Tuesday Dispatch: Issue #44

The Owl and The Beetle

This week we learn about risk-aversion, animal intelligence, and infantile amnesia. As well as killing accounts and how to reheat pizza.

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3 Droplets of Leadership

Risk Aversion Is the Enemy

Even when companies are founder-led, they tend to become risk-averse as soon as they grow big.

However, it is not simply a function of size, as is commonly assumed.

No, it's a matter of distance.

The further a founder is from potentially risky decisions, the more likely those decisions will be safe. Learn more about overcoming risk aversion. Don't pass it up!

Intelligence Is Not Just For Humans

You can spot an optimistic pig by teaching it to associate a specific sound - say, a note played on a glockenspiel - with a treat, such as an apple.

An apple falls through a hatch for the pig to eat when the note is played.

However, another sound, such as a dog-clicker, indicates nothing so pleasant.

If the pig approaches the hatch after hearing the clicker, all it gets is a rustling plastic bag in its face.

More information can be found here.

Infantile Amnesia

Even though people can't remember much before the age of two or three, research suggests that infants can form memories - just not the kinds you tell about yourself.

Infants can recognize their mother's face and distinguish it from a stranger's face within the first few days of life.

A few months later, infants can show that they remember many familiar faces by smiling the most at those they see the most.

Read more on this topic here.

2 Grains of Technology

Account Killer

Want to ditch your online account? Shouldn’t be a problem, right? Unfortunately, on many websites, including popular ones like Facebook, deleting your account can be a real pain.

AccountKiller collects direct links and deleting instructions to make account termination easy. Websites like Skype that do not allow easily deleting your profile get blacklisted. Luckily some websites do care about your online privacy.

Check it out!

The Best Way To Reheat Pizza

Order pizza, and there’s a good chance it’s gone within hours. Something about that round wheel of dough, melted cheese, warm tomato sauce, and seemingly countless topping possibilities is irresistible.

If only pizza would stay that way forever.

Here are the best ways to reheat it.

1 Atom of Reflection

Good things, bad things. It all depends on how you label them.