| hmm |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|11:44 pm] |
|
The people with the most domineering language and behavior tend to be low status. Thank God that we live in a society where coercion is not the source of power. |
|
|
| hmm |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|12:05 am] |
|
leftist utopianism sounds corny to my generation. i think thats a sign of some trend on the horizon. |
|
|
| the tragedy of death |
[Jun. 23rd, 2009|11:34 pm] |
|
to me, the tragedy of death is not that it eventually occurs, but that almost everyone around me seems too weak to confront it. |
|
|
| everyone has frames |
[Feb. 7th, 2009|03:49 pm] |
|
there is no one who doesn't have an opinion on something they've experienced. each world view is a new, intricate world in and of itself. and unlike the real world these ones are subjective and value-laden. |
|
|
| note on poker probabilities |
[Feb. 6th, 2009|02:17 pm] |
|
the probability of winning with a given pair of cards pre-flop of course increases when increasing numbers of players at the table fold. however, the interesting thing that i haven't noticed till now is that the poker probabilities don't change uniformly. pairs become more powerful, and suits less so. |
|
|
| stray thought on love |
[Feb. 6th, 2009|12:36 am] |
|
in aural terms, love is that which can create a harmony out of any set of notes. |
|
|
| social psych getting interesting |
[Feb. 5th, 2009|10:40 pm] |
|
the ideaa of the influence of counterfactual thinking (and its subset, emoitional amplification) on emotions is the first idea in my social psych book which i hadn't already throught of. |
|
|
| hmm |
[Feb. 5th, 2009|10:37 pm] |
the world seems to reward the highly logical and the highly artistic..
where does a mixer of the two like myself end up?? |
|
|
| emotional amplification |
[Feb. 5th, 2009|10:32 pm] |
"a person's emotional reaction to an event is amplified if it almost did not happen." -- my social psych book.
my thoughts: from an evol psych perspective this makes sense. emotions exist to punish/reward (dis/)advantageous behaviors, and what better to reward or punish than a pivotal decision? |
|
|
| rapport congruence |
[Feb. 4th, 2009|12:00 am] |
it amazes me how powerful this little discussed psychological phenomenon is.
assume and act like a friend and they'll likely do likewise.
assume and act like an _________ and they'll likely do likewise. |
|
|
| quote of the day |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|03:21 pm] |
|
"The passions are the only advocates which always persuade. They are a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without." |
|
|
| what cannot be simulated? |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|02:39 pm] |
|
Perhaps the strongest passions cannot be truly simulated. Actors who portray them are channeling real passions from other places in their life and soul.. |
|
|
| personality rationalization |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|02:30 pm] |
people who are naturally disagreeable may rationalize their constant injection of argumentative opinion with the illusion that matter of taste can be objectively arbitrated.
similar dynamics likely apply to other aspects of personality. |
|
|
| in many ways |
[Feb. 1st, 2009|02:26 pm] |
|
i feel like my sense of life is converging with that of my ancestors. |
|
|
| rumination |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|11:07 pm] |
|
*the only thing that pisses me off more than a true believer with a microphone is the crying little bitches who try and fail at arguing with them. |
|
|
| hebrew gendered words |
[Jan. 22nd, 2009|01:35 am] |
|
piss me off. no extra meaning is added by tagging every verb used by a woman/man. |
|
|
| darwinian emotion |
[Jan. 20th, 2009|03:01 pm] |
i'm unable to think of an emotion that is not tied to success/failure in gathering resources, staying healthy, and succeeding socially/romantically
ok, i guess i can. there are higher level ones, which reward things like values and ideals and attitudes.
