6. Distraction: “Will you marry me?” “Sorry, I was sending Alice a text. What’d you say?”

Clifford Nass passed away in 2013.

He had an infectious, radiant smile. A laugh that made the complex seem simple. He taught at Stanford and had a round, jubilant academic look to him.

Bill Gates once called Nass’s scholarly work “amazing.” But maybe more symbolically, Clifford was a professional magician. He understood people, and just seemed to want to see their Jon Evans just favorited your tweet smile.

Some of his former colleagues said he had the ability to make “any room a happier place.”1 His contagious joy combined with his curiosity about everything and made him sensational to watch in lectures and interviews because of his overwhelming excitement ...

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