I’ve kept an obscure item on my Amazon wish list and figured one day I would buy it. It’s this t-shirt print of XKCD’s #552 Correlation. Go read this wikipedia article on statistical correlation, go read the Freakanomics blog for a couple of hours, then go listen to two partisans argue over which U.S. President (Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton usually) had the greatest impact on our economy, then go reread the Correlation comic. You’ll smile, maybe laugh.

On a seemingly unrelated note, my wife complains that I’m impossible to shop for. So I directed her to my Amazon Wish List for ideas this Christmas. Where the Correlation t-shirt was pinned as a wish list item. And I got it for Christmas. My wife and in-laws admitted they really didn’t get the nerd humor, but they got it for me anyway.

The Christmas gifts I love the most are the ones where the “thing” represents the “mission”. This year my cousin gave me Fair-Trade coffee through World Vision, proceeds of which goes to their Maximum Impact Fund. I gave my dad a Pancake Pen so he could make pancakes with fun shapes for his grandkids  (my nephews) when they sleepover. And my in-laws bought me this t-shirt. In so doing, they financially supported my favorite web comic.

I hardly ever stop and think about gift giving on a metaphysical level; mostly I just buy an thing/artifact/stuff that looks nice or sounds nice, but doesn’t serve a deeper purpose. I am now convinced the best gifts aren’t just something the recipient might like, but serve their interest/passion/mission. I think this will help me give better gifts. And might make me less impossible to shop for.