Many of the larger communities in the USA offer business awards called “Forty Under Forty” or “Thirty Under Thirty.” The awards recognize exemplary achievements of a limited group of individuals in those age categories. I’ve seen numerous résumés that include the line item, “Recipient of the prestigious Forty-Under-Forty award.” It’s obviously viewed by many as a milestone achievement. But the concept has gone too far. Incredibly, there’s now a “Six Under Six” award f

People can maintain an unshakable faith in any proposition, however absurd, when they are sustained by a community of like-minded believers. Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow When I was teenager, my mother used a clever analogy to promote her prejudice against less flashy individuals: “An introvert,” she said, “is like food without salt. It’s still nutritious, it’s still food, but it’s flat and tasteless.” From this example emerged a bias in our family against

The pioneering psychiatrist Murray Bowen devoted a lifetime of thinking and clinical practice to understanding emotional maturity. His work gave humanity a good start in defining the markers of lower and higher functioning. Dr. Bowen generated a host of important ideas, but he didn’t leave behind a neat package. Instead of an unchanging recipe for “wising up,” we’re left with a web of variables, some defined, others yet to be widely accepted. Why is maturity so hard to