John Hunter's blog posts (all time)

Exercise Is Really Really Good for You

Mon, 3 Aug 2026

150 minutes a week of moderate (walking briskly, biking, even mowing the lawn maybe) activity (30 minutes a day 5 days a week) is a decent target for a minimum amount of activity for most people.

Your Choices Determine if Others Will Find You Credible

Mon, 3 Aug 2026

If you are promoting the latest fad diet book and other high priced gimmicks the web site they have and deciding to appear on popular but scientifically inaccurate TV shows makes perfect sense. But those choices damage any credibility that could be had otherwise and make it difficult for others to take you seriously. You just put yourself into the bin with all the fad diets sales pitches in play at any time.

Scientific Inquiry Leads to Using Fluoride for Healthy Teeth

Sun, 2 Aug 2026

I love stories of how we learn for observing what is happening. We don’t always need to innovate by thinking up creative new ideas. If we are observant we can pick up anomalies and then examine the situation to find possible explanations and then experiment to see if those explanations prove true.

When working this way we often are seeing correlation and then trying to figure out which part of the correlation is an actual cause. So in this dental example, a dentist noticed his patients had bad brown stains on their teeth than others populations did...

We Have Thousands of Viruses In Us All the Time

Sun, 2 Aug 2026

Biology and the amazing interactions within a human body are amazing. Our bodies are teeming with other life (and almost life – viruses). All these microbes have a drastic impact on our health and those impacts are not always bad.

The human microbiome is incredible and teams with thousands of species (bacteria, viruses, members of domain Archaea, yeasts, single-celled eukaryotes, helminth parasites and bacteriophages). The complexity of interactions between all the elements of what is in our bodies and cells is one of the things that makes health care so challenging...

Using The Building of Robots to Engage Students in Learning

Sat, 1 Aug 2026

Fundi bots has a mission to use robotics training in African schools to create and inspire a new generation of problem solvers, innovators and change-makers. I believe strongly in this type of effort. We waste so much human potential by killing students design to learn. Instead we need to create systems that not only don’t kill that desire but allow it to flourish.

Ranking Countries by Scientific Publication Citations: USA, UK, Germany…

Sat, 1 Aug 2026

Country	h-index	2010 h-index	2007 h-index	% of World Population	% of World GDP	total cites
USA	1,518	1,139	793	4.5%	22.2%	152,984,430
United Kingdom	918	689	465	0.9	3.5	37,450,384
Germany	815	607	408	1.1	5.0	30,644,118
France	742	554	376	0.9	3.8	21,193,343
Canada	725	536	370	0.5	2.4	18,826,873
Japan	635	527	372	1.8	7.8	23,633,462
Additional countries of interest (with 2013 country rank)
16) China	436	279	161	19.2	11.7	14,752,062
19) South Korea	375	258	161	.7	1.7	5,770,844
22) Brazil	342	239	148	2.8	3.0	4,164,813
23) India	341	227	146	17.5	2.6	5,666,045

Appropriate Technology and Focus on Improving Lives at MIT

Fri, 31 Jul 2026

The D-Lab is building a global network of innovators to design and disseminate technologies that meaningfully improve the lives of people living in poverty. The program’s mission is pursued through interdisciplinary courses, technology development, and community initiatives, all of which emphasize experiential learning, real-world projects, community-led development, and scalability.

STEM Graduates in the USA: 465,000 Women and 451,000 Men

Fri, 31 Jul 2026

STEM baccalaureate degrees in the USA in 2010 (reported by NSF in 2014):

Field	Women	Men
Science (including math)	442,000	343,000
Engineering	23,000	108,000
Health	193,000	36,000
Total	658,000	486,000

If you exclude health, women still lead 465,000 to 451,000.

Engineering Graduates Earned a Return on Their Investment In Education of 21%

Thu, 30 Jul 2026

Engineering graduates earned a return on their investment of 21%. The next highest were math and computers (18%); health (18%); and business (17%). Even the lowest returns are quite good: education (9%), leisure and hospitality (11%), agriculture (11%) and liberal arts (12%).

These returns look at graduates without post-graduate degrees (in order to find the value of just the undergraduate degree).

