Why Following Your Passion is Dumb (and Other Career Advice)

• By William MacAskill
• April 18, 2013
• comments

Here's some bad advice to give at a college commencement:

“Follow your passion.” That is the stupidest career advice I’ve ever heard. Why? Because my passion in life is for singing bad karaoke. My friend Dodgy Dave’s passion is for dealing crack cocaine. Some of my friends have many passions. Most of my friends have none.

“Do what you’re good at” is better, but still stupid. It gets things the wrong way around. For almost all activities, being “good at” something is the result of thousands of hours of practice and learning (pdf). In choosing a career, you’re almost always making the decision about what to become good at, not the other way around.

How, then, should you find a job you’ll love?

Here’s my slogan: ”Do something valuable.”

Let the problems in the world dictate what you do, rather than forcing a preconceived checklist labeled “success,” to be your motivation. Do something that genuinely helps others and makes the world a better place in a major way. That’s the way to have a happy, fulfilled life.

When I tell people this, half think it’s crazy and half think it’s ...

Are You Ready For NASA's Space Apps Challenge?

• By Mark Micheli
• April 17, 2013
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NASA’s second annual International Space Apps Challenge will take place April 20 and April 21 in more than 75 cities around the world. The technology development event seeks to bring tech-savvy developers and citizens together to solve challenges here on Earth by creating innovative software, data visualization tools and mobile app solutions for more than 50 challenges identified by event organizers.

We recently spoke about the International Space Apps Challenge with Sean Herron, a technology strategist and contractor on NASA’s Open Government team. He shared with us why NASA is hosting the event, some of the challenges he’s most excited about this year and how you can get involved—whether you know how to code or not.

Listen to the podcast and watch the video below to learn more:

See NASA's Wanted Poster for the First Astronauts

• By Mark Micheli
• April 17, 2013
• comments

On April 9, 1959, NASA announced the selection of the first astronauts, later immortalized as the “Mercury Seven.” Last week, some 54 years later, the National Archives reminded us of what specifically it meant to have the “right stuff” on it’s “Todays Document” blog.  

See the original document below and read the description of the ideal astronaut:

Position Title: Mercury Astronaut 

Duties: 

Participates in indoctrination, developmental research, and pre-flight training programs under conditions simulating flight profiles of the type expected to be encountered with Project Mercury. Operates and/or observes fixed-base and moving-base simulator tests, serves as subject-under-test, and assists in the analysis of data for the evaluation and development of various boosters and of communication, telemetry, display, vehicle-control, environmental-control and other systems involved in launch, atmospheric escape, orbital flight, reentry, landing and recovery. Participates in specialized training exercises such as centrifuge programs to build up tolerances to the motions and forces associated with launch, flight without out gravity, and atmospheric reentry, and to develop proficiency and confidence for vehicle operation under such conditions. 

How Much is Too Much Caffeine?

• By Zachary Sniderman
• April 17, 2013
• comments

Greatist is the fastest-growing fitness, health and happiness media start-up. Check out  more wellness news at Greatist.com.

Pick any American at random, and odds are that person had caffeine today. One study found 98 percent of people in North America consume some kind of caffeine every day. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that comes in all shapes and sizes, including coffee, tea, chocolate, soda, and energy drinks. Moderate doses — about 200 mg, or two cups of (strong) coffee – can increase alertness, fight off headaches, and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s and other diseases. But more than 500 mg per day can lead to addiction, anxiety, irritability, and hallucinations. Get the facts before drinking that eighth cup o’ Joe.

Buzzing to Know - Why it Matters

Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive stimulant in the world. Stimulants (a class of drugs that also includes tobacco and cocaine) target the central nervous system and affect the brain, creating a feeling of alertness. Five cups of coffee can cause a caffeine overdose, but it’s pretty difficult to get too much caffeine from something like soda or chocolate — to hit 500 mg a day, a person would need to consume 14 ...

The 6 Ways Government Needs to Improve Performance Management

• By John Kamensky
• April 16, 2013
• comments

Looking for an overview guide to understanding how the federal government goes about managing the performance of its many goals, missions, and programs?  Here it is!

The President’s fiscal year 2014 budget was released last week and emphasizes the creation of “a culture of performance improvement.”  This is also the theme of a new  IBM Center report, by University of Wisconsin professor Donald Moynihan who is a close observer of the international performance movement. It describes the evolution of the federal performance management system over the past 20 years since the passage of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA).  In addition, he describes recent progress in achieving meaningful performance results within targeted programs, as well as anticipated future changes that will occur over the next few years as a result of the new requirements of the GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, which significantly amended the earlier law.  His bottom line:  the culture of performance improvement is more important than the compliance with many procedural requirements. 

The report, The New Federal Performance System:  Implementing the GPRA Modernization Act, is an outgrowth of a forum held in late 2012 by the IBM Center and the National Academy of ...