The lazy man's way to business success is simply to read the international pages of good quality newspapers, according to Crooked Timber.

Simple as it may sound, this is extremely useful advice, especially for geeks. I am often surprised to find that ostensbly intelligent and insightful geeks turn out to live in a tiny little bubble of culturally specific knowledge, for example taking the tenets of classical economics or liberal democracy as universals, rather than sets of ideas with a particular historical, cultural and (in some senses) geographical context.

It's amazing what you can learn about yourself by reading about others. I became addicted to broadsheet international coverage whilst at school and it has affected my life in profound and beneficial ways.

I sense Crooked Timber's advice was directed at one particular national group who are not known for their broad knowledge of the world, but I think it applies equally to all of us.