Mistake Proofing Using Enhanced Stop Signs

Thu, 30 Jul 2026

The video shows a system that cascades a sheet of water and displays a stop sign directly in the path of trucks ready to crash into a tunnel (because the truck is too tall).

The driver had ignored several less obvious signals that they were headed for danger. This is an application of one of my favorite management (and industrial engineering) concepts: mistake proofing. As I have stated before, often it is really mistake making more difficult (as it is in this case) rather than mistake proofing.

Default Rates on Loans by Credit Score

Wed, 29 Jul 2026

About 38% of people have credit scores from 750-850 (<1% default rate). Another 37% from 600-749 (5+% default rate) and about 25% from 350-599 (25+% default rate).

Investing in Peer to Peer Loans

Wed, 29 Jul 2026

As long as you have a well diversified portfolio of personal loans there is a long track record of the risk. And while plenty of risky personal loans will default, and more will default if the economy has a downturn the interest rates on the loans provides good income even after such losses. And even if things go poorly the actually losses of capital should be small (over the whole portfolio)...

The Fed Should Raise the Fed Funds Rate (Sep 2015)

Tue, 28 Jul 2026

The issue I see is that a .25% Fed Funds rate is adding gasoline to the economy via low interest rates. Many people are saying an increase is like taking away the gasoline and taking out a fire extinguisher. But it really isn’t. Raising the rate to .25% is slightly decrease the amount of gas you are adding to the fire.

The Road Not Taken

Tue, 28 Jul 2026

Robert Frost was poking fun at his friend who would obsess over what fork to take in the path as they walked when in reality the choice made no difference.

And “that has made all the difference” is poking fun at self justifications of our actions; congratulating ourselves for doing something not really worthy of accolades.

Still the top three lines do seem like insightful advice. Of course what is really needed is insight into when choosing the road less traveled is wise (or at least a sensible gamble) and when it is less traveled for very good reasons.

Adding 50,000 Jobs a Month is the New 150,000 in the USA Due to Demographic Changes

Tue, 28 Jul 2026

Due to changes in the demographic makeup of the USA we are not adding nearly as many working age people as we have been for several decades (the large number of people reaching retirement age is a big part of this shift).

Solar Energy Capacity by Country (graph 2009 - 2013)

Mon, 27 Jul 2026

In the USA, even after growing 60% in 2008, 53% in 2009, 71% in 2010, 86% in 2011, 83% in 2012 and 64% in 2013 solar energy capacity only totaled 1% of USA total electrical capacity. In 2013 hydropower was 6.8%, wind was 5.3% and biomass was 1.3%. The increase in solar capacity should continue to grow rapidly and is starting to make significant contributions to the macroeconomic energy picture.

When you look at total electricity generation solar only represented .5% (compared to 6.6% for hydropower 4.1% for wind and 1.5% for biomass).

Protecting Your Privacy and Security

Mon, 27 Jul 2026

I suggested a way to make credit cards more secure and useful. When Apple Pay was announced I learned they are doing basically what I suggested.

Apple Pay doesn’t share information that can be used to steal your credit card. Apple Pay gives the retailer a 1 time use code for that purchase.

Looking at Real Estate in This Challenging Investing Climate

Sun, 26 Jul 2026

I continue to believe the choices for investors are much more challenging than they normally are, as I have written about several times. Though maybe soon, this will just be the new normal (in which case investors won’t have the fairly easy choices they have had for much of the last 100 years).

In previous posts I have discussed the value of real estate investments in this investing climate. Real estate is one way to cope with the challenges of extremely low yields today.

Interview with Investing Blogger John Hunter

Sun, 26 Jul 2026

Minimize costs on investments, use Vanguard or similar low fee funds. Buying individual stocks reduces even the costs of Vanguard. There are tradeoffs to diversity of your portfolio when buying individual stocks.
Pay attention to the overall risk of the portfolio, and even beyond that, your entire financial picture. For example, in the USA we have extra healthcare expense risk that is outside our portfolio risk, but is part of our entire financial picture. Building your portfolio with extra-portfolio risks in mind is wise.

Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) and Location Independent Working

Sat, 25 Jul 2026

Combining FIRE and location independent work provides some valuable benefits. If you have some investments saved up that can be tapped as you travel that can meet some of your living costs, this aids on of the bigger challenges – how to earn money while you travel. And if you travel frugally you can reduce your costs (below what you speed where you used to live).

Medical Tourism

Sat, 25 Jul 2026

Medical tourism (traveling overseas to get medical care) is growing and likely to continue to do so. The USA’s extremely high costs of medical care push people to find more reasonable health care solutions. Also in some countries the very rich seek out advanced treatments outside their country.

Seeking more cost effective and more customer focused health care options are likely to lead to booming markets in catering to these customers. Many countries have seen this as a smart market to focus on. And I think they are right.

Transfer Money Between Currencies Using New Providers Not Banks And Save

Fri, 24 Jul 2026

When you need to transfer money (for example if you are paid in US$ but have a bank account elsewhere or if you are making a big purchase in another location) and convert currencies you can find the financial institutions taking advantage of you. There are several currency exchange services that have stepped into this business opportunity created by the large margins financial institutions have been taking from their customers.

Profiting from Self Driving Cars

Fri, 24 Jul 2026

I believe a huge amount of money will be made due to self driving cars. Figuring out who will make that money is not easy.

The value of being able to use the time you are moving to your destination instead of concentrating on driving is huge. And the reduction in deaths, serious injuries, injuries, damages, frustration and waste of time caused by accidents will be a huge benefit to society.

This innovation also dramatically shifts markets in ways that are predictable but also in ways that are not...

Housing Savings When Living as a Nomad

Fri, 24 Jul 2026

One of the big advantages of a nomadic lifestyle if you want to travel is you eliminate your primary housing expense. So when you are traveling your housing expenses are just the place you are staying while you travel not that plus your main housing as it normally is when you take a vacation.

Location Independent Living Can Be In Your Comfort Zone and a Good Experience

Thu, 23 Jul 2026

I think way more it is about this type of thing being in your comfort zone. When I hear people talking about how they stepped out of their comfort zone it seems to me they just aren’t comfortable plodding through an office for 40 years. Doing that is outside their comfort zone. The reason they did something else was because it was in their comfort zone.

I think there are benefits to shaking things up and trying things you are not comfortable with. I think way more often when people talk about that being successful for them what they really did was shake off the shackles of an uncomfortable situation and found one that is more in their comfort zone.

Curious Cat as a Celebrity in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Thu, 23 Jul 2026

The others asking to have me in their photos were usually from people I think were tourists from other parts of Indonesia. It was definitely a concentration of such request that I don’t normally see. I do occasionally get such requests, as I travel. Usually I think just people having a bit of fun interacting with other people.

USA Health Care Spending 2013: $2.9 trillion $9,255 per person and 17.4% of GDP

Thu, 23 Jul 2026

The slow down in how badly the health care system has performed in the USA has resulted in the share of GDP taken by the health care system finally stabilizing. Health care spending has remained near 17.4% since 2009. While hardly great news, this is much better news than we have had in the last 30 years from the USA health care system. The percentage of GDP taken by the USA health care system is double what other rich countries spend with no better health results.

Utopia (Dreamland in the USA) is an Amazing TV Program

Wed, 22 Jul 2026

Utopia is an amazing, biting, satirical look at modern office life at the Nation Building Authority of Australia.

Spend More Time Doing What You Do Well

Wed, 22 Jul 2026

I think often the most productive thing is to spend time working on the system to maximize the use of people's strengths and minimize the use of their weaknesses. This often has a big impact without much effort. Changing the system can be a better solution than pouring resources into changing people so they fit the existing system better.

Human Proof Design

Wed, 22 Jul 2026

Human proof design is design that prevents people from successful using the item.

It is similar to mistake proofing except instead of prevent mistakes it prevents people from using it.

When you see human proof design you will often see signs to tell people how to use the device that has been human proofed. Common instances of this are hotels that have shower designs so opaque they need instructions on how to use a device most people have no problem using if they are not human proofed.

