Explaining the world one sketch at a time

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

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Learn something new in a sketch each Sunday

Recent sketches

Isochrones

From the prefix iso meaning equal and khronos meaning time it literally means equal times. And whereas maps are usually put together with lines of equal distance you can either construct maps, or overlay maps as here, with lines of equal time. The overlay view gives you time contours rather than, say, altitude contours. Handy for checking things like commuting distance. I like how you find little islands where there is fast transport in and out like trains or planes. You can explore time maps of London at mapumental.…From the prefix iso meaning equal and khronos meaning time it literally means equal times. And whereas maps are usually put together with lines of equal distance you can either construct maps, or overlay maps as here, with lines of equal time. The overlay view gives you time contours rather than, say, altitude contours. Handy for checking things like commuting distance. I like how you find little islands where there is fast transport in and out like trains or planes. You can explore time maps of London at mapumental.

14 Oct 2017

The golden circle

Simon Sinek’s simple idea to start with why. To get a better feel, watch his 18min TED talk: How great leaders inspire action. I found his concrete example of “It was the ‘I have a dream’ speech, not the ‘I have a plan’ speech,” helps keep in mind the power of starting with why and painting a vision in order to inspire and lead. Now, if you have a vision, a strategy and a plan, well, then you’re in business. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. — Simon Sinek Simon’s has parallels with another I like: Products aren’t just things that you buy, they’re things that you buy into. — Dev Patnaik…Simon Sinek’s simple idea to start with why. To get a better feel, watch his 18min TED talk: How great leaders inspire action. I found his concrete example of “It was the ‘I have a dream’ speech, not the ‘I have a plan’ speech,” helps keep in mind the power of starting with why and painting a vision in order to inspire and lead. Now, if you have a vision, a strategy and a plan, well, then you’re in business. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. — Simon Sinek Simon’s has parallels with another I like: Products aren’t just things that you buy, they’re things that you buy into. — Dev Patnaik

7 Oct 2017

Emotional hot potato

The boss yells at the employee, the employee yells at their spouse, the spouse yells at the child, the child yells at their younger sibling, the sibling yells at the dog, the dog pees on the rug. The term emotional hot potato for this comes from Lawrence Cohen in Playful parenting. Funny how bad moods really can work like this.…

30 Sep 2017

Atmospheric perspective

The effect you may have noticed where things further in the distance lose their intensity and colour until they fade into the sky. Most often noticeable with hills or mountains, but also in a misty forest as mist, dust, fog or things like pollution increase the effect. If it’s a blue sky day, the distance will take on a bluer tone like the colour of the sky. This scene painted from our ascent of Mt Rainier in the Pacific Northwest. And here’s a sunset version.…The effect you may have noticed where things further in the distance lose their intensity and colour until they fade into the sky. Most often noticeable with hills or mountains, but also in a misty forest as mist, dust, fog or things like pollution increase the effect. If it’s a blue sky day, the distance will take on a bluer tone like the colour of the sky. This scene painted from our ascent of Mt Rainier in the Pacific Northwest. And here’s a sunset version.

23 Sep 2017

Psychic numbing

Psychic numbing is the phenomenon where we find it increasingly hard to empathise with the plight of larger numbers of people. A story about a family who needs help is much easier for us to relate to than, say, a story about 1000s of people displaced or dying. As the number increases, the situation gets more abstract, and we just can’t connect with it. See the work of Paul Slovic or this super article by Brian Resnick: A psychologist explains the limits of human compassion Other contexts where we see psychic numbing are the general withdrawal of people and societies from potentially major catastrophes that seem unlikely to happen. Individually, it may also be reduced engagement with a past traumatic experience. I read in Murphy's Law Book Two, by Arthur Bloch, Fuller's Law of Journalism, which goes, "The further away the disaster or accident occurs, the greater the number of dead and injured required for it to become a story." Also see: The singularity effect…Psychic numbing is the phenomenon where we find it increasingly hard to empathise with the plight of larger numbers of people. A story about a family who needs help is much easier for us to relate to than, say, a story about 1000s of people displaced or dying. As the number increases, the situation gets more abstract, and we just can’t connect with it. See the work of Paul Slovic or this super article by Brian Resnick: A psychologist explains the limits of human compassion Other contexts where we see psychic numbing are the general withdrawal of people and societies from potentially major catastrophes that seem unlikely to happen. Individually, it may also be reduced engagement with a past traumatic experience. I read in Murphy's Law Book Two, by Arthur Bloch, Fuller's Law of Journalism, which goes, "The further away the disaster or accident occurs, the greater the number of dead and injured required for it to become a story." Also see: The singularity effect

16 Sep 2017

Party bottle sizes

These large bottles are seriously impressive to see. They also have neat names from biblical kings for reasons I don’t know. There are a few more gradations, and some sizes and names are only for sparkling wines like champagne and some not. And there are some that even get significantly larger than the 20 bottles in a nebuchadnezzar, though I’ve never seen one.…

10 Sep 2017

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