Britons emotionally attached to their computers
Not proper psychological research, but a MORI poll. Interesting though. Apparently: "One in three adults and 44% of youngsters even went so far as to class their machine as a 'trusted friend'" I'm not normally one for swearing but...Holy motherboards Batman! People might become more friendly towards and trusting of their computers than real, live people.
Whatever happened to people attacking their computers with baseball bats after another hard drive meltdown? What happened to technophobia? What happened to the good old-fashioned luddites?
Worse. What happens when you get an upgrade and have to throw your old computer away? Will you need therapy? My mind is spinning. I need to calm down and focus on the screen. The calming screen. The mouse is so reliable, the cursor so trustworthy... arrgggghhhh it's starting...
[From The Guardian]
Not proper psychological research, but a MORI poll. Interesting though. Apparently: "One in three adults and 44% of youngsters even went so far as to class their machine as a 'trusted friend'" I'm not normally one for swearing but...Holy motherboards Batman! People might become more friendly towards and trusting of their computers than real, live people.
Whatever happened to people attacking their computers with baseball bats after another hard drive meltdown? What happened to technophobia? What happened to the good old-fashioned luddites?
Worse. What happens when you get an upgrade and have to throw your old computer away? Will you need therapy? My mind is spinning. I need to calm down and focus on the screen. The calming screen. The mouse is so reliable, the cursor so trustworthy... arrgggghhhh it's starting...
[From The Guardian]
Therapists 'prescribe' films to aid conselling
I was tempted to scoff at this, but then I thought of all the movies that have moved me and made me think differently about myself...
"A growing number of mental health experts believe that when a person is moved by a particular film, there is something about the characters, the setting or the type of challenges depicted that is self-revealing. When a film hits home, thinking about it in a structured way, with a therapist's help, can help a person cope with various issues."
[Akron Beacon Journal]
I was tempted to scoff at this, but then I thought of all the movies that have moved me and made me think differently about myself...
"A growing number of mental health experts believe that when a person is moved by a particular film, there is something about the characters, the setting or the type of challenges depicted that is self-revealing. When a film hits home, thinking about it in a structured way, with a therapist's help, can help a person cope with various issues."
[Akron Beacon Journal]
OOooo blog me do, you know I blog you.
What with Valentine's day just passed, it's the season for journos to go asking psychologists what the hell all this love thing is about. Here's just two...
"Dr Monica Whitty, from the School of Psychology at Queen's University, interviewed 60 participants using an online dating site called RSVP." And apparently, "contrary to common belief, the online dating population are not all middle-aged, they are not all unattractive and they are not all geeks."
With the unfortunate implication that most them are.
[From the Belfast Telegraph]
The New India Express advises caution where love is concerned:
"A young boy who fails in love may turn violent, commit suicide or adopt other methods to take revenge. If a boy loves a girl and the girl loves another, he could try to remove his rival by hook or crook," said a psychiatrist of the Central Institute of Psychology (CIP)."
And how are these poor mites treated?
"We try to console them and give them hope of a better life even without their ladylove."
Ah, sweet ladylove.
[From The New India Express]
What with Valentine's day just passed, it's the season for journos to go asking psychologists what the hell all this love thing is about. Here's just two...
"Dr Monica Whitty, from the School of Psychology at Queen's University, interviewed 60 participants using an online dating site called RSVP." And apparently, "contrary to common belief, the online dating population are not all middle-aged, they are not all unattractive and they are not all geeks."
With the unfortunate implication that most them are.
[From the Belfast Telegraph]
The New India Express advises caution where love is concerned:
"A young boy who fails in love may turn violent, commit suicide or adopt other methods to take revenge. If a boy loves a girl and the girl loves another, he could try to remove his rival by hook or crook," said a psychiatrist of the Central Institute of Psychology (CIP)."
And how are these poor mites treated?
"We try to console them and give them hope of a better life even without their ladylove."
Ah, sweet ladylove.
[From The New India Express]
How good are you at reading people's emotions?
