these. In each case, what makes the claim or belief true is the condition of the world. If the world contains the corresponding appropriate states of affairs, then the claim is true. It is false otherwise.
As a last point, it is worth elaborating on what we mean by ‘actual world’. First, by ‘actual world’ we do not mean ‘Earth’. Unless Earth and its inhabitants is all that exists, the actual world includes far more than Earth. Second, ‘world’ does not refer to our collective beliefs. While our beliefs are members of the world, the world includes far more than our beliefs, unless all that exists is our beliefs. Instead by ‘actual world’ we mean the sum total of all the states of affairs that exist. And, it may well be the case that the actual world contains a variety of different types of facts. That is, there could very well be concrete and/or abstract states of affairs, as well as physical and/or non-physical states of affairs.

Of course one may ask:

____19. Who’s to decide which states of affairs exist (i.e., what states of affairs does the world contain)?

If (19) is intended to be taken literally, then the answer varies. For some states of affairs, no one decides that they exist – they just do (e.g., that 2+2=4). For others, perhaps God created them. Still for others, some human created them. However, perhaps the question really means:

____20. How do we know which states of affairs the world contains?

The answer to this is difficult to give. Fortunately we do not have to answer it in order to say what it is for a claim or belief to be true. But, we can say that, like states of affairs, which states of affairs are members of the actual world is, for the most part, independent of what we think or believe or claim. Though, of course, one’s belief itself is dependent upon one believing it. So, of course, mental states of affairs are dependent upon each individual that has them for their existence. But, states of affairs that are not mental do not depend for their existence upon what anyone thinks, believes, or claims.

In sum, the actual world contains all the objects and states of affairs that exist. A claim is true only if it corresponds to the actual world. This makes truth objective and discoverable. It makes science, philosophy, and religion worthy investigations

Temperament and Student Seating Arrangements

2010-08-26T08:11:00.001-05:00

In December of 2005 I began an experiment designed to provide a resource for those interested in utilizing temperament (the essence of a persons being) to better guide, teach, work with, supervise and relate to other people. The information was well and widely received. However, technical difficulties led to the cease of publications and electronically archived material. This new location is my attempt to reconstruct the work from my notes and recollections. I hope you find it useful.

The following is a recreation of one of the first and most well received articles.

Upon entering most modern elementary classrooms your initial visual and auditory image may be that you have happened upon a collection of randomly scattered islands. The populations of these islands seem to be desperately competing with each other and with the other island inhabitants for the opportunity to be heard. And, oddly, the topics upon which they wish to be heard about seem to have no commonality of subject.

Moving between and among these “islands” is the classroom teacher, who appears nothing so much as a messenger poling a sampan between the warring peoples in an effort to mollify and maintain some small semblance of positive direction among the populace.

For one with a mind who seeks an efficient purposeful order, it can be a disconcerting experience, to say the least.

How this arrangement came to be and other possible arrangements is the topic of this article.

Although I know of no definitive statement that such is true, it appears that original arrangement of student seating in this country may have had to do with the necessity of utilizing the natural light which came in through the large side windows of early schools. Therefore, the logical solution was to place the desks in rows to each side of the room to best capitalize on the available natural light.

For many years this continued to be the norm. Even after the introduction of artificial lighting (i.e. electricity) to the schools and classrooms this layout continued to serve well.

Then, somewhere around the early 1900’s John Dewey, an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer arrived on the scene. For Dewey, it was vitally important that education not be the teaching of fact, but that the skills and knowledge which students learned be integrated fully into their lives as persons, citizens and human beings.

Others soon expounded upon his beliefs to postulate that since students had, in the past, been instructed in rote memorization of facts in desks in rows that the desks and rows must be changed as well as the curriculum. It seems like an odd stretch of logic, I know, but still it was the case.

So, out with the neatly ordered columns and rows of desks and in with just about any other classroom configuration you can imagine.

Eventually, in elementary school, this evolved into the island formation described above. Keep in mind that this formation is not universally in place beyond elementary classrooms. By and large, most middle schools, high schools and institutions of higher learning have maintained the column and row configuration, ostensibly for the sake of efficiency and effectiveness.

