Sustain #126 - Martha Mitchell Effect
"Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died" - Erma Bombeck
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A self-fulfilling frame of mind is the enemy of logical thinking. Just because you assume something to be right doesn’t make the truth unreal. Even the smartest people in the world commit this crime. Take doctors for example. If you go to a doctor and tell him/her that your previous doctor injured you, will he/she believe you? Most probably not. They will assume you are crazy and you don’t know what you’re talking about. Similarly, if you had witnessed unbelievable real events and explain that to a psychologist, he/she might see you as delusional.
The inability of some people to verify an event and therefore intuitively jumping to a wrong conclusion about you is the Martha Mitchell Effect. It is named after Martha Beall Mitchell, the wife of John Mitchell, Attorney-General in the Nixon administration. When Martha claimed that White House officials were conducting illegal activities, the officials claimed that she was suffering from mental illness. When the Watergate Scandal brought the administration down, Martha was vindicated for her claims. It is imperative to think through when people tell us things that are completely out of order; that way, we don’t miss obvious black holes in our thinking. Meanwhile, welcome to the 126th weekly of Sustain – a newsletter at the intersection of technology, business, people, cities, and other things. Here is last week’s in case you missed it.
Technology and Innovation!
- Ford wants to make an AI police car. Link
- Nissan made self-parking slippers. Link. Why? Because, they can.
- Scientists in China have successfully cloned monkeys. Link. Not everything needs to be heavily engineered.
Business and Trends!
- The luxury home-rental race is heating up. Link
- Starbucks is testing a Cashless Store in Seattle. Link
- The World's longest flights are making a comeback. Link
- Diet Coke adds new flavors like ‘Twisted Mango’ to appeal to younger audience. Link
Corporate Consciousness and Turners
- The Apple Cash FAQ. Link
- Stripe to ditch Bitcoin payment support. Link
- Offensive phrases on bottle caps prompt Coca-Cola to cancel Canadian promotion. Link
- Goldman and Pritzker sank millions into Outcome Health, an advertising startup before suing it for fraud. Link
Media, Deals, and Updates
- Anheuser-Busch InBev Brewing Company acquired Beverage Analytics Startup WeissBeerger. Link
- SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to back leading online insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar at a valuation of at least $800 million. Link
- Bacardi to buy out Patron tequila in $5.1 billion deal. Link. Recently, Pernod Ricard bought out Avion Tequila and Diageo bought George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila for up to $1 billion.
This Company That Market
- Amazon launches hyperlocal grocery delivery with NOW store in India. Link
The Business Graveyard
- CNN shuttered Casey Neistat’s video company Beme, which it bought 14 months ago for $25 million. Link
Jobs and Losses
- Uber to introduce limit on drivers' hours. Link
- Parents of millennials are too involved in their kids' careers. A Report. Link
Animals, Nature, Science, and Stuff
- Fish skin bandages heal badly burned bears. Link
- Sheep worn wearable alerts farmers to lameness. Link
- NASA ranked 2017 the second-hottest year on Earth. Link
Cities, States, Countries, Worlds, Universe and Multiverse
- Paris: The automotive liberation. Link
- China: to develop ‘Arctic’ Silk Road. Link
- Australia: Swimmers rescued by drone. Link
- India: launches livability index to rank 116 Indian cities. Link
- Germany: is appointing an anti-Semitism commissioner. Link
- Poland: Cow escapes pen to live wild with a herd of bison. Link
- Poland: World’s first smog vacuum cleaner heads to the city. Link
- Edinburgh: Harry Potter tourism is apparently ruining the city. Link
- Singapore: government hired Instagram influencers to promote its budget. Link
- Netherlands: police are confiscating expensive clothes from kids who look too poor to wear them. Link
Some other things I found interesting from the last week
- Jhumpa Lahiri on Writing in Italian. Link
- How to analyze your Sleep Quality? Link
- The lavish world of superyachts. Photos. Link
- Used shipping containers turned into passively-cooled homes. Link
News @Arcluster
Arcluster is pleased to announce the launch of its study on 'Fish Feed' Markets. The study comprises multiple markets and sub-markets and is focused to unearth demand and market trends from across the world. Market reports from this endeavor will be published in 2019. Please stay updated with our research studies by subscribing to research alerts here. For the latest news from the company, follow us on Twitter here, LinkedIn here and Like us on Facebook here.
About me
I manage research and consulting at Arcluster, an innovation design and market consulting firm that serves global clients with actionable market intelligence and growth advisory. On a daily basis, I work with clients in helping them understand and monetize micro emerging trends. You can reach me on twitter at @anirmal or email at [email protected].
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