Thomas Edison's name is synonymous with invention, and his most famous invention, the electric light bulb, is a familiar symbol for that flash of inspired genius traditionally associated with the inventive act. Besides being the exemplar of the "bright idea," however, Edison's electric light is worthy of study for other reasons. The technical and economic importance of the light and of the electrical system that surrounded it matches that of any other invention we could name, at least from the last two hundred years. The introduction and spread of electric light and power was one of the key steps in the transformation of the world from an industrial age, characterized by iron and coal and steam, to a post-industrial one, in which electricity was joined by petroleum, light metals and alloys, and internal combustion engines to give the twentieth century its distinctive form and character. Our own time still largely carries the stamp of this age , however dazzled we may be by the electronic, computerized, and media wonders of the twenty-first century.

To begin with a psychological reason, the knowledge of another's personal affairs can tempt the possessor of this information to repeat it as gossip because as unrevealed information it remains socially inactive. Only when the information is repeated can its possessor turn the fact that he knows something into something socially valuable like social recognition, prestige, and notoriety. As long as he keeps his information to himself, he may feel superior to those who do not know it. But knowing and not telling does not give him that feeling of "superiority that, so to say, latently contained in the secret, fully actualizes itself only at the moment of disclosure." This is the main motive for gossiping about well-known figures and superiors. The gossip producer assumes that some of the "fame" of the subject of gossip, as whose "friend" he presents himself, will rub off on him.

Sport can trigger an emotional response in its consumers of the kind rarely brought forth by other products. Imagine bank customers buying memorabilia to show loyalty to their bank, or consumers identifying so strongly with their car insurance company that they get a tattoo with its logo. We know that some sport followers are so passionate about players, teams and the sport itself that their interest borders on obsession. This addiction provides the emotional glue that binds fans to teams, and maintains loyalty even in the face of on-field failure. While most managers can only dream of having customers that are as passionate about their products as sport fans, the emotion triggered by sport can also have a negative impact. Sport's emotional intensity can mean that organisations have strong attachments to the past through nostalgia and club tradition. As a result, they may ignore efficiency, productivity and the need to respond quickly to changing market conditions. For example, a proposal to change club colours in order to project a more attractive image may be defeated because it breaks a link with tradition.

People unknowingly sabotage their own work when they withhold help or information from others or try to undermine them lest they become more successful or get more credit than "me." Cooperation is alien to the ego, except when there is a secondary motive. The ego doesn't know hat the more you include others, the more smoothly things flow and the more easily things come to you. When you give little or no help to others or put obstacles in their path, the universe-in the form of people and circumstances-gives little or no help to you because you have cut yourself off from the whole. The ego's unconscious core feeling of "not enough" causes it to react to someone else's success as if that success had taken something away from "me." It doesn't know that your resentment of another person's success curtails your own chances of success. In order to attract success, you need to welcome it wherever you see it.

In the health area, the concern with use after "purchase" is as critical as and even more critical than the concern with the purchase itself. The person who is sold on and goes through disease screening procedures but does not follow through with medical treatment for a diagnosed condition, is as much of a failure as a person who did not avail himself of the screening program to begin with. The obese individual who has been successfully sold on going on a medically prescribed diet but is lured back to his candy jar and apple pie after one week, is as much of a failure as if he never had been sold on the need to lose and control his weight. The most challenging, most difficult, mostperplexing problem is not how to sell people on health-supportive practices, not even how to get them to initiate such practices. We have been fairly successful with these. It is to persuade and help them to stick with new practices.

Thanks to newly developed neuroimaging technology, we now have access to the specific brain changes that occur during learning. Even though all of our brains contain the same basic structures, our neural networks are as unique as our fingerprints. The latest developmental neuroscience research has shown that the brain is much more malleable throughout life than previously assumed; it develops in response to its own processes, to its immediate and distant "environments," and to its past and current situations. The brain seeks to create meaning through establishing or refining existing neural networks. When we learn a new fact or skill, our neurons communicate to form networks of connected information. Using this knowledge or skill results in structural changes to allow similar future impulses to travel more quickly and efficiently than others. High-activity synaptic connections are stabilized and strengthened, while connections with relatively low use are weakened and eventually pruned. In this way, our brains are sculpted by our own history of experiences.

The future of our high-tech goods may lie not in the limitations of our minds, but in our ability to secure the ingredients to produce them. In previous eras, such as the Iron Age and the Bronze Age, the discovery of new elements brought forth seemingly unending numbers of new inventions. Now the combinations may truly be unending. We are now witnessing a fundamental shift in our resource demands. At no point in human history have we used more elements, in more combinations, and in increasingly refined amounts. Our ingenuity will soon outpace our material supplies. This situation comes at a defining moment when the world is struggling to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. Fortunately, rare metals are key ingredients in green technologies such as electric cars, wind turbines, and solar panels. They help to convert free natural resources like the sun and wind into the power that fuels our lives. But without increasing today's limited supplies, we have no chance of developing the alternative green technologies we need to slow climate change.

Ever since the first scientific opinion polls revealed that most Americans are at best poorly informed about politics, analysts have asked whether citizens are equipped to play the role democracy assigns them. However, there is something worse than an inadequately informed public, and that's a misinformed public. It's one thing when citizens don't know something, and realize it, which has always been a problem. It's another thing when citizens don't know something, but think they know it, which is the new problem. It's the difference between ignorance and irrationality. Whatever else one might conclude about self-government, it's at risk when citizens don't know what they're talking about. Our misinformation owes partly to psychological factors, including our tendency to see the world in ways that suit our desires. Such factors, however, can explain only the misinformation that has always been with us. The sharp rise in misinformation in recent years has a different source: our media. "They are making us dumb," says one observer. When fact bends to fiction, the predictable result is political distrust and polarization.

In economics, there is a principle known as the sunk cost fallacy. The idea is that when you are invested and have ownership in something, you overvalue that thing. This leads people to continue on paths or pursuits that should clearly be abandoned. For example, people often remain in terrible relationships simply because they've invested a great deal of themselves into them. Or someone may continue pouring money into a business that is clearly a bad idea in the market. Sometimes, the smartest thing a person can do is quit. Although this is true, it has also become a tired and played-out argument. Sunk cost doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Actually, you can leverage this human tendency to your benefit. Like someone invests a great deal of money in a personal trainer to ensure they follow through on their commitment, you, too, can invest a great deal up front to ensure you stay on the path you want to be on.

Negotiators should try to find ways to slice a large issue into smaller pieces, known as using salami tactics. Issues that can be expressed in quantitative, measurable units are easy to slice. For example, compensation demands can be divided into cents-per-hour increments or lease rates can be quoted as dollars per square foot. When working to fractionate issues of principle or precedent, parties may use the time horizon (when the principle goes into effect or how long it will last) as a way to fractionate the issue. It may be easier to reach an agreement when settlement terms don't have to be implemented until months in the future. Another approach is to vary the number of ways that the principle may be applied. For example, a company may devise a family emergency leave plan that allows employees the opportunity to be away from the company for a period of no longer than three hours, and no more than once a month, for illness in the employee's immediate family.