Learned Today – Page 5 – On The 8 Spot

August 7, 2009

Learned Today::An Easy Way to Increase Creativity: Scientific American

I experienced somethign similar to this whenever I go somewhere i haven’t been to before. I feel a surge of creativity , lots of ideas flood my brain and in someways I either feel happy/ or at least too occupied to feel anything else instead of curiosity, and the incredible possibilities of life!

This research has important practical implications. It suggests that there are several simple steps we can all take to increase creativity, such as traveling to faraway places (or even just thinking about such places), thinking about the distant future, communicating with people who are dissimilar to us, and considering unlikely alternatives to reality. Perhaps the modern environment, with its increased access to people, sights, music, and food from faraway places, helps us become more creative not only by exposing us to a variety of styles and ideas, but also by allowing us to think more abstractly. So the next time you’re stuck on a problem that seems impossible don’t give up. Instead, try to gain a little psychological distance, and pretend the problem came from somewhere very far away.
via An Easy Way to Increase Creativity: Scientific American.

July 23, 2009

Learned Today!-The bigger the ego, the harder the fall – how self-awareness buffers against social rejection : Not Exactly Rocket Science

The results are clear – people (or at least, children) with the most exaggerated views of their popularity have further to fall emotionally when their social status is challenged. As Thomaes says, “These results support the view that distorted self-views promote emotional vulnerability and that realistic self-views promote emotional resilience.” It’s better to deal with the reality, bite though it may, than to whitewash over it with an ultimately vulnerable facade.
via The bigger the ego, the harder the fall – how self-awareness buffers against social rejection : Not Exactly Rocket Science.

July 15, 2009

Learned Today : College Kids All Racist In Their Own Special Ways – Race – Gawker

College Kids All Racist In Their Own Special Ways
By Hamilton Nolan, 12:12 PM on Wed Jul 8 2009, 30,144 views (Edit, to draft, un-top, Slurp)
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College: where drunk kids are guinea pigs for social science. The funnest college-kid studies involve race, because they make everyone uncomfortable! Now comes a new study of interracial college roommates that proves we’re all terrible. A racial breakdown:
If You Are White:
* Your black roommate makes you uncomfortable.
* You make your black roommate uncomfortable.
* You are far more likely to “break up” with your roommate if they’re not white.
* You will not be affected academically by your roommate’s race, because you care only about your own kind.
If You Are Black:
* You will do better academically if you have a white roommate, maybe in an effort to overcome your inferiority complex.
* Or maybe because you just don’t like them and can get some work done.
* If you have a white roommate, your own “positive emotions” will decline.
If You Are Asian:
* Not only are you more racist than any other group, you also make those around you more racist. Scientific fact!
If You Are of a Race Other Than These:
* You are not as interesting to social scientists.
Jerks, every last one of us!
via College Kids All Racist In Their Own Special Ways – Race – Gawker.

March 18, 2009

Learned Today:What I Want For A Business:Seth's Blog: Where have all the agents gone?

A long conversation about two weeks ago with Chuck and Vince was about finding something to do to earn money in our free time. Suffice to say one of my lamer ideas that night was to sell something in sites like multiply and ebay. Just realize that that is not what I want for a business, in fact I realize that even if we did something like that I would not really be satisfied with it.
See, I think I try to find my own way on most things. The paths I take may have been walked by other people but I try to be aware whenever I walk a certain path, its not about originality but about walking the path that is for you.
What irked me about my idea is that I was unwittingly selling out. I wanted to create, I wanted to walk a path for me and I’ve had this long irritation with middle men.
Why? It seems that most middle men/women I encounter can be said to bring little to no value the connection. Let’s take the lot of computer sellers in a mall floor. To protect myself from litigation lets call this mall SharonMall and the mall floor/part as CyberFloor. Using my totally unscientific and totally biased observations and my talent for overhearing a lot of things.
I observed that:

The sellers were basically just a little knowledgeable with their products than the people they are selling to.
The sellers who were really knowledgeable were somewhat aloof, they gave of this vibe that you were stupid trust them.
The best sellers were basically honest and didn’t talk down to their possible customers. (If you’ve watched 40 year old virgin, I believe).
A lot of people valued time and in a way this is logical, but it also meant that a lot of sellers survive on being available for the sale when the more efficient sellers are swamped.

Basically people who are not the best sellers tend to be snakes oil salespeople. I don’t want to be a snake’s oil sales men. I would like something that brings value to this world in a real sense not a rearranging the chairs. I want to create more chairs! I almost forgot that. I am glad even if I forgot about it , my friends have a higher standard than what I have. Cheers!

