Stay-at-home sons? Cold feet, mimesis, and professors gone wild!
RWL #448
Greetings from the LHH![i] It’s officially summer break! Professors gone wild! Yes, we’re doing things like reading books and working on research.
I don't see you guys rating
The kind of mate I'm contemplating
I'd let you watch, I would invite you
But the queens we use would not excite you
That’s from the 80’s musical Chess, and the pop hit, One Night in Bangkok in case you’re too young to get the reference, and it pretty much sums up my summer. Probably my life, if I’m being honest.
The first thing I did while officially on break was take a group of four students (three in the picture) to the New England Alliance spring conference in Newport, Rhode Island. We connected with 2018 alumnus Jason Lavallee (left) who will be a preceptor this year for one of the young ladies. The New England Alliance is a long-term care professional organization. All of the students who came with me are doing their internships in nursing homes this summer, so it was a great opportunity for them to learn more about their field. And the cool thing was that, along with Jason, two of the other students’ preceptors were also there at the conference, so they got to socialize with them before starting their internship.
Ooh – I also want to share that I found this copy-cat recipe for Red Lobster biscuits. I can’t say I am a fan of Red Lobster, but they make really good biscuits. These are clearly just delicious butter delivery systems. Recipe here.
OK – to the links. As usual, willing good for all of you!
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Read
What: WSJ, The New Dream Job for Young Men: Stay-at-Home Son
Why: An unemployed young man refers to himself as a “stay-at-home son”. The short interview shows a good sense of humor about it. I am being super judgy here, but, get a job, son! Even if it is beneath you. Being unemployed is bad for you. You are not meeting any of the three requirements for living a life of meaning (competence, contribution, connection). What romantic partner is going to be interested in you?
(My judginess does not apply to people who have disabilities that preclude them from participating in the workforce. But if you’re capable of getting a masters degree and winning almost $60K on Jeopardy, you’re capable of working. So, get a job.)
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What: Psychology Today, Is This Cold Feet or a Red Flag?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/assembly-required/202505/is-this-cold-feet-or-a-red-flag/amp
Why: Well, if your future spouse’s career is stay-at-home son, I suggest you run, not walk, away. But seriously, this cool study was co-authored by my colleague Tyler Jamison who did a podcast with me on romantic relationships. Tyler and her co-authors used a fascinating approach – to review publicly available Reddit posts from people who were looking for advice about their cold feet before getting married. As an academic, I think it’s brilliant! Since these were public posts, they didn’t have to get permission to use them. No right to privacy if you are posting your deepest, darkest secrets to the internet.
Tyler summarizes the study and their findings in this post to Psychology Today. A fun, quick read.
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Watch
What: Mimesis (about 1 min)
Why: Very short clip – I particularly liked his equation, “happiness = quality of life – envy”
**
Listen
What: Top Traders Unplugged, What If Everything You Believe About Markets Is Wrong? ft. Demetri Kofinas (63 min)
(link)
Why: A meditation on epistemology (how we know what we know) from a hedge fund manager’s perspective.
[i] I just want to be super clear that the opinions expressed here are my own, not those of UNH or any related organization, nor are they TLW’s, who frequently tells me I am off my rocker, nor any other person who might be embarrassed by my musings. Mine, all mine.