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Simplifying complex ideas through fun and insightful sketches. Explore topics from science, creativity, psychology, and more explained in pictures.

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Recent sketches

Crossmodal perception

Crossmodal perception is when senses interact in sometimes surprising ways. Some fun examples: Coffee tastes better when you don’t have a loud coffee machine near you, and it also tastes more intense and less sweet if the mug is white. In the atmosphere of a pressurised cabin when flying, with decreased humidity and air pressure and significant background noise, things taste less sweet or salty. If you can’t hear the crunch of, say, a Pringles potato chip, then it tastes less fresh. You might enjoy Nicola Twilley’s super New Yorker article, The Illusion of Taste, which has more of the science and plenty more examples.…Crossmodal perception is when senses interact in sometimes surprising ways. Some fun examples: Coffee tastes better when you don’t have a loud coffee machine near you, and it also tastes more intense and less sweet if the mug is white. In the atmosphere of a pressurised cabin when flying, with decreased humidity and air pressure and significant background noise, things taste less sweet or salty. If you can’t hear the crunch of, say, a Pringles potato chip, then it tastes less fresh. You might enjoy Nicola Twilley’s super New Yorker article, The Illusion of Taste, which has more of the science and plenty more examples.

24 Mar 2018

The Lucretius problem

The Lucretius problem is our tendency to believe that the worst possible thing that can happen is the worst possible thing we know has happened. The name was given by Nicolas Taleb in his book Antifragile. So, should we plan to stress test an investment portfolio, for example, we might test it against how it fared in the worst market crash. Or stress test a building for the biggest known earthquake or a nuclear reactor for the biggest known tsunami. And yet, when each of these events happened, they were bigger than what had come before, and the same could happen again. Lucretius was a Roman philosopher who wrote that: "The fool believes that the tallest mountain in the world will be equal to the tallest one he has observed." Also known as The Lucretius underestimation. See other sketchplanations on cognitive biases.…The Lucretius problem is our tendency to believe that the worst possible thing that can happen is the worst possible thing we know has happened. The name was given by Nicolas Taleb in his book Antifragile. So, should we plan to stress test an investment portfolio, for example, we might test it against how it fared in the worst market crash. Or stress test a building for the biggest known earthquake or a nuclear reactor for the biggest known tsunami. And yet, when each of these events happened, they were bigger than what had come before, and the same could happen again. Lucretius was a Roman philosopher who wrote that: "The fool believes that the tallest mountain in the world will be equal to the tallest one he has observed." Also known as The Lucretius underestimation. See other sketchplanations on cognitive biases.

17 Mar 2018

Seasons

The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice…The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice

10 Mar 2018

Lake-effect snow

Nature’s greatest snow machine, where crazy amounts of snow can fall in huge snowstorms on the downwind — leeward — side of a lake. Where the effect is pronounced, such as on the East of some of the Great Lakes in the US, it can generate regions known as snow belts because of the amount of snow they receive. It works kind of like this: cold air blows over a lake. As the cold air passes over the warmer lake it picks up water vapour from the lake and it warms. This causes it to rise and in turn cool, such that when it reaches the downwind side of the lake it is now a lot of cold moist air which can cause some incredible snowstorms, like 2–3 inches of snow per hour. Satellite pictures like these show it in action pretty clearly. If the land rises after the lake, the air can cool faster and increase the effect — and also cause a rain shadow — and if there’s a whole lot of convection and the air is rising fast, you can get what’s called thundersnow — a thunderstorm in a snowstorm. I know. Stay warm out there. Find the weather interesting? Me too. Also see: Dirty thunderstorms Thunderclouds Yesterday’s weather (applying weather forecasting to productivity forecasting) Rain shadow Lenticular clouds Know your cirrostratus from your altocumulus British weather Banner clouds…Nature’s greatest snow machine, where crazy amounts of snow can fall in huge snowstorms on the downwind — leeward — side of a lake. Where the effect is pronounced, such as on the East of some of the Great Lakes in the US, it can generate regions known as snow belts because of the amount of snow they receive. It works kind of like this: cold air blows over a lake. As the cold air passes over the warmer lake it picks up water vapour from the lake and it warms. This causes it to rise and in turn cool, such that when it reaches the downwind side of the lake it is now a lot of cold moist air which can cause some incredible snowstorms, like 2–3 inches of snow per hour. Satellite pictures like these show it in action pretty clearly. If the land rises after the lake, the air can cool faster and increase the effect — and also cause a rain shadow — and if there’s a whole lot of convection and the air is rising fast, you can get what’s called thundersnow — a thunderstorm in a snowstorm. I know. Stay warm out there. Find the weather interesting? Me too. Also see: Dirty thunderstorms Thunderclouds Yesterday’s weather (applying weather forecasting to productivity forecasting) Rain shadow Lenticular clouds Know your cirrostratus from your altocumulus British weather Banner clouds

3 Mar 2018

Gaslighting

Manipulating someone psychologically such that they start to doubt their own sanity. Lying or deceiving persistently can plant seeds of self-doubt in the minds of someone else. At first, it is likely to be easy to resist, but if it continues people can start to question their own reality or start to think they may be going crazy. The term comes from the play Gas light by Patrick Hamilton where a husband tries to convince his wife, played by Ingrid Bergman in a 1944 film adaptation, that she imagined the dimming of gas lights in their house, which was, in fact, due to him searching for jewels in the flat above. The term has been used in sociological, psychiatric and political contexts among others. HT: Shawn Riedel…Manipulating someone psychologically such that they start to doubt their own sanity. Lying or deceiving persistently can plant seeds of self-doubt in the minds of someone else. At first, it is likely to be easy to resist, but if it continues people can start to question their own reality or start to think they may be going crazy. The term comes from the play Gas light by Patrick Hamilton where a husband tries to convince his wife, played by Ingrid Bergman in a 1944 film adaptation, that she imagined the dimming of gas lights in their house, which was, in fact, due to him searching for jewels in the flat above. The term has been used in sociological, psychiatric and political contexts among others. HT: Shawn Riedel

24 Feb 2018

The Oxford comma

The Oxford comma is the comma after the penultimate item in a list. It’s normally a matter of style — you can happily choose to leave it out — though in some cases it can clarify what would otherwise be an ambiguous meaning, as in this well-cited book dedication “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.” Or, more pertinently, in a recent legal case where ambiguity hinging on the lack of an Oxford comma is costing a dairy firm a $5m overtime payment to its drivers. HT: Jon Hoare…The Oxford comma is the comma after the penultimate item in a list. It’s normally a matter of style — you can happily choose to leave it out — though in some cases it can clarify what would otherwise be an ambiguous meaning, as in this well-cited book dedication “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.” Or, more pertinently, in a recent legal case where ambiguity hinging on the lack of an Oxford comma is costing a dairy firm a $5m overtime payment to its drivers. HT: Jon Hoare

17 Feb 2018

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