Tongue-in-cheek article about building your moral fiber and why self-discipline should be carefully rationed. More to the point, there's an engaging story about why self-discipline is more important than smarts when it comes to academic (or other!) success.

The latest newsletter's out. This month I discuss concept maps and mind maps, and topic maps. And there's a companion podcast expanding a bit on concept maps and putting them into the context of the information explosion and how to deal with it -- and some research news on studies showing various unconcious influences on the way we perceive the world.

I've just read a wonderful article in the Guardian by a woman who was raised (along with 2 siblings) by her two totally blind parents. Both parents also had fulfilling careers. How's that for making most of us feel inadequate? But it's also inspirational, of course. And of course (my justification for mentioning it), it's also -- can I say eye-opening? -- for us sighted people to read about how blind people manage. We are (witness the adjective I just used) such a very visually-oriented species, we tend to overlook the value and possibilities of our other senses.

Teachers might like to note a study reported in another Guardian article, about the importance of voice for teachers. Those with breathy or monotonous voices apparently often lose the attention of their pupils, and research has indicated at least 50% of teachers suffer from some sort of voice disorder -- presumably because they're using their voices all day. The suggestion is that teachers should have training in how to look after their voices.

I can personally vouch for the difficulty in attending to monotonous voices. I still recall a Japanese teacher (i.e. a teacher of the Japanese language -- he was actually American) that I had at university. He had the most monotonous voice I've ever heard, and it was simply impossible to keep your attention on him. In fact, most of our lessons were right after lunch, and we were always drifting off to sleep, lulled by his voice. He bore us no grudge -- he knew the effect of his voice on people -- he used to throw balls of paper at us to wake us up!

A couple of weeks ago I reported on the Happy Planet Index, which put Vanuatu at the top as the Happiest Country. However, the name is a little misleading -- it's not just about happiness; it's about human well-being and economic impact. According to the just-released World Map of Happiness, Denmark is actually the happiest place on earth -- according to the reports of its inhabitants. And according to this survey of 80,000 people around the globe, a nation's level of happiness is most closely associated with health, followed by wealth and education.

On this map, the U.S. is 23rd in the world (it was 150th in the HPI -- not surprising when you consider its very high levels of consumption). The U.K. is 41st (compared to 108th). And my own country of New Zealand was 18th (compared to 94th).

And while we're on the subject of happiness ... I just read a review of a new book on the subject, which I must look out for. It's called The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt. According to the author's theory, emotion is simply the expression of the interaction between our automatic processes (which can do a frightening amount -- we don't need higher-order cognitive processes to live perfectly effective animal lives) and those processes that we control. Happy people are those in whom the interaction is smooth; the two work together in relative harmony.

It's certainly an intriguing theory, and I look forward to reading more about it.