It’s a little off topic, but while in London a couple of weeks back I had an interesting chat with Matt Webb about trying to work on planes.

We developed a theory, which basically says that the longer the journey, the more likely you are to end up watching Die Hard 3. I have called this – wait for it – The Theory of an Airline Passengers Diminishing Intelligence.

I know – it’s catchy.

No matter what my intentions are – whether it’s to write the next book chapter, read that interesting paper or write that very cleverly worded email reply – I always end up watching bad movies after a couple of hours.

My dimishing hierarchy goes something like this :
– read article that requires serious thought
– write emails that need some consideration
– reply to emails that don’t need consideration
– try to read the book that I’ve packed
– listen to a podcast

By this time I surrender to inflight banality and plug into the movie channel. And what’s more, it’s usually not a good movie I select. Last week I found myself watching Eragon (feel free to add a melodramatic gasp at this point).

If that’s not proof of my theory, nothing is.