Middlemen add value when they bring taste or judgment or trust to bear on a transaction that isn’t transparent. Literary agents are crucial when publishers believe that their choice of content is essential but have too many choices and too little time. But publishers don’t trust every literary agent. They trust agents they believe in. Key point: anonymous agents are interchangeable and virtually worthless. Agents that don’t do anything but help one side find the other side in a human approximation of Google aren’t so helpful any more.
Think about how anonymous the typical real estate broker is. He will sell almost any house or represent almost any buyer. When selling a house, he has a fiduciary responsibility to represent that house to the best of his ability. Just like every other broker. The great real estate brokers do far more than this.
via Seth’s Blog: Where have all the agents gone?.

March 12, 2009

Learned Today: Feel Not Own part 2:How to Choose Between Experiential and Material Purchases « PsyBlog

: Image via Wikipedia

actually read this article first before part one, read both articles, they are short and informative.

When purchases go wrong
The researchers used three experiments to examine this question. In the first two of these participants were randomly assigned to groups in which they recalled material and experiential purchases that had either turned out well, or that had turned out badly. They were then asked how happy (or otherwise) these purchases had made them.
The results suggested that, just like Van Boven and Gilovich’s research, experiential purchases (e.g. a meal out) beat material purchases (e.g. clothes) if each turned out well. But, for some people whose scores were low on a measure of materialism, when the purchases turned out badly, it was the material goods that left them slightly happier. In contrast the highly materialistic were left less happy when their material purchases went wrong.
In a third experiment participants actually made a small experiential versus a small material purchase and then their happiness over time was measured. It was found that when participants made a material purchase that turned out badly it was easier for them to forget about it than an experiential purchase that went wrong.
Across three experiments, then, Nicolao and colleagues found evidence that when our experiential purchases go wrong we are likely to end up slightly less happy than if we had chosen a material purchase. But, as in previous research, when our purchases go well we are likely to end up significantly happier if we choose an experiential rather than a material purchase.
How to Choose Between Experiential and Material Purchases « PsyBlog.

March 12, 2009

Learned Today: Feel Not Own:Experiences Beat Possessions: Why Materialism Causes Unhappiness « PsyBlog

: Image by Tonio Vega via Flickr

I’d like to reframe this question, see I think one of the reasons that Experiences beat possessions is that most possessions are acquired as means to experience “buying/shopping” and because shopping is a low quality experience I believe that people who go for experiences are happier. I think a nice avenue to study this is to compare model builders versus shopper of less active/creative/input driven stuff and I think that the results would validate my reframing.
I am taking a vacation a few months from now and the truth is the only way I am affording this vacation is through belt tightening and delaying some of the things I would have already bought weeks ago, if not for this short vacation. When coming up with the decision to live frugally for approximately 4-5 months (I’ve got alot of credit card bills mostly grocery and books/comic books/cds and a few restaurant bills, If I knew earlier I probably wouldn’t have to be as frugal now.) The thing I was thinking about the most is that I have strong emotional memory (I don’t know If there is such a thing but that is the closest short set of words I can come up with).
My EM goes both ways I remember the ups and downs and the uniques. The way I see it is that If a choice has to be made then the choice would be experience over material things.

Why do experiences fare better than possessions?
It seems, then, that at some level we understand that our experiential purchases give us more pleasure than our material purchases. But why is that? Van Boven (2005) suggests three reasons:
1. Experiences improve with time (possessions don’t).
2. Experiences are resistant to unfavourable comparisons
3. Experiences have more social value
Experiences Beat Possessions: Why Materialism Causes Unhappiness « PsyBlog.

March 6, 2009

Learned Today: Popularity~Success:The Economic Value of Popularity – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

