Friday, August 31, 2012

every great “aha!” moment, every one-of-a-kind piece of art, every new deep understanding, every priceless discovery, comes out of the solitude
“What is necessary, after all, is only this: solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself and meet no one for hours-that is what you must be able to attain.”

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

American life

American-style financial irresponsibility and extravagance with, credit-card debt and defaults rising dramatically in recent years

Why has America been struggling in recent decades? In my view, it’s because we’ve lost touch with the values that made our country great: respect, responsibility, discipline, hard work, integrity, fairness, community, humility, and compassion, just to name a few.

In exchange, much of America has embraced the values of wealth, status, celebrity, appearance, selfishness, greed, certitude, indifference, exclusion, profligacy, and arrogance, just to name a few.

China turning into America

With the rise of their middle classes and newly realized disposable income in a combined population of more than 2.5 billion people, fast-food chains, such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut, are steadily reshaping the traditional fare of China and India and changing the shapes of their citizens. Both countries are seeing a dramatic rise in obesity, most noticeably among children. Interestingly, whereas fast food is consumed mostly by lower-income Americans, it is a pride-inducing statement of socioeconomic status in India and China.

income inequality

america will continue to struggle with extreme income inequality that will cause it to lose immense human capital

America represents: freedom, wealth, popular culture, and materialism. Most of the world wants what we have. And, by gosh, we’re going to give it to them, the good, bad, and the ugly, whether they like it or not.

infinitely variable...long term use and enjoyment

some products are built to be infinitely variable. These products involve rewards users find novel for long periods of time. Few things are more fascinating to people than other people that's why we always want to know more.

technology products with finite variability do not form long-term habits in most users.

Nearly all of us have played a slot machine, but ultimately, we figure out the rules and patterns and come to understand that the game is designed to take our money, so we move on. Addicts however, those who form uncontrollable and often detrimental obsessions, are the exception rather than the rule.

Being able to answer, “Who, what, when, where, how, and why?” in every single paragraph written in the story.

a game is a constructed system, a machine, it will be enjoyed, completed, and discarded.

Even bestselling books, movies, and music follow the same usage pattern.

Once these products are made, they don’t change and become nearly worthless after their mysteries are revealed.

Novelty keeps things Interesting and Alive

To keep our attention, products must have a degree of novelty. Without variability, users figure out the patterns and tire of the experience

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Article:

Pair Bonding 101: Beware Novelty-As-Aphrodisiac
How will you fill your pair-bonder “hole?”
http://www.psychologytoday.com/em/66450

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Internet Addiction And Loneliness – PsychCentral.com (blog)

Posted on August 20, 2012

Internet Addiction And Loneliness
PsychCentral.com (blog)
So much that the American Psychiatric Association is recommending further research on the condition called “Internet Use Disorder” in the upcoming diagnostic manual, DSM V. The disorder primarily refers to Internet gaming. It does include the criteria …

Read the rest here: Internet Addiction And Loneliness – PsychCentral.com (blog)