To date, the three most common models you will encounter are the row and column model, the island model and the horseshoe or double horseshoe model. However, coming onto the scene is another known as the work/learning station/center model.

First, the most familiar of the three, is the row and column model which is illustrated as follows:

The largest complaint with this model was that the teacher (represented by the larger box) by nature of the model, spent more time interacting with the students in the front rows and the rows down the middle. Therefore, those students achieved at a higher level than the remainder of the class.

This model is the favorite of the order and structure loving student. That temperament appreciates and enjoys the predictability and dependability of this model as it lends itself to the success of the auditory learner who seeks out the seat which provides the best position to hear and observe the instructor. These students are auditory learners and prefer to work independently. They often find more relaxed environments to be distracting and even to detract from the content.

The second model examined is that of the island model.

The problems reported with this model include increased off task behavior, increased noise level in the classroom, decreased productivity as far as the amount of work completed by the students and a large increase in the number of disciplinary and behavior related incidents. However, there was a heightened level of communication among the students.

Students identified as sanguine, or highly social prefer this seating as it provides opportunity for interaction. Down sides of this model area increased off task behavior and room volume. It is useful for group projects.

The third model is that known as the horseshoe or double horseshoe.

The horseshoe model is a favorite when both student-student and student-teacher interaction are important to the learning in the class. The model is also conducive to situations in which the teacher is required to work with students closely both as individuals and as members of a group. This is especially effective if the students sit facing the teacher during initial instruction then the innermost “horseshoe” members move their desks together with the two members of the outer horseshoe during group work.

Initially, this might appear to be a great loss of time during the movements of the desks. However, studies indicate (Hurt, Scott, and McCroskey) a span of less than 90 seconds for the needed adjustments.

The data is solid and for the most part, speaks for itself. The most efficient and effective of the three models examined is the “horseshoe” model. It yields itself equally well to teacher focused operation, which is paramount for initial instruction and it facilitates group interaction when used in the cooperative learning configuration.

The model typically results in higher performance on the part of the students as well as lowering the incidents of behavior related difficulties in the classroom. Most temperament types do well with this model.

The final configuration is the work station model. In this arrange the perimeter of the room is arranged as work stations. In center of the room is devoted to tables or rows for initial and reinforcement instruction. After the teacher introduces and models the content students disperse to the work stations to complete the learning activities. At the end of the learning experience the students return to the central area for recap and enhancement.

Relaxation Technique: Labyrinths

2007-07-24T15:44:00.001-05:00

Labyrinths have been a part of human culture for more than 4000 years. The earliest recorded labyrinth was located in King Nesters’ palace Pylos about 1200 BC. Nearly every developing culture in the world from Native Americans to the Greeks to Celtic clans has built them.

Although, there are many designs the most common you find today is the seven circuit type. As you walk a seven circuit labyrinth you will find yourself making a 180 degree turn each time you enter a new segment. As you change your direction, you often change your thought patterns. This is one reason it helps to dissipate your stress levels.

You have to wonder if this is why Disney chooses to put you through a 180 degree turn every 25 feet you walk in line.

Harvard Medical School research has indicated walking meditations connected with labyrinths are effective at reducing anxiety. This effect has long term health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and breathing rates as well as reducing incidents of chronic pain and alleviating insomnia. In fact, most forms of meditation lead to improved concentration and a heightened sense of self control.

Follow this link to the World Wide Labyrinth Locator.

Relaxation Technique: Qigong

2007-07-23T18:33:00.000-05:00

Heal the body, calm the mind, and reconnect with the spirit.

One: Choose a specific Qigong exercise to practice. There are many different forms and each one has its own particular benefits.

My favorite has to do with placing my arms around a very large imaginary ball which is at chest height in front of me. Although, you may do this in a seated position I prefer to stand with my knees slightly bent and my feet a little more than shoulder width apart. From this position I move the imaginary ball in a circular orbit in front of me. Then I move it to each side and behind my head as far as I can reach in each respective direction. But as I say, you must find the exercise that works best for you.

