№ 32 | Cozy Juicy Real, Simple Explanations, 6 Fundamental Beliefs Behind Biases, The PAUSE (Visualization) Framework, and 5 Tech Trends That AREN'T CHatGPT

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№ 32 | Cozy Juicy Real, Simple Explanations, 6 Fundamental Beliefs Behind Biases, The PAUSE (Visualization) Framework, and 5 Tech Trends That AREN'T CHatGPT

Cozy Juicy Real

A few months back, I mentioned playing the Cozy Juicy Real game at an online event. If you're looking to “create unforgettable conversations that make people feel connected, seen and alive,” then check out the game on the Kickstarter. It was an instant back for me.


Mastodon, explained in simple terms

“How to talk to your relatives about Mastodon” offers a remarkably simple (and visual!) explanation of Mastodon.

[On a related note… One of ’Creative Challenges’ I have in mind for us is to use the format of board book (like, for babies!) to explain a really difficult topic, sort of like this book on General relativity for babies.]

The six fundamental beliefs behind biases

Ooh, digging deeper… Is it possible that “different biases could be traced back to the same underlying fundamental beliefs… held widely among humans?” One study argues this is the case, going on to name six such beliefs “that can help categorize a number of different biases.” Here's a summary from Erin ‘Folletto’ Casali, who remarks that these might be “useful for personal self-analysis and improvement, as well as a way to discuss with people that are exhibiting certain biases.”

A visualization framework

Here's another piece from the Polaris Game Design Retreat:  “When Spreadsheets Aren’t Enough: A Framework for Approaching System Visualization” While the context is video games, the proposed PAUSE Framework—“designed to help designers create effective visualizations that are crafted to best meet the needs of their intended audience”—could certainly be applied elsewhere. And… pretty visualizations!

The PAUSE Framework uses five core questions to assist in choosing the best visualization for a given problem.
Purpose – Why are you creating this visualization?
Audience – Who is the audience for your visualization?
Usage – How will this visualization be used?
Scope – What is the minimum amount of information that needs to be shared?
Emphasis – What aspects of your problem are the most important?

As ChatGPT seems to be dominating all the tech conversations, it was refreshing to come across this post highlighting a number of OTHER interesting and important tech trends flying under the radar.


🤪 Random/Personal: I find joy in looking up precise definitions of various words I encounter. Here are three different words I looked up this week: Paragon, Aggrandizement, Provenance.

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№ 120 | We Wunt Be Druv, If You Were a Ghost, What Would You Haunt?, Brick Starter, Can Trivia Save Us?, The Housing Game, 4 Forms of Hope, and Reality Strikes Back: A Cartoon Guide to Complexity

№ 120 | We Wunt Be Druv, If You Were a Ghost, What Would You Haunt?, Brick Starter, Can Trivia Save Us?, The Housing Game, 4 Forms of Hope, and Reality Strikes Back: A Cartoon Guide to Complexity

Welcome to another edition of Thinking Things, your regular roundup of ‘playful things to think with’ and things to think about! This weekend, I’m back with not 1, not 2, but 3—count ‘em THREE—card decks. We Wunt Be Druv At the most recent Cardstock meetup, John V

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 119 | Scenarios From the Fable 5 Ban, Type Simulation, Player Agency, Echo Chamber Simulation, A1 Collision Density, Brains on Games, Conversational Leadership Essentials, the HIVE Deck, and a Vincent van Gogh Makeover

№ 119 | Scenarios From the Fable 5 Ban, Type Simulation, Player Agency, Echo Chamber Simulation, A1 Collision Density, Brains on Games, Conversational Leadership Essentials, the HIVE Deck, and a Vincent van Gogh Makeover

Welcome to another edition of Thinking Things, your regular roundup of ‘playful things to think with’ and things to think about! Let’s jump into it… Scenarios from the Fable 5 ban You might have heard that the US government banned Anthropic’s latest LLM model? This isn’t about

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 118 | Working in Space, BriteBox Idea Generation, Epos Daimon, American Dictator? The Game, Cas Holman and ‘Anji Play’, A Web Typography Learning Game, and The Stratification of Trust

№ 118 | Working in Space, BriteBox Idea Generation, Epos Daimon, American Dictator? The Game, Cas Holman and ‘Anji Play’, A Web Typography Learning Game, and The Stratification of Trust

Welcome to another edition of Thinking Things, your regular roundup of 'playful things to think with’ and things to think about! 🤦I made a mistake. In the last issue, I mentioned a three-line poem from Mary Oliver. As it turns out, this is misinformation. Despite a quick bit

By Stephen P. Anderson
№ 117 | A Special “Two-fer” Edition: Museum Activities, Attention, Technology & Childhood Education, Writing Together, Two Critiques of Org Change, and More Great Conversation Starters

№ 117 | A Special “Two-fer” Edition: Museum Activities, Attention, Technology & Childhood Education, Writing Together, Two Critiques of Org Change, and More Great Conversation Starters

A special “two-fer” edition, featuring things to think with or think about—that happen to pair nicely with each other! Context: While collecting the various things that make it into this newsletter, I sometimes come across posts, frameworks, etc. that feel better to share together, as a pair (or

By Stephen P. Anderson