: Image by peterjaena via Flickr

Thanks to Tyler Cowen of Marginal revolutions for the pointer here, I think his points are interesting and quite valid.
AS for my views.; There is a certain rhythm to interacting with people. There is a certain rhythm in being friends with people. Honestly I had to learn that whole thing in college. Compare the highschool me and the me now, I was socially inept and something of jerk. Now I’m still a jerk, less socially inept , but this is mainly because I learned the types of people that I can interact well with.
And that is I think the thing, Because I am less scared with social interactions now I tend to meet more people now than I used to. I have to credit the understanding that people tend to be good. This knowledge help me to be less afraid of going to situations where interactions were totally not in my control.
How did I gradually become less socially inept?
-Striking up conversations with random people. Helped overcome this fear of talking with people. For me this is easier because I can make myself believe that even if I say something stupid, we are not going to see each other again.
-Striking up conversations with people not really part of your circle of friends but you see relatively often. After having a feel for small talk try talking with people you normally encounter, this may include the office security, custodians, or office mates from different departments.
-Going to clubs(not night clubs, hobby clubs etc)/meetups/organization. This might mean volunteering for something, or doing something together like hobbyist events. You get to meet like minded people, and chances are good that you have at least one topic of common interest!
-Reconnecting with peole form the past. This may mean a simple poke in facebook, or a private message in one of the tens of hundreds of social networks now existing. From personal experience this is best done when combined with actual face to face time. Like if you saw someone at a mall or a grocery but you can’t talk for some reason, or its his/her birthday. From the experience of a friend you may freak out some people if you suggest meeting up to catch up on old times, so this I believe is best done when there is an excuse, like homecoming etc.
-Face to Face meetups are important to personalise increasingly mobile/online connections. This must be done with care because as I stated earlier you may freak out some people. If you are meeting people you used to know well but has since lost touch with; best if you leave you old impressions of him or her ot turn your filter down a little. Remember that change is constant and some people reinvent themselves constantly. If you are meeting someone for the first time my advice would be leave your prejudice or what I call isms at home. Don’t judge people automatically or if you can’t do that at least try to act friendly towards everyone, Its easy to cutoff connections with people Its hard to create connections so don’t let superficial things get in the way of a possible real (not just online) friendship.
hope the few notes help my imaginary reader! have any more advice for people who are socially inept???

They find that each extra close friend in high school is associated with earnings that are 2 percent higher later in life after controlling for other factors. While not a huge effect, it does suggest that either that a) the same factors that make you popular in high school help you in a job setting, or b) that high-school friends can do you favors later in life that will earn you higher wages.

The Economic Value of Popularity – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.

March 5, 2009

Learned Today: Disagreement : Overcoming Bias: Beware Ideal Screen Theories

: Image by EssoPics via Flickr

I honestly was blind sided by this. I find it tedious to explain myself to other people. I find it hard to understand why people don’t understand what I say. This is enlightening to me. The problem is with me, and not the person I am conversing with. I am aware of only a small fraction of the relevant evidence and analysis that influence my belief!

Disagreement – When someone disagrees with you, you should wonder what they know that you do not. They might explain their reasons for their differing belief, i.e., their evidence and analysis, and you might hear and ponder those reasons and yet find that you still disagree. In this case you might feel that the fact that they disagree no longer informs you on this topic; the reasons for their belief screen their belief from informing your belief. And yes, if they could give you all their reasons, that would be enough. But except in a few extremely formal contexts, this is not even remotely close to being true. We are usually only aware of a small fraction of the relevant evidence and analysis that influences our beliefs. Disagreement is problematic, even after you’ve exchanged reasons.
Overcoming Bias: Beware Ideal Screen Theories.

March 3, 2009

Stumbling and Mumbling: The power of stereotypes

: Image by peterjaena via Flickr

This is sad to read. In the Philippines people are labeled early on because of close family ties, where 2nd or 3rd degree relatives see each other at least once a year. One thing I observe in these awkward situation is the way people give young kids labels that tend to be based on superficial reasons that then I believe sometimes become self fulfilling.

The power of stereotypes
Reputations can be self-fulfilling prophecies ; if you give a man a bad name, he‘ll live down to it. A new paper (pdf) by Thomas Dee shows this.
He did an experiment at Swarthmore College, asking a group of students to take a GRE test. Before the test, some students were asked about their sporting activities, and whether these conflicted with their academic work, whilst others were not asked.
And Mr Dee found that the athletes who were asked these questions performed significantly worse than the athletes who weren’t.
This suggests that when people are primed to be aware of a stereotype – “jocks are dumb” – they are more likely to behave in accordance with it.
Stumbling and Mumbling: The power of stereotypes.

March 3, 2009

-rePost-Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street

: Image by SUPERL0L0 via Flickr

Thanks to Paul Wilmott for the pointer here. I learned a lot from this article by Felix Salmon and its somewhat fun to read!

In the world of finance, too many quants see only the numbers before them and forget about the concrete reality the figures are supposed to represent. They think they can model just a few years’ worth of data and come up with probabilities for things that may happen only once every 10,000 years. Then people invest on the basis of those probabilities, without stopping to wonder whether the numbers make any sense at all.
As Li himself said of his own model: “The most dangerous part is when people believe everything coming out of it.”
Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street.