Two: Clear your mind. You must be open and receptive to achieve the results you seek.

Three: Fully fill and empty your lungs when breathing. Form is not important here. Natural even rhythm is.

Four: Visualize yourself physically releasing your tensions in paper form and watch them flutter away.

Five: Complete each movement deliberately but in a relaxed manner.

Six: Be aware of each bend and twist and the sensation it brings.

Seven: Visualize yourself relaxed, well rested and ready for any challenge.

Eight: Alternately visualize your healing energy being directed to different parts of your body, giving particular attention to tight shoulders or pinched necks.

Nine: Feel the way each breath dispenses energy bringing oxygen to the portions of your body you concentrate on.

Ten: Don’t stress it. Enjoy the exercise and don’t worry too much about form.

For me, the best things about Qigong are that no equipment is required and I don't have to go to a gym to do it.

Relaxation Techniques: Hot Springs

2007-07-23T12:47:00.000-05:00

If you are in search of inner peace and tranquility (and who among us isn't?) I am compiling a few suggestions for your benefit. It is important to consider each of the techniques to find one that best matches your underlying temperament. First, I will explore hot springs.

Hot Springs

By the time the first European settlers arrived in what is now West Virginia in the early 1740’s the Native Americans had been taking advantage of the warm mineral springs there (Berkeley Springs) for centuries. These peoples prized the springs for their healing and regenerative powers. The springs were so prized that the area was designated a neutral zone so that no one tribe could monopolize its benefits.

If you are of a temperament that is able to spend extended periods in pressure situations with only and occasional retreat to process and relax, yet are able to graphically recall the rejuvenation in the interim, this may be the ideal relaxation strategy for you.

There are many excellent springs of this type throughout the United States.

This link will take you to a site that lists all the hot springs registered by the US Geological Service, alphabetically by state.

Irresponsible Interaction at Work

2007-07-05T07:02:00.000-05:00

Why is there so much irresponsible behavior and interaction at work?

We have become a sedentary race. Our greatest resource, our creative minds, have become the avenue for much of our down fall. We are so keen in our problem solving and "better mouse trap" abilities that it is possible to spend the entirety of our work day without moving from our computer workstation.

The return swing of the pendulum is a large portion of our population going quite mad at the lack of physical activity. Human beings have an in born underlying need to move, to touch and handle things and to express themselves physically.

When these urges can no longer be suppressed we categorize people as attention deficit, hyper active and unfocused. At this point they are a distraction and the positive flow of energy in the work place is severely disrupted for all.

What preventative steps can avoid this issue?

1. Movement is a must. Require staff members to take their breaks away from their work station, and on another floor if possible. The movement diffuses anxiety and aids in heightened focus when the break is over.

2. Initiate a walking program. Provide incentives for staff who devote a portion of their lunch break to a measured walking goal. Incentives might include extra lunch break time, early release coupons, even cash incentives pay themselves back in long term benefits to the group.

3. Encourage shared interest groups. Before and after work runner clubs are excellent ways to burn off pent up energies.

What if you take the preventive steps and the disruptions still occur?

1. Remove Distractions. On the surface it may seem counter to the preventative strategies listed above. But closer examination will illuminate the difference. In the preventative steps the person is carrying out the activities, thus it is internal. In this step external stimulation (i.e. distraction is removed).

2. Interval Intensity. Channel high energy people into the most focused activities. This is somewhat like the interval training done by premier athletes in which burst of intense action on alternated with a slower pace.

3. Buffer Zones. High energy people can become anxious and distracting when they complete work ahead of schedule. Provide "Buffer Zones" which are those ongoing projects that must be maintained on an ongoing basis. Professional development plans always need tweaking, client support activities, and project management calendars are always in need of update and revision.

Providing the individuals the opportunity to choose the most productive path, accompanied with redirection and restructuring are the best techniques for this temperament.

