I was really enthralled by a piece of military lingo called “OODA loops” introduced to me by Professor Allen at BYUH. My attraction to the concept was mainly because I found it a useful way to augment my cognitive perception on how to form and execute decisions (I sometimes struggle with larger life decisions and used to feel that many aspects of those decisions were too restrictive or forced on me).

So it made sense — why not overhaul the entire dynamic of the way decisions are constructed?

Developed by Col. John Boyd of the U.S. Air Force, OODA loops is a simple decision making pattern technique. The Air Force really didn’t care for it much, or for Col. Boyd for that matter (who was undefeated record in aerial dogfighting — he could annihilate anyone within 40 seconds). The Marine Corp. very much appreciated Boyd and his work and it’s now part of the training officers receive in OCS.

OODA — an acronym — stands for: Observe, orient, decide and act.

Pretty much common sense, right?

We observe and take in information, oriented ourselves based on our instincts and then act on them given enough conviction. Indeed, besides breaking down an broad concept that decision making can sometimes be, there’s not much to OODA loops until you realize the trick to using them.

That trick isn’t to wait for enough observable information to allow some masterstroke of a decision manifest in ourselves. The purpose of OODA loops is to inspire us to make decisions irregardless of whether or not we have perfect information and to act with the intent to act again in rapid order.

In an aerial dogfight, pilots don’t make one move and wait for the chips to fall. The successful pilots act again based on their observations and ability to quickly orient themselves. Victory comes to the pilot that can cycle through several rounds of this process of observing, orienting, deciding and acting.

I.e., a person who can execute five quick decisions compared to someone who is bogged down and can only rattle out two decisions will emerge triumphant.

(Marines love this tactic because it encourages their officers to make mistakes. That’s right, the most lethal fighting entity since the Spartan Warriors of ancient Greece actively encourage mistakes to improve adaptation. Officers who don’t act quick or mess up are considered complacent.)

The OODA Loop shows how decision making is really an art form (and sometimes an exercise) everyone should be well versed in; not an enigma that daunts or molests us.

Moreover — as you internalize and contemplate OODA’s potential applications — you’ll discover it is a method that allows for complete spontaneity in life while disciplining us with some structure. Like all abstract concepts, its not something easily or immediately implementable without some work, but with a little thought and practice the mindset can be invaluable.

As the cliche goes, the only constant in life is change. Decision making is all about confronting change — whether or not that change is self-inflicted or brought on by external forces.

Unfortunately, we all too often view change as an undesirable element in our lives when change is really a good friend who visits us from time to time to make sure life is never too dull.

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I’ve become increasingly agitated when girls come to me and ask me to take some high-quality, professional photographs of them. The problem, the vast majority of the time, is by “high-quality” they really mean “magazine-quality.”

And unless the photos match up to the images the media bombards them with, they’ll hate it. I’ve shot some amazing photos of girls who have taken one look at my work and wanted me to delete or destroy the pictures entirely.

All self esteem issues aside, it’s always intrigued me why girls almost uniformly reject realistic images of themselves — even high quality, professional ones.

It always comes back to the great mass-media conglomerate of our culture. There’s been a lot of public outcry over the way “the media” defines beauty. Big boobs, small waists and surgery to fix whatever natural blemishes you were unfortunate enough to be cursed with. The standard is indeed high and seems to keep gaining altitude with every passing year.

Unfortunately, skinny supermodels with fake breasts (who are employed in ample numbers by “the media”) are not the root cause of the problem. I believe photographers are the real culprits.

Photography, you see, is the art of lying.

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So I was going through Facebook and stumbled upon this little gem written in the wake of the Virgina-Tech massacre:

I have spent the past two days just reading, re-reading, watching the videos, and listening about the tragedy. But it’s not enough. I still feel so much confusion, frustration, anger, hurt, and grief. Where’s the catharsis?? I have so many questions still and the answers just aren’t available. I have this overwhelming ache to know: Why did this happen? Is it possible it will happen again? Why are some people so troubled and is there ANYTHING that I can do?? What if it had happened here? Does everyone know that I LOVE them?? I can’t help but cry just thinking about it. But thinking is ALL I can do!

9-11 didn’t hit me this hard. Maybe because I was so much younger. Maybe because of the blatant brutality of these shootings. Maybe because I fit the profile of the victims, and so do you. Maybe because now it seems so much closer, all the more personal. All I know is that now I’m feeling the vulnerability of someone just “going about their day”…but waiting for the ax to fall. Where next? When will it end? This is such a scary time…Please pray, folks.

I think this has struck a nerve in me that’s been festering since Thailand.

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Shelly cries me a river on Feminist Mormon Housewives:

He has excuse after excuse but the facts remain: He’s lied to me more than once. He goes to bars while away on business with strangers! While I stay at home with our beautiful baby, he puts his health in danger, his priesthood to the wayside, contradicts our temple promises to each other…. BUT I am supposed to be understanding and loving. Being understanding and loving makes me feel like a doormat (again) and I just want to be angry. I want an apology. I want the life back that I signed up for. I am sick of being the perfect, caring housewife who cooks his meals and does his laundry just to be treated with NO respect or concern. I’m so mad but I do still love him even though I don’t show him anymore. So please, give me some practical advice, no sermons needed.

Translation: “Waaah. Waaah. I want attention! Give me attention *now* because my marriage is falling apart!”

Those who rely on random people on the internet to provide moral support and advice in such situations are unfathomably weak individuals. With this brand of mentality, there is no doubt that Shelly will find herself in situations even worse than her current plight as she stumbles her way through life.

Fortunately for us, we have the intrepid writers at FMH to exploit Shelly (and others like her) as fodder for their estrogen-overloaded community.

They get to play Dr. Phil, she gets to be an attention whore.

I, on the other hand, get a cheap laugh and a pause to thank deity that I’m not tied down to one of these anti-depressant pill-popping lards.

It’s win, win!

As I was dropping off my rental back in August of 2004, I made the fateful mistake of frequenting the always-interesting Windward Mall in Kaneohe.

Windward Mall is a unique juncture where anything goes — from Polynesian Square Dancing to playing the very worst music from local Hawaiian bands about 100 decibels too loud.

But what was unique about this outing was that a casting call had been recently put out for extras (these are extras mind you) for this new TV show Hawaii (original title, ain’t it?) starring Michael Biehn of all washed up actors. Naturally, everyone and their grandma showed up – the lines were backed up to outside of the doors. I estimated at least 800 people were in que by 11:00.

If this was a roll call to get in some reality TV show like Survivor, or audition for a spot that is a little more tangible than just standing behind Star-X or Star-Y I could understand and justify what had to have been a colossal waste of time & energy.

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The fury of Jubilee Week is now safely behind us. The week-long activities were a major success and a tribute to the spirit of this institution. After years of planning and preparation it is time to breath a big sigh of relief.

However, there was one incy-bitsy-tiny mistake the administration and faculty made: they screwed over their own students.

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A report published in the New York Times claims parents treat “pretty” children better and “ugly” children worse:

Researchers at the University of Alberta carefully observed how parents treated their children during trips to the supermarket. They found that physical attractiveness made a big difference.

The researchers noted if the parents belted their youngsters into the grocery cart seat, how often the parents’ attention lapsed and the number of times the children were allowed to engage in potentially dangerous activities like standing up in the shopping cart. They also rated each child’s physical attractiveness on a 10-point scale.

The findings, not yet published, were presented at the Warren E. Kalbach Population Conference in Edmonton, Alberta.

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