Today is our introduction to Smart Brevity¸, a book we will begin to report on next week.  Are you expected, and if so, do you know what that means?  Aeon dives into the origin of the ordinary.  On the subject of normal, an explainer on the Bermuda Triangle and another look at big projects.

Aeon wrote a story about the false identity of being normal.  Aeon is a digital newsletter that goes into a longer form of articles and essays, digging into stories about life from a swath of expertise.  Today’s article highlight is from Psyche, one of the newsletters produced by Aeon.

The term normal was a mathematical term, meaning right angle.  In the 1800s, a Belgium astronomer began plotting the average height of people; most will land in the center of a bell-shaped curve.  Normal was the mean, and everything that fell outside the bell curve was out of normal distribution.  This foundation was expanded upon, and normal ranges for the physical body, mind, and behavior were plot points on a chart.  Normal was average.

We love to put people, places, and things into categories.  It makes it easier to sort and distribute stuff.  People with personalities and conscious minds are challenging to put into a category.  Some of the best of us, the people that make the most significant difference in our world, don't fit any of them.  The new normal is the realization that we are not.

The YouTube channel Weird History goes on to explain the mysteries behind the Bermuda Triangle.  The infamous Flight 19 has started much of the speculation.  This explainer goes through everything from location to storm theories and aliens.  We won't spoil the ending, but some involved a massive hangover and an author or two looking to profit from storytelling.  Watch it below.

The WSJ has a story about mega projects and why 99% fail in some aspect; time, budget, deadline, expectations, or all of the above.  The percentages are frightening; less than half of all mega projects come in on budget, and the portion coming in on time and on a budget is less than 10%. 

The economist Bent Flyvbjerg studies big projects and has spent years working through the data and the primary factor that causes big projects to fail… People.

Flyvbjerg also goes into how to successfully produce a mega project, and the answer may involve building blocks.

Yesterday we talked about Medellin in Columbia building an aerial MetroCable system that moves people from a mountainous region to the cities for work.  Every once in a while, a mega project does work.

[Music Notes]

Slowdowns, pickups, and remakes.

The Bird and the Bee interpret Van Halen.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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