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  • (Day 224) Is There a Trust Hormone?

    Jul 8, 2010 » No Comments

    hormoneshttp://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/147/doctor-love.html

    Social Networking Affects Brains Like Falling in Love

    By: Adam L. PenenbergJuly 1, 2010

    Fast Company Magazine July/August 2010

    Neuroeconomist Paul Zak has discovered, for the first time, that social networking triggers the release of the generosity-trust chemical in our brains. And that should be a wake-up call for every company.

    The essence of affection. The cuddle chemical. In other words, oxytocin.
    This hormone, produced daily by your brain and mine, is the reason I’m on my back, trying to remain perfectly still inside a magnetic-resonance-imaging machine secreted in the basement of a cheerless building at the California Institute of Technology. Even though I am cocooned by earplugs and noise-cancellation headphones, it’s freakishly loud in here, a mix of jackhammer pulses and a hurricane whoosh of air. In other words, it’s your typical MRI experience — save for the Apple laptop bolted a couple of feet above my head, the mouse on my chest, and the unbearably sad video playing on the MacBook screen.I have volunteered for this, signing up to be a test subject for Dr. Love, aka Paul J. Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University who popularized “neuroeconomics,” an emerging field that combines economics with biology, neuroscience, and psychology. In this first of three experiments, I’m helping Zak’s researchers gauge the relationship between empathy and generosity. While best-selling behavioral economists such as Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational) and Steven D. Levitt (half of the Freakonomics duo) ponder how we make economic decisions, Zak wants to figure out why we do what we do.

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 220) One Day

    Jul 4, 2010 » No Comments

    one dayToday is July 4th and families across America are celebrating Independence Day. People are gathering together to eat, drink and watch fireworks. Through all the merry making it can be easy to forget that we are  celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This, of course, was intended to release us from the tyranny of British rule.  Our friends over the pond might find it a little insulting that we are still partying over beating the stuffing out of them 234 years ago. But they did deserve it, after all they were being a bit overbearing at the time and we did win it fair and square, well…unless of course you felt that crossing the Delaware and attacking them on Christmas Eve was in poor taste.

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 219) Is Trust A Choice?

    Jul 3, 2010 » No Comments

    choiceThis is probably the most important question I’ve asked myself since I’ve been on the Trust Tour. This question hit me while I was in the shower (why is the shower the creative center of the home?) At first it was presented to me as a scary thought. Oh no… what if trust is NOT a choice… have been totally wasting my time? Is.. the Trust Tour irrelevant? What if people have a certain genetic makeup that predestines them to trust or not trust?  What if they are born having, or not having, integrity? What if nature influences their every act and people have little or no choice?  Is Integrity and Trust (IT) a choice?

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 218) Let’s Talk About Fear

    Jul 2, 2010 » 2 Comment

    fearLets talk about fear…

    Why, you ask? Fear is the opposite of trust and if we are going to raise the bar on trust we need to understand our enemy. One of the best resources for this is the book Think and Grow Rich, where Napoleon Hill suggests there are six basic fears every human being suffers from in some combination at one time or another. Most people are fortunate if they do not suffer from the entire six. Named in the order of their most common appearance, they are:

    The fear of POVERTY

    The fear of CRITICISM

    The fear of ILL HEALTH

    The fear of LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE

    The fear of OLD AGE

    The fear of DEATH

    All other fears are of minor importance, they can be grouped under these six headings.

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 215) That’s classified…

    Jun 29, 2010 » No Comments

    spy

    In today’s news 11 Russians were arrested as part of a spy ring. Why do the Russians have spies here? This surprised me as I thought much of this behavior was left behind with the cold war – how naive of me.  I started to wonder what a modern day spy does? What do they look like? What do they do? Are they like a James Bond? So, I started with the definition: An agent employed by a state to obtain secret information, especially of a military nature, concerning its potential or actual enemies. This reminds me of the book, The Art of War (know thy enemy, use deception and manipulation to achieve your goal). Sometimes I forget all these ugly things are still being done in the dark of night and I forget we are living in a dangerous world. Yet everyday people live in secret in the name of protecting the motherland. But how many people do we need to keep us safe?  How much money do we need to spend?  I thought a good place to find out would be the CIA’s website. Amazingly, or maybe not so amazingly, the CIA does not reveal any of this information.  Here is what they say under FAQ’s

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 214) Police, Trust or Bust

    Jun 28, 2010 » No Comments

    aboutThe police are in a position of public trust and power and therefore are held to a high standard of honor and trust. In this article I would like to site an example of someone on the inside who claims to be fighting a corrupt system. I would also be interested in any stories that you have, good or bad with the police.

    Here is a recent example of misuse of this power. According to the BBC, Alexei Dymovsky, a Russian police officer has been fighting police corruption and has himself been arrested for corruption.  Mr Dymovsky, was previously a police officer who refused to arrest innocent people and posted a popular internet video on youtube which made allegations of corruption and illegal activities in his home town. He said he could no longer tolerate being told to arrest innocent people to meet monthly targets.

    [...]

    Todd Welch
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  • (Day 213) Next Generation Of Entrepreneurs

    Jun 27, 2010 » 1 Comment

    photoThe fourth annual eVenture week was held at Charter Farms from June 20th through the 25th this year. 24 young men and women came to learn about trust and entrepreneurship. They were challenged to think of a problem they could solve, and start their own business in a week.

    We had students of all colors, gender, sizes and social backgrounds giving us the best possibility of a creative outcome. 20 successful entrepreneurs came to help mentor and develop their projects. On behalf of everyone at Charter Partners Institute, I want to thank you again for making this event possible.

    The ideas presented were quite creative and the students were encouraged to reach out to talk to people in their industry, potential customers, etc. to test their thinking.  Time was short, but we were pleased with their progress.  Several teams had already made major changes by Friday in ideas created on Tuesday or Wednesday based on such conversations.  Of course, before they get too much farther they still need to deal with issues of finances and cash flow. Many were able to, at least, make a case for the potential profitability of their business. We find that, once they have a good idea and are committed, they can learn the financial aspects without too much difficulty.

    What was clear, is that these young entrepreneurs have what it takes to succeed.  I often think at the end of this program a about how many more successful entrepreneurs could be out there if they had the good fortune of this kind of experience in high school.

    Todd Welch
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