Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

Ten practices to develop the gift — from Faulkner's 1,288-word sentence to your delete key.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 12 of Eli's aphorisms, Albert Einstein and Akio Morita from great minds.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“Don't mistake motion for action.”
“Management manages within paradigms. Leadership leads across paradigms.”
“You can't whistle a symphony.”
“If you let your customer talk long enough, he'll tell you what's wrong. If you listen longer, he'll tell you how to fix it.”
“If you want to become a great writer, never stop writing.”
“Never stop writing. Best single piece of advice I could ever give.”
“Becoming a great writer is evolutionary in every Darwinian sense of the word.”
“Editing is simple; revising is what turns a good piece into a great piece.”
“Great writers are great readers.”
“The big question is, are we using AI or is AI using us?”
“Life is simple. It's never easy, but it's simple.”
“When I read a particularly good passage, I read it a second time—the first for what was said, the second for how it was said.”

From Great Minds
“It's not because I'm smarter than anybody else. I'm infinitely more curious. When some people find a needle in a haystack, they stop looking. I look for more needles.” — Albert Einstein
“Curiosity is the key to success.” — Akio Morita

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.

Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

The weighty, wonderful responsibility of putting words on a page — and the only way in.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 11 of Eli's aphorisms, John Wooden, Pablo Casals, and Mark Twain (twice) from great minds, and a Christopher Columbus "What If?" to ponder.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“When we let go of who we are, we can become who we might be.”
“Building a team is like holding a baby. You can't let go, not for one second.”
“Everyone wants you to tell the truth ... until you do.”
“If you wake up each day without a list of at least three meaningful things to do, you're either disorganized, disinterested, or pessimistic.”
“If you want to be a writer, start writing without delay, and then don't stop.”
“The more you do something, the more you have a chance at getting good at it.”
“Constructive criticism is the opportunity to go to bed at night in a world that's better than it was when we entered it.”
“Declare your love of and desire to write, and then work on the hows and the whys.”
“As you practice it and develop the skill, you have to commit to getting better, and that means knowing and accepting your current level.”
“The world is full of things that anyone can love. Writing is one of them.”
“These things don't happen because they spill out of your pen or your keyboard. It takes an awful lot of work.”

From Great Minds
“Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” — John Wooden
“Because I think I'm making progress.” — Pablo Casals
“It usually takes me about three weeks to write a good impromptu speech.” — Mark Twain
“A good book needs a good opening and a good ending, and the two need to be as close together as possible.” — Mark Twain

What If?
What if Christopher Columbus kept three different sets of ship logs — and the route history records isn't the route he actually sailed?

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine.

Major Sponsor: Bergen Volunteers, neighbors helping neighbors across 70 Bergen County towns since 1966.

Major Sponsor: Kardam Consulting, specialized pharmaceutical advisory, founded by George Svokos.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.

Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

Why making something more efficient makes us use more of it — and what that means for AI.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 10 of Eli's aphorisms, Harold Geneen, George Bernard Shaw, Thomas J. Watson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from great minds.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“When something becomes more efficient to use, people often use more of it, not less.”
“Decreased cost could lead to higher revenues.”
“Every human discovery or invention has brought with it the conflict between could we and should we.”
“With AI, the question is no longer could we or should we, but how far and how fast will it all happen?”
“The certainty here is human nature.”
“Readiness is more important than experience.”
“As we evolve, we become more ego self-serving and conscious of it.”
“Three parts of our psyches are in constant conflict.”
“Examining the intramurals within the human psyche doesn't resolve the conflicts, but it does explain them.”
“Could we gives way to should we, both as individuals and as members of a larger society.”

From Great Minds
“Leadership can never be taught. It can only be learned.” — Harold Geneen
“It's a good idea from time to time to hang a question mark on things we have long taken for granted.” — George Bernard Shaw
“If you want to do excellent work, you can begin right now by deciding to do excellent work.” — Thomas J. Watson
“While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate, he becomes a mathematical certainty.” — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine.

Major Sponsor: Bergen Volunteers, neighbors helping neighbors across 70 Bergen County towns since 1966.

Major Sponsor: Kardam Consulting, specialized pharmaceutical advisory, founded by George Svokos.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.

Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

Why the loss of real dialogue may be more dangerous than any other global condition.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 14 of Eli's aphorisms, William Ernest Henley and Merriam-Webster from great minds.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“If you can honestly state your problem, then you can solve it.”
“Look for where your talent(s) and the needs of the world intersect. There's where you matter.”
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us only by what we have already done.”
“The irony of technology: the more we have the capability to unite humanity, the more capability we have to create chaos. And we prove it every day.”
“More than climate change, pandemics, wars, trade wars, or corrosive politics, the world is suffering from dialogue deficiency.”
“Along with the ability to record history comes the ability and opportunity to misrepresent it.”
“Carefully chosen language can win a point while saying nothing about advancing the truth.”
“Before saying anything, ask this: if this were to be the last thing I utter before I die, and history were here to record it, would I say it?”
“No matter who you are or what you do, what matters most is if at the end of the day you are proud of yourself for doing something to make someone else's life better.”
“Dialogue's own detritus will likely serve as its own resurrection, making it so insidious.”
“What if is always an important question to ask, not just proactively, but retroactively.”
“We are not political, just critical.”
“Keep questioning, keep learning, and keep thinking critically.”
“Using the word negative would have been negative.”

From Great Minds
“It matters not how straight the gate, nor charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.” — William Ernest Henley
“A conversation between two or more persons, an exchange of ideas and opinions, a discussion that is aimed at resolution.” — Merriam-Webster

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.

Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

What a 1950s public education and a Greek ideal still teach us about holistic learning.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 4 of Eli's aphorisms, a "What If?" to ponder.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“Everyone dreams at night. It's when you dream during the day that things happen.”
“To many people, a conclusion is the place where they got tired of thinking.”
“The past we know does not have to be accepted as the designer of the future we don't know.”
“Too many people think they're right for the simple reason that they're surrounded by people who agree with them.”

What If?
The light-beam mirror.

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.

Vantage Point - the podcast for critical thinkers.

What critical thinking really is, where it went, and the 10 forms every thinker should know.

In this episode
A definition and a hard look at the episode's theme, plus 3 of Eli's aphorisms, Einstein and Bohr from great minds, a "What If?" to ponder.

Eli’s Aphorisms
“Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.”
“Very few people ever got into trouble by listening too much.”
“You can easily identify the people who don't know what they're talking about. They're usually the ones who insist they do.”

From Great Minds
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” — Einstein
“No, no, no. You're not thinking. You're just being logical.” — Bohr

What If?
If I rode the first wave of a beam of light holding a mirror, would I be invisible in it?

This episode is supported by Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor, Stephen Bozer, SVP of Human Health at Flavine and Vantage Point's Executive Sponsor.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. More at eliamdur.com.