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The Impact and Context of the Orly Disaster
Note: This essay was originally published with Burnaway in 2011. Unfortunately, as these things happen on the Internet, their version of the writing was lost at some point, perhaps during a data migration or redesign. Below is my original draft sent to the publication and most of the links I referenced have been subject to…
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Thoughts about Everything Everywhere All at Once
Nothing really profound here. And maybe that’s the point? Below are some words I wrote in a thread on Facebook discussing their reception of the movie. I came into that thread in a section where they mentioned their disappointment at the mode of nihilism being worked with in the movie; a “passive nihilism” was how…
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Some Notes from Mentoring in 2021
In 2021 I joined the ADPList’s community of mentors and I’ve had the privilege to meet with more than 60 folks through that platform. I was pleasantly surprised that my efforts there would lead to me being named a “Top 10 Mentor in North America” by the ADPList community. By the Numbers I estimate that…
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On Mentoring
This is a note of gratitude about an unexpected development in my career outside of academia and I share it with you in the hopes it builds your optimism about your career outside of academia. As I was transitioning out of academia and into anything else I was worried I’d lose one of the dimensions…
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Philosophy, UX Research, Everything
The impressive folks at UX Wizards invited me to join them on their podcast. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, or visit the podcast site. I had a really lovely time talking with them about a range of topics from how my training in Philosophy has been valuable for my UX work,…
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Fostering Trust through Effective Communication and Action
This week I’ve been reflecting on a passage from Mencius (the latinized way of referring to Mengzi 孟子), an important person in the early development of Confucian philosophy: “Benevolence (仁 ren) is like archery. An archer corrects himself and only then shoots. If he shoots but does not hit the mark, he does not resent…
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Transitioning from Academia to User Research
It was a real pleasure to join the User Research Atlanta Meetup group earlier this week to talk about the experiences of some folks I know who’ve made the move from academia into UX.
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Reflecting on a Terrible Year & Giving Thanks
By a number of measurements 2020 has been a terrible year, and so I am almost embarrassed to say that it’s actually been a very good year for me and my family. I am really grateful for the year we’ve had. A Year of Service As the Federal and State responses to the Covid-19 pandemic…
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![UX Careers & Kungfu [Video]](https://paulboshears.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Screen-Shot-2020-12-15-at-12.59.03-PM-1568x864.png)
UX Careers & Kungfu [Video]
Earlier this year I posted a bunch of words that I used as part of my talk at the UX Hustle Summit. Now you can enjoy the dulcet tones of my voice and video of my Covid grief beard. My sincere thanks to Abriel Shipley and the organizers of the UX Hustle Summit this year!
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Reflecting on a Year of Death
The Verge has published a memorial for my friend, Molly. The Covid-19 Pandemic began for me, in earnest, when my friend called me and told me that Molly had killed herself. I was in the office and I got the call. In my lectures, when I was a professor of Philosophy and Art History, I…