Quitting, Habits and the Examined Life

Wed, 22 Jul 2026

Treating others fairly is admirable. Being true to your beliefs is admirable. Sacrificing in order to achieve more important long term goals is admirable. Quitting is admirable when it supports those interests. Quitting is not admirable when it is sacrificing your long term happiness to avoid some short term effort.

When You See the Problem as Capitalism Instead of Corruption You Seek to Solve the Wrong Problem.

Tue, 21 Jul 2026

Capitalism has huge benefits and some issues. I am frustrated that we are allowing anti-capitalist ideas to be called capitalist. Those ideas are predominately about allowing huge businesses to subvert markets and corrupt the political process.

Corruption in our political system which then allows corruption of free markets (as favors to those giving politicians cash) is not "Capitalism." It is corruption.

Free trade is good. The secret TPP and other corporate-welfare/copywrong-cartel bill is not.

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A fundamental tenant of capitalism is free markets (based on the idea of perfect competition) in which no actor has the power to subvert the market. This was foreseen from the very beginning (in Wealth on Nations by Adam Smith) as an important criteria without which society would not benefit from capitalism as powerful interests would collude to prevent markets from functioning.

Challenging Conventional Thinking

Tue, 21 Jul 2026

RA Fisher was an outspoken person and not easy to get along with. Being difficult to get along with isn't uncommon for people that do great things - I suspect those that are willing to subsume their opinion to make those around them more comfortable are less likely to find incredible breakthroughs.

Of course you can free your mind from the constraints of conventional thinking while being very friendly and sociable and likeable, it just seems to me not uncommon for people willing to challenge intellectual orthodoxy are also willing to challenge the thinking that social niceties are of utmost importance. They would be more able to win over more people more quickly with behavior based on "you catch more bees honey..." but that seems less common.

Computer Code for NASA’s Apollo Guidance System

Tue, 21 Jul 2026

My aunt was one of those early software engineers. She wrote a chapter for a book, Programming the IBM 360, in the 1960s. My uncle was one of the first employees at NASA and rose to be one of the senior administrators there over his career.

It is great when society is able to capture the value individuals are capable of providing. We need to make sure we allow everyone opportunities to contribute.

Ants and Traffic Jams

Mon, 20 Jul 2026

There are tiny ants all over SE Asia that run amazingly fast. I can see why this is a big advantage. They cover lots of ground. When they find some yummy thing they get back home and tons of buddies follow them to the reward. It is amazing how fast they ram into each other.

These ants are pretty amazing example of evolution. But you also can see how a pretty simple tweak of trying to lay out "lanes" for travel could help. The ones I watch don't seem to use lanes at all, so they are constantly bashing into ants going the other direction. Which they seem to cope with perfectly fine, but it has to slow them down and waste energy.

Evolution is amazing but it does often also end up with designs that have bits you could intelligently tweak to seemingly great advantage.

Selling Out the Country - We are Electing the Wrong People to Control Our Government

Mon, 20 Jul 2026

As long as the parties are lead by people happy to sell out the country and we continue to elect them things won't change. The process of changing that is difficult. There is a system that re-inforces this corrupt systems continuation. With so much of the power structure so corrupt you can't do much with the few crumbs around the edges that are not interested in selling out the country for personal gain.

Lessons for Managers from Wisconsin and Duke Basketball

Mon, 20 Jul 2026

The lesson many people miss is that college teams are mostly about developing a team that wins. Developing individual players is a part of that, but it is subordinate to developing a team. I think college coaches understand this reality much more than most managers do. But a management system that develops a team that succeeds is also critical to the success of business.

Appeasing Rude Selfish People Just Makes them Behave Even More Selfishly

Sun, 19 Jul 2026

Allowing the rudest people to abuse society degrades the public square and tears at the benefits that can strengthen the social contract. Sadly it seems to be a pretty dominate trait in our society these last few decades and it seems likely to just keep getting worse. Hopefully I am wrong.

Exploitation or Economic Support as a Tourist?

Sun, 19 Jul 2026

People can still argue about the benefits and costs of chasing tourist money but when there are significant economic benefits that the people actually get (that are not taken by others) it is very hard for me to say it is wrong.

I do get a bit annoyed at people from rich countries that downplay the importance of money. It is easy to say other things are more important when you have lots of cash.