Temper Outburst At Work

2007-06-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Have you ever witnessed an adult temper tantrum? It can be an embarrassing experience. Even so, it is becoming an ever more frequent occurrence, and for good (bad?) reason.

Reason One: The age of automation has removed from us the necessity of the more mundane tasks. We don't go to the mail room for our messages, they arrive via email on our computer screens; We don't get together to discus calendars, we share our Outlook files. The point being, with the extra time we are harvesting, we place ever greater demands on ourselves to be even more productive. The pressure for ever greater productivity will eventually create an overwhelm which may trigger an out burst of temper.

Reason Two: Psychological Neoteny (Peter Pan Syndrome) as we continue on with an ever greater need for education we assume the characteristics of one who is being educated, namely a child. Since children have little or no control or input into the daily operations of their lives they occasionally have out bursts of temper. Adults, under the same circumstances demonstrate similar behaviors.

Reason Three: Not every bully stayed on the school yard. You may think that bullying is something that ended with 3rd grade or at the latest in high-school or maybe even with college hazing. But, it hasn't. Bullying, as demonstrated by angry people (covertly or overtly) is an ongoing phenomenon.

So, how do you deal with it? First and foremost, if you are the supervisor you must take steps to insure the individuals receiving the brunt of the temper outbursts are having their rights and safety protected.

Key elements to remember:

Individuals equipped with the tools to handle anger and frustration are less disruptive and hostile.

Individuals who are permitted to express displeasure and disagreement in an appropriate manner are less likely to be disruptively hostile and angry.

What preventative steps can you take with an individual who may have difficulty with anger?

Segment their work load. Shifting focus regularly from one task to another is a good tool to alleviating frustration.

Coach them in positive ways of expressing their disagreement. "I understand what you are saying, I don't happen to agree..."

Take steps to maintain a friendly work environment. Create opportunities for group work on some projects. Encourage moderate personalization of work areas. Provide a clear and easy to use employee handbook.

What proactive response steps can you take when difficulty arises?

Isolate and Elaborate. When you have observed a temper outburst, take the person aside and draw them out. Likely the incident that ignited the outburst had very little to do with the underlying cause of the outburst. Don't be afraid of silence. Once you ask for an elaboration be prepared to be quiet and wait. It often takes time for a person to work through emotion to the cause of disturbance.

Distraction. The human brain can only hold on to so many concepts at the same time. Adults will often respond to something like, "I see this has very really worked up right now. Instead of beating our heads against this wall, let's change focus and work on..."

Remote Outpost. Sometimes it is simpler to just temporarily assign the angry person a task at a different location. Often removal from the stimulation for the anger will allow the anger time to dissipate.

Humor. If we work in an environment where humor is part of our daily norm, anger has difficulty maintaining a foothold. One sign of a healthy productive work environment is the encouragement of the "we don't take ourselves too seriously" attitude. If we have the ability to laugh at ourselves and our situation we have an excellent tool to deal with anger.

Our responses to disruption will be haphazard if we don't have a plan in place. This plan is severely limited if it does not take into account the perspective of the individual creating the disruption. This article should help you develop consistent and practical solutions.

Hiding from Challenges at Work

2007-06-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Accommodating those who shirk their responsibilities can create a dysfunctional work environment even for those who fulfill their responsibilities. Conduct such as tardiness, absenteeism, and insubordination can become common place if left unchecked.

Unfortunately, standard interventions (threats, negotiations, cajoling, pleading) are universally ineffective. The tremendous experience involved in firing the current staff member, replacing them and retraining a new staff member is equally undesirable.

The ultimate cause of this behavior is almost never examined. Thus a completely a salvageable, and potentially valuable, team member is lost from his path.

The key is to understand that the vast majority of this problem is due to the intense fear the person has of failure.

The problem is exacerbated when the temperament of the person has a low need for control. Controlling a situation is a terrifying responsibility to someone who fears failure. A productive team member can be rendered completely ineffective if forced into assuming more control than they feel ready to take on. It doesn't matter that you are completely certain of their ability; their own self doubt overwhelms them.

