In the late 20th Century the fashion amongst even the most prominent of economic commentators (a massive category which includes economists and numerous persons of self-ascribed expertise in the subject) proselytized the fashionable view that human society should focus an efficiency of productivity as opposed to distribution of labour. The unemployed, they argued, could be supported with the profits from efficiency in mechanization. This view has prevailed in many economies during the first decade of this century. Some referred to this as “trickle down theory” described by J. K.

Numerous researchers in Social Psychology have, in recent years, shown that we “lie” from 20 to 100 times per day. It seems that lying is an essential aspect of successful social interaction. As philosopher Bertrand Russell observed “what would happen if we suddenly acquired the ability to read each others thoughts? I suppose, after a short time, all friendships would be dissolved.”

I am writing this for the parents of unmotivated students and for anyone who has no desire for mental exercise.  Persons in these categories are most in need of ‘brain training’ as it is an activity they tend to neglect, thereby risking atrophy of their brains.  Ideally, schools should provide the optimal combination of skills, incentives and activities necessary for brain training during education. But, for various reasons, they just don’t!

A tragic human situation of which I see too much in my professional life is the vocationally misplaced student or employee. For example, the clerk who should be a salesperson, the engineer who should be a lawyer, the schoolteacher who should be a technician. The mis-match in each case is usually tragic because of wasted educational costs, dashed aspirations, lowered potential work contributions, and the unhappiness, or even misery, of doing work that one doesn’t enjoy.

Sex Education
One of the deficiencies of traditional educational systems is that they fail dismally to prepare us for some of the most important events and circumstances of our lives. For example, approximately 30% of us (and much higher proportions in many communities) have been in some way sexually abused as children in most cases by relatives or by friends of the family. But, to what extent have any of us ever received any kind of assistance in preparing us for the problem, as potential victims, and against the problem, as potential perpetrators?

In this article I discuss two types of decision which have enormous impacts on our lives, but for which we are often tragically under-prepared.

The Decision to Marry

In assessment and training terms In-Basket refers to a collection of scenarios which represent a wide range of important activities that can occur in a particular job or job category. 

The In-Basket is used professionally by Industrial Psychologists to assess administrative, decision-making and self-management skills such as: planning, organizing, delegating, control, attention to detail, human relations skills, problem solving originality, personal time management, prioritization, concern to find solutions, work orientation and general administrative efficiency. 

The frustrated salesperson must not say to the customer “Look here, either you like these shoes or you don’t. Make up your mind and stop wasting my time.” 

The waiter should not say to the diner “Stop complaining to me. It’s not my fault that the dish is greasy and over-cooked.” 

The receptionist who says “Just wait a minute! Can’t you see that I’m on the phone” as she chats away to her boyfriend is rejecting her work role.