Check whether you can spot the fake smiles in this test based on research done by Paul Ekman. So you've got a bench mark, I got 14 out of 20 right. Beat that suckers.
[From the BBC]
Check whether you can spot the fake smiles in this test based on research done by Paul Ekman. So you've got a bench mark, I got 14 out of 20 right. Beat that suckers.
[From the BBC]
I can see what you're thinking
"According to its developer, Brain Fingerprinting is designed to determine whether an individual recognizes specific information related to an event or activity by measuring electrical brain wave responses to words, phrases, or pictures presented on a computer screen...Brain Fingerprinting is considered a type of Guilty Knowledge Test, where the "guilty" party is expected to react strongly to the relevant details of the event or activity."
"Existing (polygraph) procedures for assessing the validity of a suspect's "guilty" knowledge rely on measurement of autonomic arousal (e.g., palm sweating and heart rate), while Brain Fingerprinting measures electrical brain activity via a fitted headband containing special sensors. Brain Fingerprinting is said to be more accurate in detecting "guilty" knowledge distinct from the false positives of traditional polygraph methods, but this is hotly disputed by specialized researchers."
[From Corante]
"According to its developer, Brain Fingerprinting is designed to determine whether an individual recognizes specific information related to an event or activity by measuring electrical brain wave responses to words, phrases, or pictures presented on a computer screen...Brain Fingerprinting is considered a type of Guilty Knowledge Test, where the "guilty" party is expected to react strongly to the relevant details of the event or activity."
"Existing (polygraph) procedures for assessing the validity of a suspect's "guilty" knowledge rely on measurement of autonomic arousal (e.g., palm sweating and heart rate), while Brain Fingerprinting measures electrical brain activity via a fitted headband containing special sensors. Brain Fingerprinting is said to be more accurate in detecting "guilty" knowledge distinct from the false positives of traditional polygraph methods, but this is hotly disputed by specialized researchers."
[From Corante]
Does your life need shaking up?
I've been reading The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker. It restates the case for the strength of the genetic component of our personalities. Rightly or wrongly, reading Pinker's impassioned prose has made me even more nervous about my own free will. As if to put a few more nails into the coffin, neuroscientists also claim to be able to see the brain making our decisions about three-quarters of a second before we are aware of doing so ourselves.
So perhaps it is time to break out of ingrained patterns by following the advice of the protagonist of The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. In the book he decides to make the major decisions of his life by simply rolling a dice. A Guardian article explains how Cockcroft [Rhinehart's real name] was first inspired to write the book:
"At the time, Cockcroft was studying and teaching psychology, and one summer he was leading a seminar on freedom - Nietzsche and Sartre - and he asked his class at one point whether perhaps the ultimate freedom was not to 'get away from habit and causality and make all your decisions by casting dice'. His students were either so appalled or so intrigued by the idea that Cockcroft knew immediately that this was something worth writing about."
[From The Guardian]
Come on, why not? Let's mix it up, it'll be fun.
I've been reading The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker. It restates the case for the strength of the genetic component of our personalities. Rightly or wrongly, reading Pinker's impassioned prose has made me even more nervous about my own free will. As if to put a few more nails into the coffin, neuroscientists also claim to be able to see the brain making our decisions about three-quarters of a second before we are aware of doing so ourselves.
So perhaps it is time to break out of ingrained patterns by following the advice of the protagonist of The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. In the book he decides to make the major decisions of his life by simply rolling a dice. A Guardian article explains how Cockcroft [Rhinehart's real name] was first inspired to write the book:
"At the time, Cockcroft was studying and teaching psychology, and one summer he was leading a seminar on freedom - Nietzsche and Sartre - and he asked his class at one point whether perhaps the ultimate freedom was not to 'get away from habit and causality and make all your decisions by casting dice'. His students were either so appalled or so intrigued by the idea that Cockcroft knew immediately that this was something worth writing about."
[From The Guardian]
Come on, why not? Let's mix it up, it'll be fun.