but it remains true that the bread and butter of emotion is Darwinian motivators. |
|
|
| the meta-historical insight of hip hop music |
[Jan. 19th, 2009|09:42 pm] |
|
one of the implicit insights of hip hop music is that its the instruments and their sounds moreso than the melodies which are changing with time. people criticize hip hop, and even say it's not music, because it's main variation is in its timbre and instrumental array as opposed to its melody. what they ignore is that these are the main things we use to distinguish 70's music from 80's music, 80's from 90's, etc. hip hop transcends musical time by varying the the signs of time. |
|
|
| phrase i hate most |
[Jan. 19th, 2009|02:08 am] |
"YES WE DID!!"
this is the voice of the Stuff White People Like crowd congratulating itself for electing a black man president.
yet more evidence that we do NOT live in a post-racial age: Barack Obama's race prevents him from winning as a candidate who "happens to be black". |
|
|
| rap marketing |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|11:25 pm] |
|
You could do a cool study: see how much people like a rap song when the video doesn't involve hot girls, and another where it does. |
|
|
| caricatures vs. stereotypes |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|10:57 pm] |
|
caricatures are funny, but they really miss out on the truth of the world (accurate stereotypes). |
|
|
| social psych thoughts |
[Jan. 14th, 2009|05:59 pm] |
|
social psychology's central weakness is its refusal to consider stereotype accuracy. the whole field is seemingly devoted to challenging our preconceived notions and assumptions.. but it rarely listens to whether these notions and assumptions are accurate (they typically are). |
|
|
| second thought, following that poem |
[Jan. 10th, 2009|08:34 am] |
|
ok, we're not just scrambling for utility. there's something else which redeems us-- we all have stories. and the redeeming thing is that people will sacrifice momentary utility if it means a better life story. |
|
|
| three personality traits required for pimping |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|05:56 pm] |
1. Extreme (Bill Clinton level) Extraversion
2. Having no moral qualms with it.
3. Not having a problem with their girls out their having sex with other guys. |
|
|
| poem |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|04:45 pm] |
billions of people on earth
all hustling for a little bit of utility
dark abyss at the end
yet we coordinate in this cosmic dance |
|
|
| well |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|03:03 am] |
|
i admire some other styles, but mine is the best for every situation i'm in. |
|
|
| the proximate reason why men like competition |
[Jan. 5th, 2009|10:36 pm] |
|
i think one of the main reasons men like competing so much is that they feel that their success in a given competition, even if that competition covers a very small sphere (e.g video games) implies present and future success in other realms |
|
|
| thoughts on Gaza |
[Jan. 5th, 2009|10:18 pm] |
1. "Don't fuck with the Jews" is criticized for its lack of realism, but it seems like a very realistic message to send Hamas, so long as the battle plans are not botched.
2. Israel has the right to disproportionate attacks against Hamas because it is not the root cause of the violence. If Hamas were to stop the attacks on Israel and ask for a truce, the violence would end. To make an analogy, killing is worse than being stolen from, but you have the right to kill a thief who enters your house.
3. The only right that Israel does not have is to aim for civilian casualities. Unlike Hamas, it is NOT aiming for civilian casualties. The civilian deaths that occur from Israel occur solely because the Hamas targets often have people around them. Israel takes pains to minimize civilian casualties. If you know a single thing about military history, you know that: 1) this is hard to do, 2) almost no country, perhaps none at all, have been able to do military strikes on the scale that Israel has with such a low number of casualties.*
*For a good historical analogy, compare the Palestinian casualty rate to the Chechen casualty rate from Russians. Or the Afghanistani or Iraqi casualty rate from Americans. |
|
|
| how the social web is formed |
[Jan. 2nd, 2009|03:50 pm] |
usually the social web spins off itself, growing. occasionally, however, two webs are joined. attempts at joining two webs (i.e. strangers getting to know each other without a mutual friend) are inherently often unnatural*, but when done correctly it benefits all parties involved greatly...
