In my country, people practice a pretend belief in Santa Claus. This mythical person delivers gifts to well-behaved children. Naughty children, in theory, receive nothing.
The definition of good vs. bad is fuzzy. It is subjectively determined by parents in each household.
In practice, however, poor children receive less, regardless of behavior. Bounteous gifts are given by parents who are wealthy (or are divorced and trying to win affection, in competion with ex-spouses).
As adults, I wonder how we can stay off Santa’s “naughty list.” How can we be better? These are four common sins we can stop committing:
1. Be less busy. We need to put down phones, turn off televisions, and listen to silence. Creativity requires quiet time.
2. Stop using the Law of Small Numbers to make decisions. Humans tend to make hasty generalizations based on small sample sizes. We generalize about a race of people based on a single example. And everyone knows someone who had a mean father, so we hate all men and publicly engage in gender shaming of boys. Potential entrepreneurs often plan businesses based on what a group of friends might want to buy, and they fail.
3. Eat better. To improve brain function, we should eat less meat and more vegetables (and no dairy). Almost everyone should eat less sugar.
4. Be more humble. Learning begins with humility, because only teachable people learn.
That is my list for the new year. Have a great year of continuous self-improvement. What sins are you working to avoid?
School of Brock 