And that brings me back to a specific point about the quote "must be a very exhausting existence for them." While this may be true it doesn't mean that they would be better off without being bothered. It may well be without the botheration of tourists things would be even worse.

Interview With Travel Blogger John Hunter Of Curious Cat Travels

Sun, 19 Jul 2026

There are too many great places but I think the game parks in East Africa are amazing and something very different from anything else I have seen...

What is your favourite mode of transport? (plane/train/boat/car)

None. I wish I could teleport everywhere. The current mode of transport are all a hassle I have to deal with to get where I want to go.

Which PM Said “The last programme I wrote was a Sudoku solver in C++”?

Sat, 18 Jul 2026

"The last programme I wrote was a Sudoku solver in C++ several years ago, so I’m out of date. My children are in IT, two of them – both graduated from MIT. One of them browsed a book and said, 'Here, read this'. It said 'Haskell – learn you a Haskell for great good', and one day that will be my retirement reading."

Hacking Saved Apollo 13

Sat, 18 Jul 2026

The hacking culture is much more about figuring out ways to make technology work for people than about criminals. We shouldn’t let a small sub-set of hackers defile the term.

When the oxygen tank exploded, Commander Jim Lovell made the famous statement: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The engineers on the ground and astronauts had to devise solutions to several very difficult problems and execute them quickly in order to return the damaged spacecraft to earth.

Motivation and Delivering Solutions When You Work for Yourself

Sat, 18 Jul 2026

When you work for a company you have clear expectations for performance. If you become your own boss, for example as a digital nomad, you operate in an system that doesn’t have the same structures to enforce you focus and deliver. In many ways this is exactly what people seeking the digital nomad life want, but it also can bring challenges...

Tanjung Piai National Park – the Southernmost Point in Asia

Fri, 17 Jul 2026

Tanjung Piai National Park is the Southernmost point in mainland Asia – located in Johor, Malaysia. The park is about 80 km from Johor Bahru.

The part itself has mangrove swamps and nice views of the Straits. The walking trails and nice but pretty short, I would estimate under 3 km total. I enjoyed the park, but it isn’t incredibly special except for being the southernmost point in Asia.

Patient Centered Doesn't Mean Patient Directed

Fri, 17 Jul 2026

We need to have systems that are patient focused but that doesn’t mean patients dictate treatment. And we need to see a much wider system than we normally do. We need to be focused on healthy living not just disease treatment. And given the mess that is the USA health care system we need to focus on reducing the burden of coping with the horrible USA health system bureaucracy - that system does great damage to those having to deal with it (and it is nearly all waste that shouldn't be creating such hardship).

A Bad System Will Beat a Good Person Every Time

Fri, 17 Jul 2026

So what was Dr. Deming trying to convey with this quote? It wasn’t an attempt to get people to give up trying because failure was certain. It was a attempt to get people to understand the importance of the system and the futility of trying to focus on blaming people for failures.

Influential Women in the Field of Quality Management

Thu, 16 Jul 2026

Joyce Orsini and Gipsie Ranney have done lots of good stuff. So has Clare Crawford Mason.

Gertrude Mary Cox isn't known so much for "quality" as statistics but she was an impressive person and a generation or two ahead of others (and it really is related to quality).

Mary Poppendieck has really good stuff at the intersection of quality and software development.

Meg Wheatley...

Knowledge, Personality, and Persuasive Power

Thu, 16 Jul 2026

These traits, while providing a guide to understand your means to influence the organization also provide a guide for potential weaknesses in your management system. There is really no advantage to having decisions unduly influenced by those with persuasive power while ignoring ideas from those without much ability to persuade people. What you really want it to follow the best course of action, not the course championed by the most persuasive person.

A Good Management Culture Encourages the Debate of Ideas

Thu, 16 Jul 2026

I believe much of the reason for fear of critical thinking is insecurity and mistaking respect for people with not making anyone uncomfortable. When people are insecure or unconfident they often take criticisms of ideas, plans, results, etc. as personal attacks. Then misunderstanding of don't be "dis-respectful" to people comes into play.