*humanity evolved largely in tightly knit tribes. traversing from one tribe to another was a rare event mainly reserved for exiled and/or extremely confident men. |
|
|
| thinking about poker probability |
[Jan. 1st, 2009|10:41 pm] |
|
one error i've been making in my judgements of probability in poker has been always been considering solely the pre-flop probabilities. raw probability should be recalculated as new cards appear in the community chest :) |
|
|
| human courtship as a game theory chart |
[Dec. 31st, 2008|06:44 pm] |
p1 = person 1, p2 = person 2
| p1 expresses interest | p1 does not express interest |
| p2 expresses interest | +2 points for both | +1 point for p1, -1 point for p2 |
| p2 does not express interest | -1 point for p1, +1 point for p2 | no points |
this is of course highly simplified because (dis)interest is quantified; the "1" and "2" points are meant to be read ordinally, not as ratio'd values. if the 1 and 2 were to be ratio'd, they'd have to vary by person(s), since people obviously benefit and suffer varyingly from interest and disinterest.
with that said, there are two relatively novel ideas i'm presenting here:
1. when someone doesn't express interest in someone who expresses interest in them it is not only a loss for the "rejected", but also a gain for the "rejector", because it boosts their ego. i think this is an important, but largely ignored, aspect of human mating pscyhology.
this leads me to #2...
2. this chart suggests that there is an optimal level of interest to express in the other party-- that which minimizes losses and maximizes gains. this implies that there might be to some extent a game theoretic foundation to "hard to get", aside from any attraction people otherwise have to challenge and intrigue. |
|
|
| thoughts on reading cosmo |
[Dec. 29th, 2008|02:43 am] |
"What his favorite superhero says about him"
When it comes to relationships, young women live in a fantasy world. They don't need to be in touch with reality because prince charming will take care of logistics. They just need to be approachable and able to judge (based on their emotions) the guy's worth.
"Nothing invites bad advice like a first date — wear this, say that, and don’t under any circumstances say that — all with the aim of captivating a guy you’re not even sure you like...yet."
This goes back to the judging. Unlike most men, women are often unsure of whether they like the guy (enough to continue with him) in the early stages of the courtship. Men would be wise to imitate women in this regard. |
|
|
| does it ever? |
[Dec. 28th, 2008|06:17 pm] |
|
aside from a debate between thinkers, does logic ever belong in the context of social interaction? |
|
|
| comedy |
[Dec. 23rd, 2008|11:16 pm] |
is to a large extent about wrapping tragedy in absurdity. it makes life bearable.
i'm a cobra commander. |
|
|
| love |
[Dec. 21st, 2008|04:31 pm] |
|
love is a tyrant. sometimes benevolent, sometimes comparable to Stalin. |
|
|
| like vs hate |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|04:05 pm] |
like extroverted gay guys
hate fat grumpy lesbian bitches |
|
|
| poker fuckup |
[Dec. 20th, 2008|12:41 pm] |
|
blech. watch out for those straight and flush possibilities before you bet big. you can still play agressive, but if theyre calling or raising and you don't have a straight or a flush, bet medium to small, not large amounts. |
|
|
| who knew?? |
[Dec. 19th, 2008|01:37 am] |
*that shallowness could be a facade for depth?
*that some shallowness is deep in and of itself? |
|
|
| good point by lewontin et al |
[Dec. 18th, 2008|09:37 pm] |
Most traits don't vary the way that "racial" traits do.
My thoughts:
People need to avoid the naive position of reading the underlying genetics as they do skin color, but at the same time they need to acknowledge that there are significant inherited differences between the races beyond surface traits. |
|
|
| question |
[Dec. 18th, 2008|02:46 pm] |
|
are hedonism and nihilism intertwined paths? |
|
|
| how i learn things |
[Dec. 17th, 2008|12:29 am] |
|
a good metaphor for how i master a new skill is that of a thread with many knots in it, which is gradually untied. or maybe a pair of jeans which has many holes in it and is gradually ewn up. |
|
|
| to laugh or disdain? |
[Dec. 16th, 2008|06:54 pm] |
|
should one laugh at or disdain a charlatan who's not good at being a charlatan? |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
yofaceizscrumpy's journal