The resident faculty left a scrap of paper on the floor, but the writing was on the bottom side. And they had glued it to the floor. Fortunately they'd used water-soluble glue. Alas, they'd also used water-soluble ink. We don't know what they wrote, but we think we know what they meant.
More below the fold....
First our usual thanks to last week's guest lecturers. Last Tuesday, Professor of Neuroholdemology Caractacus discussed several topics in Learned A Lot This Week. And last Wednesday, Professor of Jobdefiliberantology J Brunner Fan updated us on the Ohio Secretary of State race in Not Sexy But Important. Both were excellent discussions and are worth reading.
This Tuesday, Professor Caractacus continues his Things We Learned This Week series. This Wednesday, Professor of Bathtublueberrywhisperology addisnana will discuss her insights from a visit to Glenn Beck's information island. As always, Chef will dispense coffee and bagels, while the Professor of Astrology Janitor will disperse cleaners with his buffer.
Note: We have no guest lecturer scheduled for next Wednesday's Morning Feature. If you would like to guest host Morning Feature next week or a later Wednesday, please volunteer in the Tuna Can, below.
Also: Please share your stories of offline political activism in Things We Did This Week.
Reminder: Thursday and Friday Morning Features are now published exclusively at the BPI Campus. The Non-Cynical Saturday conclusion for the week's topic is still crossposted at DailyKos. Make sure you can join in all the discussions by visiting the BPI Admissions Office. We want to hear from you!
Thus we return to the resident faculty and the mysterious note they glued to the floor as they made their way from the wine cellar library where they spent the weekend drinking thinking on our motto of Magis vinum, magis verum ("More wine, more truth") to the hot tub faculty lounge for their weekly game where the underwear goes flying planning conference. Pootie the Precious tried to lift the edge of the paper, but it was glued down. Her meows drew Chef's attention, and after a brief consult with the Professor of Astrology Janitor they used steam to soften the glue.
We'll never know what the resident faculty wrote, as steaming the note off the floor also steamed out the ink. Chef suggested taking the note to BPI's state-of-the-art High Energy Meta Mojo Elucidation Detector (HEMMED) Lab for analysis, but the Professor of Astrology Janitor thought we should try BPI's not-so-state-of-the-art High Apathy Washers En Dryers (HAWED) Lab, which is safer because it has no red button to never ever push. They hemmed and hawed until the BPI Squirrel pulled out his Blewberry and texted: "Maybe they didn't write anything. What if the glue was the clue?"
Sure enough, the resident faculty had ordered Made to Stick: How Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, by Chip and Dan Heath. From their website:
Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions. Inside, the Heath brothers reveal the anatomy of ideas that "stick" and explain sure-fire methods for making ideas stickier, such as violating schemas, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating "curiosity gaps."
Made to Stick is a book that will transform the way you communicate ideas. It’s a fast-paced tour of idea success stories (and failures)—the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who drank a glass of bacteria to prove a point about stomach ulcers; the charities who make use of the Mother Teresa Effect; the elementary-school teacher’s simulation that actually prevented prejudice. Provocative, eye-opening, and funny, Made to Stick shows us the principles of successful ideas at work—and how we can apply these rules to making our own messages "stick."
As we grassroots Democratic activists dive into the last three weeks of GOTV work, we need to share messages that stick ... and this week we'll discuss one take on how to do that.
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Happy Monday!
Crossposted from Blogistan Polytechnic Institute (BPICampus.com)