Here’s an interesting social experiment. Walk through a high-traffic area and try to make eye contact with as many people as possible. It’s interesting to see the results. Some people glare and scowl with suspicion, some smile and nod amiably at you, others react almost not at all, other than the brief flicker of their eyes in your direction. And it’s always surprising to me just how many people never look higher than the tips of their own shoes.
They’re windows to the soul, eyes are. Maybe that’s part of why we always tend to be so hesitant about making eye contact with other people, particularly people we don’t know. Some people are merely introverts. It’s easier to look down and away, safer, than to make direct eye contact. Could be insecurity, afraid that making eye contact will cause someone else to actually notice you and then unleash their scorn and ridicule upon you. Could be just the busy pace of life or the seeming increase of the unsavory and untrustworthy type that makes us avoid eye contact or become suspicious of someone who does. Might be the fact that nearly everything in our culture today has become sexualized, whether it ought to be or not, and so eye contact, being a somewhat intimate form of personal interaction, tends to feel more flirtatious or lascivious than it should. Maybe it’s just a bad day and people simply want to be left alone.
On the other hand, it could be that many of us recognize that eye contact is merely a great way of saying hello or showing respect for a stranger without ever stopping or without ever saying a word. It could be a great way to show friendliness or cameraderie or any number of a dozen other things.
What does this observation say about people? Probably nothing conclusive. People tend to be more or less open to making eye contact with others from day to day, depending on how they feel or their mood or other circumstances. Still, I’d love to get inside people’s heads for that brief moment, find out what they are thinking when their eyes lock with that strangers’ for that split second. I wonder what I would find out…
Tags: human-behavior, psychology
Group Thinks Classical Music Will Deter Hartford Crime
I knew that a lot of people today dislike classical music, but I had no idea just how much until now. It seems that a community in Hartfort, CT, are starting to play Classical music in a park after dark to deter unsavory types from loitering there. The hope is that the music will be annoying enough to chase these individuals away. And from what I understand, a community in West Palm Beach, FL, is already an example of success with this approach.
Point 1 – kudos to these people for finding a solution that works. Point 2 – it actually kind of stinks, though, some of my favorite music can also be used as a negative stimulus. Both Pavlov and Beethoven must be rolling over in their graves right now. This is definitely not facilitating the appreciation of fine art, is it?
Tags: classical-music, music, news, politics, psychology, The Arts
I was asked yesterday about joining the office lottery pool. From what I understand, everyone pitches in a couple of bucks a week, and then our secretary goes and buys everyone a lottery ticket. The winner (should anyone happen to do so) then acquires a little extra cash and a few bragging rights.
I decline the opportunity to join the pool. I was actually a little bit surprised that the others even took part in this weekly tradition, given that we are all statisticians and are all aware (presumably) of the odds of actually winning anything significant. It has always seemed to me that spending money on lottery tickets, however little or much, is an incredibly wasteful use of financial resources. If people would total up how much they spend on lottery tickets and compare that number against actual winnings, I think (or at least, I would hope) that they would be embarassed. It’s actually kind of comparable to those who smoke – you are essentially taking your own money, saying “I don’t need this anymore,” and setting a match to it. I have just never been able to justify using my own money so recklessly.
I am grateful that I have never been tempted to gamble. I am grateful that my parents raised me to appreciate the value of a dollar so that I will not be irresponsible with those resources that God has given me. Besides, as a new homeowner, I have plenty of things to spend my money on that will yield greater returns than any lottery ticket will. I’d much rather put my finances toward appreciating the value of my property. In the longrun, it will be a whole lot more satisfying, I think.
Tags: american-culture, psychology, Statistics
I tend to be very sensitive to people’s moods and personalities, and believe me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. On the positive side, empathy and sympathy come very easily for me. I can step into someone else’s shoes easily and imagine what it is like to be them and what they must be thinking and feeling. As a result I find it pretty simple to relate to them and to help them in a time of need.
The downside to all this is that I am equally sensitive to their bad moods and negative personality traits. What essentially happens is that I sort of absorb a part of their mood for a brief period of time. This is most noticeable when said individual is stressed or worried, both states of mind that I do not myself handle all that well. When someone else is stressed, I feel that stress. When they are worried, I feel worried. When they are upset, I get upset. In almost every case what happens is that I end up expressing all these feelings with a raised voice, with tension, with a high level of crankiness.
I have been having just such a week, due in large part because I am tired and feeling pretty brain-fried. I do find that I handle stress a whole lot better when I am well-rested, something that seems to escape me all too often. Fortunately, though, it’s Thursday, and so the weekend is nearly upon us. I just have to survive a couple of more days…
Tags: attitudes, human-behavior, moods, psychology
And no, I’m not talking about the music style (even though it is one of my favorites). I’ve been in a bit of a funk all week. Hazards, I guess, of not having much on my mind, let alone anything thought-provoking, and of not getting enough sleep. That’s the way it goes sometimes, though.
