Our marvellous mind

Sigmund Freud has sculpted a glorious theory of conscious and unconscious mind almost a century ago. Up to this day it is still one of the most important achievements in psychological studies.

I have discovered that Daniel Kahneman offers a new detailed and insightful approach to this theory in his book “Thinking, fast and slow”. He introduces a reader to two main stars of the book: System 1 and System 2.

System 1 is the impulsive side of our mind, one that acts quickly and does not require any effort. On the other hand, System 2 is slow, effortful and analytical. Kahneman explains the interaction between the two and the way they operate in great detail. Although he uses scientific terms, the book is easy to read as they are explained in advance.

It is a fascinating book for anyone interested in why we think the way we do. 

Understanding English

Today while browsing through the old university notes, my eyes cought name of the book -  'Watching the English'. It's written by Kate Fox, one of the leading antropologists. It is one delightful reading. Anyone who have anything to do with English people should read it (and those who don't should too, I bet antopology book has never made you lough out loud).

Although the book trigered some hot debate about the validity of its findings among English profesionals, the truly honest ones admit how weird and awkward life situations sometimes (almost always) get. It is definitely the book to add to your library.

Raise your glass for Red Bull!

I salute Red Bull for putting together the Stratos project, which one more time made us hold our breath just like once Richard Brandson and his hot air balloon trip did. Name of fearless Felix Baumgartner is now associated with first skydive from the edge of the space. Red Bull took a lot of credit and showed us how much the viewer was missing adventure and engagement. 

We could even say that it is not all about exploring new advertising channels these days. Although, mind that of course, as great Baumgartner stunt was viewed live by millions on one of the newer advertising platform - the YouTube. Turns out, the best results come out of combination of two - old and new marketing techniques as Red Bull stunt has already hit the 75 million views bar and is already a most watched YouTube video ever. In addition, the brand became most popular soft drink brand on social network, overtaking the giants CocaCola and Pepsi (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, on Mashable).

No wonder new ads like Chanel No5 featuring Brad Pitt was overshadowed  by Red Bull. Yes, we know - the posh hair-do, low voice and all prenup history is very current and classy, but you do not get a person jumping from 39km hight every day! This definitely deserves a little corner in our long time memory.