Apparently famous economist Paul Krugman got into economics partially because of Isaac Asimov's idea of Psychohistory from the Foundation series.
More on this – and his appearance at worldcon – here.
Professional Geekery
Fans And Brands
As anyone may have guessed, I'm a fan of the whole personal branding thing. I'm no Dan Schawbel (hey, who IS except, well, Dan Schawbel), but I feel it's overall a positive thing -it's about establishing and communicating identity and building a presence. Sometimes it can get overdone (especially when one treats it like PRODUCT branding), but I feel it's a good thing overall – it makes people aware of themselves and how they present themselves.
And if you're a fanboy, fangirl, geek, nerd, etc. guess what, you are probably FAR better at it than you realize, because fandom socializing in the online days has massive elements of personal branding.
So guess what – you're probably pretty good at it.
Book Review: Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success
Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success
by Dan Schwabel
# ISBN-10: 1427798206
# ISBN-13: 978-1427798206
PRO: A snappy, positive, clever book on personal branding that makes it exciting and interesting, explains its importance, and has a lot of good advice. Helps anyone get going into personal branding in the internet age.
CONS: An erratic writing style. Depth of information varies erratically. Its pitch to Gen Y may turn off Gen Xers who would benefit. Some questionable social conclusions.
SUMMARY: Me 2.0 is an excellent guide to personal branding in the internet age – what it is, how to do it, why to do it, and its impact. A must-buy for serious professionals.