I’ve been feeling progressively more dissatisfied with my blog’s template. I sometimes find myself becoming too much of a bells-and-whistles guy, so my sidebar has become increasingly more cluttered. I’ve also wanted to develop a template that is more reflective of me and of my writing, rather than something generic. The trouble is that I simply don’t have the kind of time necessary to tear apart a couple of different templates to figure out how they work so that I can create one of my own.
So, I have been forced to do a couple of different things. I had really wanted to find a 3-column template so that I could reorganize some of my content. So far, I have found nothing I like. I have, however, rediscovered the K2 template, which looks like it might prove to be a lost easier to customize (since all the hacking appears to be done exclusively in the style sheet) and supports a bit more of the functionality that I would like.
I spent some time yesterday installing a second WordPress blog on my server, exclusively for testing purposes so that I can try out new themes and new plugins without affecting the availability of my main blog. Right now, I’m working on hacking the K2 template to add some of the features that I have on my main blog, and I am also re-evaluating some of the clutter in the sidebar to decide if I really need it. Hopefully, I will have a new look set up before the weekend, provided I have enough time around my various projects at work to play with K2 a little more and figure some things out.
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Speaking of funks, does anyone know of any good funk music – bands, albums, tracks, etc.?
Tags: attitudes, moods, psychology
I am very much a self-taught learner. My preferred learning style is to sit down with the subject at hand, a relevant task, a stack of reference manuals, and plenty of time to just hack my way through until I figure it out. I learn best through the process of trial and error, but I have to have a starting point, which is the reason why I require a specific task to accomplish.
I learned how to write in HTML because I wanted to build my own web page. With the help of internet references and an HTML book, I was able to build my first web site. Granted, it was pretty garish – it had every bell and whistle I could write code for, but I wanted to try everything out. My design sense has matured quite a bit more over the years, and you’ll find that most of my web sites are now much more sensible and a lot less blinding to look at.
I learned how to code in C during my brief sojourn in engineering, and again, I learned best when I was able to get back to my dorm room, sit down at my computer with my textbook, and hack my way through the code to complete each project. I’ve since forgotten pretty much everything I learned from lack of use, but I’m sure that I could probably pick it up pretty quickly again. I’m finding that most programming languages are very similar.
I learned how to use the SPSS statistical software during my graduate assistantship; I needed to be able to crunch some numbers and produce useful conclusions from it, and so many hours were spent just learning how the program handles data. It figures, though, that my favorite way to produce programs was not the point-and-click process but rather through the syntax editor and hardcoding the commands. Can you say ‘geek?’
Now, my job requires me to learn some new software in order to complete some of my projects. I have been working extensively in SPSS’s big brother SAS, which has no point-and-click interface. So, I have been forced to work in the code itself. Not a problem, right? That’s true, insofar as I love working with the code and seeing what the software is actually doing. The trouble comes in when I discover that SAS handles data much differently than does SPSS. My entire morning was spent just in trying to figure out how to get SAS to read from an existing data set without overwriting it with a blank one first. The solution was in figuring how SAS works with libraries, and now I have a very useable, workable program.
I could have asked for help and probably found the solution much more quickly than I did, but I prefer to solve problems myself. For one thing, it is much more satisfying to determine a solution on my own, but for another, I learn better by figuring things out for myself (hence, the reason why I thought I might make a good engineer). All the headache and aggravation of the first half of my day paid off when I was able to solve the problem. And now I’ll remember how to ‘fix’ it should it ever occur again. I’m just a very hands-on learner.
I love my job.
Tags: Coding, geek, learning-styles, psychology, sas, software, spss, Statistics
One of the coolest things I learned during my psychology master’s program was that your memories are probably stored not just in your brain but throughout your entire nervous system. It was funny to me to consider the idea that I was retrieving a high school memory from my big toe. The science behind this theory is that often we react to a potential danger before we can ever actually process the fact that we might get hurt. For instance, when you touch a burner on your kitchen range, sometimes you will react sharply by withdrawing your hand quickly as though you had been burned, even though the burner itself is cold. That is due to a memory stored in that part of your body of a time in the past when you had been burned, and your reflexes reacted before your brain had the chance the determine that there was no actual danger present.
Another thing that most people are probably aware of is that the senses can often store the most potent memories of all. Say you smell perfume and you are struck with a poignant memory of a former love and are brought to the brink of tears at the vividness of the thoughts and feelings associated with that memory, even though it’s been years since you last saw that individual. Or you hear an old song for the first time in forever and you remember an event you hadn’t thought about in a long, long time. Or you touch a rough board and you can remember as though it was yesterday that time as a child that you worked in the shop with your dad building a birdhouse.
The senses are amazing things, and it’s still amazing to me just what kinds of memories are stored with them and what can be accessed with just the right stimulus. Our bodies are an intricate and vastly complex work, and I think I never cease to be fascinated the things they can do.
Tags: graduate-school, physiology, psychology, Science
If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying enough attention.