Here are some tailored strategies for keeping this person performing, contributing and growing.

Team Work. Pair this person with someone who is a natural risk take. The two temperaments will compliment each other beautifully.

Raise Them Up. When you see them beginning to falter and riddle themselves with self doubt take a few minutes to acknowledge the excellent job that have just completed.

Sew The Seed. Take every opportunity they present to acknowledge them for presenting a positive comment. This will encourage the positive behavior to take root more deeply and begin to replicate itself. Promote their optimism every time they offer it.

Confidential Counsel. If one of their projects is not up to an acceptable standard, make sure to provide their structured feedback in private. Take care to emphasize the positive aspects of the work to build upon, rather than condemning that which is not up to standard.

Elemental Value Added Truth: Those who know they can be successful don't avoid performing.

Showing Off at Work

2007-06-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

If you are a leader for very long, you can expect to have at least one individual under your guidance that is ever seeking attention. Rather than being intentionally difficult these individuals have a strong need for validation. Unfortunately, this may bring them to your door on a too frequent basis as they constantly seek out your blessing.

Your first instinct is to provide the attention. For some, this is a fine way to nudge them back on to their path. They will take the validation as a sign of confidence and run with it.

On the other hand, some will become addicted to your praise and seek it ever more often. Not only will this interrupt with your ability to perform but it will be an enablement of their mal-adaptive needy behavior.

As you can see, each individual requires a customized approach to boost them along on their path. That being said, there are strategies that you can employ as a preventative measure to keep breakdowns from occurring.

Extinction. If you simple choose not to acknowledge the cries for attention, you are not supplying the attention the behavior is designed to create. However, like any war or attrition this can be a lengthy process.

Sphere of Influence. A simple preventative measure is to insure that you are in close proximity to the individual several times a day. This presence of the alpha leader will sooth the need for attention. Once a sense of security is established you can begin shortening the time you are nearby and abbreviating the frequency as well. Remember, it is paramount that you take gender into consideration. You do not wish your interventions to be misconstrued.

Strong Welcome. Being certain that you make a deliberate and sincere welcome to the individual on a daily basis can go for to assuage their need for attention.

Physical Contact. Appropriate physical contact is one of the most powerful techniques for building confidence and thereby independence in others. Consider a warm handshake or a supportive pat on the back. Again you must consider gender and temperament. Many persons are extremely uncomfortable with physical contact while others thrive on it. You must know your team.

Elemental Value Added Truth: Most behavior is learned, and can therefor be unlearned or replaced with a more productive behavior.

Dificult People at Work.

Top Blogging Secrets

2007-06-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

There are a few things that the blogs that regularly show up in the Technorati top 100 have in common. All are producing content on a regular basis, have a broad range of topics and are well written in the sense of conventions and structure.

Most are using specially designed or highly modified software to provide their product. The majority offer trackback, commenting and categorization features. They are highly stylized and reflect the persona of the content provided.

Some of the top format providers are Movable Type, Wordpress, TypePad, Blogger, and MySpace. Most of the top dogs offer options to monetize your blog with advertising features. The most popular of the advertising providers is Google Adsense.

Far and away the most popular language for blogs is English. However, Japanese and Chinese are fairly well represented as well.

The most popular topic for blogging is (drum roll) blogging and technology. What a shock. The genres in descending order are:

Technology (blogging included) 21%
General 20%
Politics 19%
Personal 9%
Gossip 8%
News 6%
Other 17%

When you look at layout, the most popular color among the top blogs is white. Yep, plain old, simple white. Grey follows white in popularity but is about half as popular as white. Next comes blue, then pink (yes, pink) then black, the beige and finally green.

What about typeface? Well, since you ask. The most popular typeface is verdana, followed by arial, followed by Georgia, followed by trebuchet, and finally times.

So, (everyone in lockstep now) change your template to Movable Type in English about technology on a nice white background with a Verana typeface. Quckly! Mach Schnell!

You there, Rosa Say. Stop being a successful individual and get in line!