We Need to Consider Changing Conditions When Looking at Historical Stock Returns

Wed, 15 Jul 2026

Just to over simplify the idea if lets say the market valued the average stock at a PE of 11 and everyone found stocks a wonderful investment. And so more and more people buy stocks and with everyone finding stocks wonderful they keep buying and after awhile the market is valuing the average stock at a PE of 14.

Within the market there is tons of variation those things of course are not nearly that simple, but the idea I think holds. Well if you look back at historical data the returns will include the adjustment of going from a PE of 11 to a PE of 14. Now maybe the new few decades would adjust from PE of 14 to PE of 17 but maybe not. At some point that fundamental re-adjustment will stop.

Helping Others

Wed, 15 Jul 2026

I have long used TrickleUp, Kiva and Global Giving to help (and they each do a good job of engaging donors (tugging on their heartstrings and making them happy to give).

I try to give back to the places I visit. So I integrate this into my digital nomad life. As with many digital nomads I have an affinity for entrepreneurs and my charity often focuses on helping them (Global Giving does other things too – such as providing clean water, electricity, education and training…).

Wealthiest 1% Continue Dramatic Gains Compared to Everyone Else

Wed, 15 Jul 2026

The least trust-fund-baby favoring country cultures are Scandinavian countries. The USA has been moving to an increasingly trust-fund-baby favoring focus over the last few decades with the expected increase in kids incomes being more related to their parents income than any other factor. In the USA now nearly 50% of someone’s income can be “explained” by their parents income.

Quality Comes to City Hall

Wed, 15 Jul 2026

Changing to a culture that has a Deming perspective on customer focus is not easy. When you succeed though the way people think is profoundly changed. The City of Madison police department even did customer surveys for those they arrested and used the results to improve the process in ways that make sense. Obviously there are restrictions on what you can do to please those being arrested but this is really always the case – you can’t give all your products and services away for free even if that would make customers happy.

Finding an International Business Bank as a Digital Nomad

Tue, 14 Jul 2026

Dealing with banking issues is one of the most difficult aspects of a small digital nomad business. Finding a bank for a small business isn’t easy. Add to that dealing with international banking and things get very challenging.

Finding a bank that will accept deposits via wire, provide a credit card for your business, has good online tools and you trust isn’t easy.

Stone Bridge at the Confucius Temple in Jianshui, China

Tue, 14 Jul 2026

Sunday Market, Chiang Mai Thailand

Mon, 13 Jul 2026

The Sunday Market isn’t something I would say can’t be missed. But it is well done for this type of thing and worth going in my opinion. I am not a big shopping fan, but this one is worth taking in (even if you only buy food), and there is some nice stuff if you are looking to buy.

A Healthy Lifestyle is More About Health Care than the Sickness Management That We Call Health Care Is

Mon, 13 Jul 2026

It really is important for giving yourself the best chance for health by taking sensible steps to exercise based on your own situation

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Doing small things like using a treadmill while you watch TV or taking the stairs instead of the elevator for short trips can help. Another option is to walk instead of driving your car, or if you drive parking a few blocks away (or at the far side of the parking lot) walking, or if you are running several errands walk between those that you can even if you are using your car. Biking to work is another healthy lifestyle choice (if you city has made this safe – too often they fail to do sensible things).

How Healthy Is Squid for Us?

Sun, 12 Jul 2026

I try to eat healthfully, especially when I can tweak what I eat to gain a health advantage. I know fish have good qualities. I live in Malaysia now and squid (called sotong here) is often available. I often prefer squid to fish here as the fish use here are often fairly small with bones to deal and not much meat for the effort (it is great sometimes but I am often lazy).

This is what I found out about squid...

Using Drones to Deliver Medical Supplies in Roadless Areas

Sun, 12 Jul 2026

This is an awesome use of technology to tackle important problems. Engineers are great.

Alternative Career Paths Attract Many Women in Science Fields

Sat, 11 Jul 2026

The challenge of how to maximize the opportunities for those interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math is important to all economies. There are difficulties in doing this and so continued focus on this area is good. My personal belief is we focus too much on the gender issue. Yes, we should reduce discrimination. I think we have done well but still have further to go.

Most of the suggested changes in how things should be done help women and also plenty of men that are turned off by the old way of doing things.