That bumper sticker seems to sum up the state of our world these days. Everyone is angry about something. Demonstrations, both violent and peaceful, seem to be cropping up all over the place. Riots break out in the most mundane, and often the most bizarre, places. Road rage continues to be a problem, as do violent crimes of all varieties.
It almost seems like being outraged is the new fashion, complete with the red face, furrowed brows, clenched teeth and fists, and high blood pressure. Apparently, anger and outrage are the only ways to express oneself and to effect change in our world. At least, that seems to be the mindset of so many protest groups. Christians are angry about Brokeback Mountain and The Book of Daniel, Muslims are angry about political cartoons, (some) Americans are angry about the Iraq war, and the list continues. With all these angry people, I have to wonder if there is any around with a level head.
Of course there are, but most of them have to work harder to be heard – the roar of global outrage is that deafening. That level of anger and vehemence gets things done, sure, but such changes rarely last in the longterm. Angry people are bullying people, and by forcing the change they ensure that it is a shallow one because the hearts and minds of the people they are influencing have not been changed. Things quiet down for a little while and then the change is reinstated, albeit better disguised.
I’ve never gone in for protests and marches, exactly because I feel like they don’t really accomplish much of anything. It’s one thing to state your mind in a town council, a letter to the editor or your congressman, in the voting booth – it’s quite another to go face-to-face, quite literally, with someone, all the while shouting and screaming and spouting obscenities. I have yet to see anything productive accomplished by such means, and even if it has the victory is tainted by the means in which it was acquired.
I have my own fair share of cynical attitudes, even to the extent of finding myself saying bitter things against particular people. It just goes to show you I’m not perfect, but I want to avoid engaging in such behavior, treating people with respect, instead – whether they deserve it or not. I don’t want to bully people into doing what I think is right; I would much rather sway them into seeing things the way I do, if at all possible. But even barring that, I can, and must, continue to live my life according to what is right and good and true. There can be, and should be, no place in my life for outrage.
Tags: culture, human-behavior, political-correctness, psychology
Tied the Leader: This is your Brain on HALO
Ah, now here’s one that’s near and dear to my heart—the psychology of dealing with conflict, particularly as applied to Halo gameplay. Wheels, of the TTL Gunslingers, discusses the difference between Beta and Theta waves as they relate to conflict and confrontation. Essentially, Beta waves are high-end, actively alert brainwaves, the ones we use throughout the day as we process everything that goes on around us. Theta waves are the ones that we use when we are relaxed and in a state of meditation, that place where mental imagery happens. The Theta zone is also, ironically, that place that allows us to focus and perform better, almost without even thinking about it. Wheels’s advice? Relax when faced with conflict. You’ll handle it a whole lot better.
It makes sense, particularly when I think about all the times when I have been in high-stress situations. The ones that I handled badly were the ones where I was stressed out and working too hard to make sense of everything coming at me. Of course, I missed things and made mistakes and then left the situation feeling bad because I knew I only made a bigger mess out of things. Conversely, the situations where I was on top of my game, fielding problems with ease and just going to town were those where I was relaxed and content, just kind of going with the flow, aware of the situation but not worrying about it. Those were the times when my performance was stellar, where I walked away feeling really good about what happened, and where I felt like everything was handled well and resolved completely.
As Wheels pointed out, though, it is difficult to get to the Theta zone consistently. It takes training and discipline, but often, the more you are forced to handle stressful situations, the more adept you become at handling them. Taking a deep breath and reminding yourself that you need to relax often helps. A step back to clear your head, to collect yourself, is a good start to moving out of Beta and toward Theta. And when you hit the Theta zone, you really are in The Zone.
The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.
~Chinese fortune
Tags: halo, halo-2, physiology, psychology, tied-the-leader, xbox, xbox-live, xerxdeej
Amazing what a difference a smile can make! I needed to run to the store over lunch today to pick up a few things, and as is typical, I made a point of observing people. Lately, I’ve been paying more attention to the way people behave, trying to decipher the reasons behind the actions. You notice a lot of little nuances when you do this, and perhaps the most noticeable behavior is whether or not a person smiles.
You can tell a lot about a person by their smile, maybe almost as much as you can from their eyes. People can smile, grin, smirk, or beam. They can express graciousness, friendliness, tenderness, or delight. They can look amused, happy, pleased, or elated. All this just from a simple smile.
What I am continually struck by, though, is how smiling can make the average person look ten times more attractive. A beautiful woman or a handsome man can look less attractive than the average person on the street who sports a genuine grin. Give me a choice between spending time with the one who smiles and the one who doesn’t, and my instinct is going to be join the cheerful one (though, chances are, the one who isn’t smiling probably needs the company more). This, of course, validates the wisdom that what is inside a person is more important than what is on the outside. You don’t have to be drop-dead gorgeous to be physically appealing – you only need to have a good heart. Anyone who places more importance on physical attractiveness over an attractive personality is either a fool or doesn’t really care about your well-being. It’s what’s on the inside that matters, and a genuine smile tells the world that you’re truly beautiful.
Tags: human-behavior, physical-attractiveness, psychology
