Magical Thinking – Psychology Today

~ Mark

5. To name is to rule. […] After watching sugar being poured into two glasses of water and then personally affixing a “sucrose” label to one and a “poison” label to the other, people much prefer to drink from the “sucrose” glass and will even shy away from one they label “not poison.” (The subconscious doesn’t process negatives.) Rozin has also found that people are reluctant to tear up a piece of paper with a loved one’s name written on it. Arbitrary symbols carry the essence of what they represent.

I also like this bit on rituals and luck:

People who truly trust in their rituals exhibit a phenomenon known as “illusion of control,” the belief that they have more influence over the world than they actually do. And it’s not a bad delusion to have—a sense of control encourages people to work harder than they might otherwise. In fact, a fully accurate assessment of your powers, a state known as “depressive realism,” haunts people with clinical depression, who in general show less magical thinking.

Woody Allen nailed it:

We need some delusions to keep us going. And the people who successfully delude themselves seem happier than the people who can’t.

Magical Thinking – Psychology Today

Bluebrain’s App Central Park (Listen to the Light) – NYTimes.com

~ Mark

[The app] uses a global positioning network to activate different themes as the listener wanders through the park. The app contains more than 400 tracks, each tied to a location. They were written to fit together harmonically like a sonic jigsaw puzzle.

I’d download it on iTunes if I lived anywhere nearby. Oh, and how cool would it be if they had a bigger map with famous recordings from around NYC? Take the “A” Train at the relevant time? Maybe cue up a random clip from a CBGB show if you’re strolling down the Bowery? Or a Gaslight Cafe recording if you wandering around Greenwich Village? Or a bit from Heartbeats/Boats and Buoys if you wander over near the river? Please tell me someone has beaten me to this idea.

Filed under: sound sculptures.

Bluebrain’s App Central Park (Listen to the Light) – NYTimes.com

Elf

~ Mark

Elf. Overall: ugh. I like the physical comedy bits (e.g., the escalator scene) and the wink-wink references to other films (Bigfoot, LOTR, Back to the Future, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, etc.). Good premise, good opening, then goes stale. The last half-hour is a total waste. So mechanical. Disappointing.

~ Mark

They cannot admire you for intellect. Granted–but there are many other qualities of which you cannot say, “but that is not the way I am made”. So display those virtues which are wholly in your own power–integrity, dignity, hard work, self-denial, contentment, frugality, kindness, independence, simplicity, discretion, magnanimity. Do you not see how many virtues you can already display without any excuse of lack of talent or aptitude? And yet you are still content to lag behind.

Marcus Aurelius.
~ Mark

The people who move to the suburbs aren’t nearly as stupid or careless or brainwashed as the urbanites seem to think. They know they’re going to get a lawn, a garage, and a backyard. They know they will be miles from a store or cafe, and that they’ll have to drive everywhere. Most people move to the suburbs with eyes wide open, fully aware of the tradeoffs they are making. They are not looking for some pastoral idyll, but for more privacy, space, quiet, and parking.

Andrew Potter.