Sunday, May 22, 2011
Who are you
How did you behave in the environment you occupied? From here, unless massive transcription or DNA realignment and/or huge intra-enviro changes, that is who you are. Obviously, genetic and/or environment are functions of time and thus we see a moving target, it still the best guess I can think of. Noted weaknesses are the measuring sticks.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Pleasure vs happiness
Pleasure can be defined as things that feel good at present time t or within hours. Good food, mind altering drugs, sex, massages, itching, etc. are examples. They rarely lead to fulfillment and some pleasures often lead to despair. The problems pleasure can bring are the disregard for temperance (doing activity which leads to doing more of the activity), moderation (over drinking) , social norms and one's conscience.. Over indulging with drugs or foods can and do lead to un-fulfillment.. Sex with prostitutes, although pleasurable often leads to moral decay. Cocaine and other chemicals are pleasurable but can lead to addiction(wanting the chemical above health, harm to others or any moral fabric that the individual holds) to the imprudent or careless. Often going against society's mores leads to shame or strengthens disillusionment.
Happiness is pleasurable but the reverse may not be so. Happiness is often but not always the completion of one's goals. . This can be demonstrated by the example of building. physical labour is an unpleasurable event. The body fights the unnatural urge to expend energy for non sympathetic events. The pleasure comes when the building takes form. The happiness is the completion achieved through the goal achieved even through adversity.The virtue of adversity is fortitude; pushing through the adversity of pain to master the challenge
Happiness is pleasurable but the reverse may not be so. Happiness is often but not always the completion of one's goals. . This can be demonstrated by the example of building. physical labour is an unpleasurable event. The body fights the unnatural urge to expend energy for non sympathetic events. The pleasure comes when the building takes form. The happiness is the completion achieved through the goal achieved even through adversity.The virtue of adversity is fortitude; pushing through the adversity of pain to master the challenge
Monday, December 27, 2010
right vs left
Rightwingers are mostly religious. They're generally happier than lefties, not only the rich ones, because they believe that people have free choice. The good book says so. Free choice negates hopelessness which increases happiness. Free choice is also why they like lots of jails. People make decisions solely through their own power and should live with the consequences. This, says the righties, is called responsibilty. Responsibility can be lessened by forgiveness, the other religious thing that's amusingly not that big for them, or blame (eg. satan) but are not invoked unless it is in their own self interest. Wealthy people are generally right wing. Aside from not wanting to pay more taxes, they believe they are where they are because they chose/sacrificed/saved/scrimped/etc. to be where they are. Some believe they've been chosen (You will know them by their fruits Matthew 7:16.). Either way, they believe this is no fluke and lord help those who attempt to topple their gravy train.
Lefties are generally brighter. It takes a fair amount of reasoning to find flaws in society and they do so brilliantly. They can and do find victimhood in heaven. They are generally a miserable lot. They believe the system has oppressed those (sometimes themselves but also a group too stupid, in the lefties eye of course, to see for themselves) who have not "made it" in society. One is where one is because the system is skewed that way. If society were constructed different, we'd have a brand new batch of "losers" hence the lucky few should help because it is only dumb luck that they are in the position they are in. There is little personal responsibility, which leads to hopelessness and unhappiness, because the blame is held for the society/nature not the individual. They are not religious ,aside from Marx's opiate of the masses thesis, because they believe religion is a biased man made construct. Ironically, they are far more forgiving to individuals then their religious right counter parts, again because they believe in randomness.
Lefties are generally brighter. It takes a fair amount of reasoning to find flaws in society and they do so brilliantly. They can and do find victimhood in heaven. They are generally a miserable lot. They believe the system has oppressed those (sometimes themselves but also a group too stupid, in the lefties eye of course, to see for themselves) who have not "made it" in society. One is where one is because the system is skewed that way. If society were constructed different, we'd have a brand new batch of "losers" hence the lucky few should help because it is only dumb luck that they are in the position they are in. There is little personal responsibility, which leads to hopelessness and unhappiness, because the blame is held for the society/nature not the individual. They are not religious ,aside from Marx's opiate of the masses thesis, because they believe religion is a biased man made construct. Ironically, they are far more forgiving to individuals then their religious right counter parts, again because they believe in randomness.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
how to spot a liar
Rt handers=> up and left to remember
up and rt to make up, may look right back at u to see if u are believing it. Lying generally makes most uncomfortable hence they seem physically uncomfortable and eager to leave. They may also position something between themselves and the listener. Also may change voice.
Lying=3 parts of the brain
recall= 1 part of brain.
How does one tell if someone is lying in poker?
up and rt to make up, may look right back at u to see if u are believing it. Lying generally makes most uncomfortable hence they seem physically uncomfortable and eager to leave. They may also position something between themselves and the listener. Also may change voice.
Lying=3 parts of the brain
recall= 1 part of brain.
How does one tell if someone is lying in poker?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Stimulating the brain with a very low electric current can enhance a person's maths ability for up to six months
Researchers at Britain's Oxford University studied 15 volunteers and demonstrated for the first time that electrical stimulation of the brain improved their performance in a series of maths assessments, and continued to do so half a year later.