Trends in Internet Use

2007-06-11T13:47:00.000-05:00

After exploring the “who” of Internet users, it is a worthwhile pursuit to examine the “what.” As in, what are all those folks doing on the Internet anyway?

There is a lot of data on this topic, so I’m just going to list the larger percentages.

First let’s look at the base number. 141,000,000 people (yes, 141 million) Americans use the internet. That is approximately 70% of the American population. How’s that for a customer base?

91% are using Email and search engines.
39% are sending IM’s
84% are “Map Questing” or using other driving direction engines.
73% travel information
63% making travel reservations
54% phone numbers and addresses
79% are seeking medical and health information.
58% seeking specific medical support
78% are doing pre-purchase product research and checking the weather.
77% are hobby and special interest folks.*
62% are surfing “just for fun”
56% are watching video and listening to audio
42% are downloading games, pictures, videos
71% are making online purchases.
67% are checking the news sources.*
54% politics and political campaigns.*
45% sports scores *
66% are using government websites.
57% are doing research for school or training.
50% research for work.
46% seeking work
55% are looking for “How To” information.*
45% are researching a school to attend.
43% are banking
41% are gathering financial information.
39% are looking for a place to live.
39% are reading blog content. *
30% are Craig’s List (etcetera) users. *
30% are seeking counsel or guidance *
13% are visiting adult websites. *

Those items I’ve noted with an asterisk (*) are those more open to monetizing. Many of the publishers of these genres have offered direct advertising on their sites, or have had success with advertising brokers like Ad Sense.

So, if these are the major areas Internet users are using, what are the top blog trends that are capitalizing on these phenomena?

Can you guess what to topic of tomorrow’s post will be?

Secret Internet Demographic Revealed

2007-06-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

What would you pay to know the secret demographic of Internet users?

What would it be worth to you to know the total percentage of adults who use the Internet?

What if you know what percentage of Internet users are female?

What if you knew what percentage of Internet users are between the ages of 18 and 49?

Could you design your content to meet the interests of your readers if you knew their ethnicity and level of education?

Drag out the ole checkbook, I'm about to unveil the secrets!

Well, not really. I mean, I'm really going to reveal them but they really aren't secrets.

What I actually have is the Pew Internet & American Life Project report for November 30 through December 30, 2006 Tracking Survey (oh yeah, we're being tracked).

Here is a break down of the data into a form that I could use best. I hope you can use it too. Disclaimer, as with much of my work, this relates to North America. My friends in other areas will have to draw conclusions based on your demographics.

70 % of all adults use the Internet
69% of adult women use the Internet
71% of adult males use the Internet

83% of people 18-29 use the Internet
83% of people 30-49 use the Internet
70% of people 50-64 use the Internet
33% of people 65 and older use the Internet

72% of whites use the Internet
58% of blacks use the Internet
69% of Hispanics use the Internet

49% of those who earn less than $30,000 use the Internet
75% of those earning $30,000 to $49,999 use the Internet
90% of those earning $50,000 to $74,999 use the Internet
93% of those earning $75,000 and up use the Internet

36% of those with less than a high school diploma use the Internet
59% of those with a high school diploma use the Internet
84% of those with "some college" use the Internet
91% of those with a college diploma use the Internet

Those are some pretty enlightening statistics. If you were to build a map (yes, maps again) you could visualize each of the major demographics by assigning them to a geographic area. Then you could design content to meet the needs of that area population.

Let's say you were going to make a conscious effort to write content tweaked to interest the highest percentage of each group. You would be writing for white males, between the ages of 18 and 49, with a college degree and an income greater than $75,000 per year.

Basically, you would be writing about beer, sports, sex, cars and mixed martial arts. Basically, Spike TV for the Internet.

Unfortunately, as experts like Ted Demopoulos will tell you, that is just too broad an audience. There are too many fishermen with their hooks set for that fish. You have a better chance for success if you seek out a niche in one demographic to target.

Would you like to know what the identified groups are using the Internet for?

Can you guess what my topic will be tomorrow?