"We're not advising people to go around giving themselves electric shocks, but we are extremely excited by the potential of our findings and are now looking into the underlying brain changes," said Oxford's Cohen Kadosh, who led the study.
"Electrical stimulation is unlikely to turn you into the next Einstein, but if we're lucky it might ... help some people to cope better with maths."
Scientists said last month they found that using electrodes to stimulate areas deep within the brain might be able to help patients with severe obsessive compulsive disorder who do not respond to other treatment.
For this study, 15 student volunteers aged 20 and 21 were taught symbols that represented different numerical values, and then timed to see how quickly and accurately they could complete a series of maths puzzles based on those symbols.
The teaching took place over six days and each day the volunteers were given either a placebo or a one milliamp electrical stimulus from right to left, or vice versa, across the parietal lobe -- a brain area important for processing maths. The stimulus was administered for about 20 minutes each day, Kadosh said in a telephone interview.
"You can feel it a little bit, but only for the first 15 to 30 seconds or so," he said. "And it's not at all painful. It's just like a tingling sensation in your skull." He said none of the volunteers reported any side effects from the stimulation.
The results published in the journal Current Biology showed volunteers who were given the electrical stimulation from right to left parietal lobes performed best.
This group was re-tested six months after the training and the scientists found they maintained a high performance level.
Christopher Chambers of Cardiff University's School of Psychology, who was not involved in the study, said the findings were "intriguing" and could have far-reaching implications.
"The results of this study ... have exciting ramifications for the use of brain stimulation techniques in other domains," he said in an email comment.
"The ability to tweak activity in parts of the brain, turning it slightly 'up' or 'down' at will, opens the door to treating a range of psychiatric and neurological problems, like compulsive gambling or visual impairments following stroke."
"We're not advising people to go around giving themselves electric shocks, but we are extremely excited by the potential of our findings and are now looking into the underlying brain changes," said Oxford's Cohen Kadosh, who led the study.
"Electrical stimulation is unlikely to turn you into the next Einstein, but if we're lucky it might ... help some people to cope better with maths."
Scientists said last month they found that using electrodes to stimulate areas deep within the brain might be able to help patients with severe obsessive compulsive disorder who do not respond to other treatment.
For this study, 15 student volunteers aged 20 and 21 were taught symbols that represented different numerical values, and then timed to see how quickly and accurately they could complete a series of maths puzzles based on those symbols.
The teaching took place over six days and each day the volunteers were given either a placebo or a one milliamp electrical stimulus from right to left, or vice versa, across the parietal lobe -- a brain area important for processing maths. The stimulus was administered for about 20 minutes each day, Kadosh said in a telephone interview.
"You can feel it a little bit, but only for the first 15 to 30 seconds or so," he said. "And it's not at all painful. It's just like a tingling sensation in your skull." He said none of the volunteers reported any side effects from the stimulation.
The results published in the journal Current Biology showed volunteers who were given the electrical stimulation from right to left parietal lobes performed best.
This group was re-tested six months after the training and the scientists found they maintained a high performance level.
Christopher Chambers of Cardiff University's School of Psychology, who was not involved in the study, said the findings were "intriguing" and could have far-reaching implications.
"The results of this study ... have exciting ramifications for the use of brain stimulation techniques in other domains," he said in an email comment.
"The ability to tweak activity in parts of the brain, turning it slightly 'up' or 'down' at will, opens the door to treating a range of psychiatric and neurological problems, like compulsive gambling or visual impairments following stroke."
Sunday, October 17, 2010
on truth
Truth is a slippery idea. He who claims to be or know the arbiter, whether it be Jesus, science etc. should always be looked at with a suspicious eye. Dogma leads to passion which leads to memes. The problems with memes is that they are like rats, difficult to rid of.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
volatility and feeling pain in portfolio
"Brandes Investment Partners, the fund company, has recently done work based on insights from the Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman, known for his work on “prospect theory.” This theory demonstrates that investors feel losses twice as much as they do gains. As a result, the stress of losses can cause emotions to kick in and make investors abandon investments, even ones they intended to hang on to for the long term.
In his book, Fooled by Randomness, the mathematician and former trader Nicholas Taleb applied this theory to a portfolio that returns 15 per cent annually over 20 years, with 10 per cent volatility along the way. He calculated that someone with this portfolio would stand a 7-per-cent chance of losing money over the course of any given year, a 23-per-cent chance of losing money in a quarter, a 33-per-cent chance of losing money in a month, a 46-per-cent chance of losing money during a day and a 50-per-cent chance of losing money in any hour."
In his book, Fooled by Randomness, the mathematician and former trader Nicholas Taleb applied this theory to a portfolio that returns 15 per cent annually over 20 years, with 10 per cent volatility along the way. He calculated that someone with this portfolio would stand a 7-per-cent chance of losing money over the course of any given year, a 23-per-cent chance of losing money in a quarter, a 33-per-cent chance of losing money in a month, a 46-per-cent chance of losing money during a day and a 50-per-cent chance of losing money in any hour."
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