01.31.2006 - Language affects half of what we see UC Berkeley Press Release Language affects half of what we see By William Harms, University of Chicago, and Robert Sanders, UC Berkeley Media Relations | 31 January 2006 BERKELEY – The language we speak affects half of what we see, according to researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. Scholars have long debated whether our native language affects how we perceive reality - and whether speakers of different languages might therefore see the world differently. A paper published this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports the idea - but with a twist. The paper, "Whorf Hypothesis is Supported in the Right Visual Field but not in the Left," is by Aubrey Gilbert, Richard Ivry and Paul Kay at UC Berkeley and Terry Regier at the University of Chicago. This new finding is suggested by the organization of the brain, the researchers say.
What does the way you count on your fingers say about your brain? | Corrinne Burns | Science Put down your coffee for a moment. Now, without thinking about it too much, use your hands to count to 10. How did you do it? Did you start with the left hand, or the right? If you're European, there's a good chance you started with closed fists, and began counting on the thumb of the left hand. Most Chinese people, and many North Americans, also use the closed-fist system, but begin counting on an index finger, rather than the thumb. In India, it's common to make use of finger segments to get as many as 20 counts from each hand. Finger counting feels as natural as breathing – but it's not innate, or even, apparently, universal. In the latest issue of Cognition, German researchers Andrea Bender and Sieghard Beller argue that the extent of cultural diversity in finger-counting has been hugely underestimated. There is a mental link between hands and numbers, but that link doesn't come from humans learning to use their hands as a counting aid. It's possible.
The Devil's Kitchen: It's long past time that IE6 died Over the last few years, your humble Devil has been working for a small web software company in Surrey. I was hired as a second-string website designer and—mainly due to the fact that I just won't shut up when I see things that need sorting out—I have swiftly moved through various jobs within the company: from second-strong designer, to Project Manager, to Head of Marketing*. My current role, and the one that I hope to stay in, is as Product Manager. It's busy but immense fun and, usually, incredibly satisfying. However, we are a web software company and, as such, there are a few things that are massively annoying: these can generally be defined as Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 (I am reserving judgement on IE9, since it looks to be half-way decent), and their prevalence amongst our customer base. Of all of these, Internet Explorer 6 is the worst: its support for CSS and Javascript is pitiful and its debugging tools non-existent.
MSNBC - How to Think About the Mind How to Think About the MindNeuroscience shows that the 'soul' is the activity of the brain Sept. 27 issue - Every evening our eyes tell us that the sun sets, while we know that, in fact, the Earth is turning us away from it. Astronomy taught us centuries ago that common sense is not a reliable guide to reality. Today it is neuroscience that is forcing us to readjust our intuitions. Modern neuroscience has shown that there is no user. This resistance is not surprising. The disconnect between our common sense and our best science is not an academic curiosity. Prozac shouldn't be dispensed like mints, of course, but the reason is not that it undermines the will. To many, the scariest prospect is medication that can make us better than well by enhancing mood, memory and attention. In Galileo's time, the counter-intuitive discovery that the Earth moved around the sun was laden with moral danger. Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the psychology department at Harvard.
The Art Of Manipulation Editor’s Note: Nir Eyal is a founder of two startups and an advisor to several Bay Area companies and incubators. He is a Lecturer in Marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and blogs about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business at NirAndFar.com. Follow him on Twitter@nireyal and see his previous Techcrunch posts here. Let’s admit it, we in the consumer web industry are in the manipulation business. Users take our technologies with them to bed. When Is Manipulation Wrong? Manipulation is a designed experience crafted to change behavior — we all know what it feels like. Yet, manipulation can’t be all bad. Much like in the consumer web industry, Weight Watchers customers’ decisions are programed by the designer of the system. A More Addictive World Unfortunately, our moral compass has not caught-up with what technology now makes possible. But what of the people who make these manipulative experiences? The Manipulation Matrix The Facilitator The Peddler
Take That riot police 'just a bunch of dancers' This sort of thing would have been ideal Viewers watching the Brit Awards had hoped the Take That police, equipped with riot shields and batons, would turn on their masters, kettling them into the corner of the stage and beating them to within an inch of their lives. But instead they pranced around in time to the music without once lashing out viciously at Mark or even Robbie, backed by the full force of the law. Tom Logan, from Stevenage, said: “I wanted to see triumphant arcs of Take That blood splashing against the camera. “I wanted to see Gary Barlow trying to protect his Nice’n'Easy beach blond highlights against blow after righteous blow. “Then I wanted to see the police rampaging through the crowd, cracking skulls and pummelling kidneys before setting off back stage in search of James Corden’s big fucking face.” Helen Archer, from Doncaster, added: “What a waste. “Hopefully the organisers will learn their lesson and next year they could perhaps use tear gas and water cannons.
Does Language Shape What We Think? My seventh-grade English teacher exhorted us to study vocabulary with the following: "We think in words. The more words you know, the more thoughts you can have." This compound notion that language allows you to have ideas otherwise un-haveable, and that by extension people who own different words live in different conceptual worlds -- called "Whorfianism" after its academic evangelist, Benjamin Lee Whorf -- is so pervasive in modern thought as to be unremarkable. Eskimos, as is commonly reported, have myriads of words for snow, affecting how they perceive frozen percipitation. For all its social success, Whorfianism has fared less well scientifically. Oh, and Eskimos don't have all that many words for snow. In fact, scientists have had so much difficulty demonstrating that language affects thought that in 1994 renown psychologist Steven Pinker called Whorfianism dead. The lack of number words had a profound and surprising effect on what the Pirahã could do. But the Pirahã can't count.
5 of my favorite psychology books One of my favorite questions to ask people is, “Who do you admire?” That and “What kind of underwear are you wearing?” You can learn a lot about someone with these questions. Trust me. I tested it. It’s always fascinating to hear what people are reading. I’ve told you how I spend over $50,000/year investing in myself via courses, books, conferences, and travel. In fact, books are some of the best investments you can make. So, I hope you decide to pick up one of these books — or any other great book — today. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think A book ostensibly about our invisible eating habits that is actually a deeply researched, phenomenally interesting book on our behavior. Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion One of my favorite books on understanding why we behave the way we do. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion The grandfather of all persuasion books, Cialdini put his years as the world’s foremost persuasion expert into this book. P.S.
To Whom It May Concern-Census 2011 I will not be completing your forms. I am not required to. I am in Lawful Rebellion and your statutes are meaningless to me. Besides which, my job is to hinder your government at every opportunity. This is not a lifestyle choice: this is my duty, my obligation, as a Briton. “together with the community of the whole realm, distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other way they can, until redress has been obtained as they see fit…” Crystal clear, those instructions. Look: Magna Carta 1215, article 61 Sworn and subscribed on this the 4th day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand and eleven. My mark Four affidavits are now lodged with Elizabeth Windsor, three affidavits are lodged with David Cameron dba First Lord of the Treasury, and one affidavit is lodged with the Home Office. For those who have not yet entered Lawful Rebellion, I strongly advise you to send the following notice to Jil Matheson of the ONS. 11. 12.
Enhancing Brains Editor’s note: In 2008, Henry T. Greely, a professor at Stanford Law School, co-authored a commentary in Nature; it concluded that “safe and effective cognitive enhancers will benefit both the individual and society.” The article inspired an impressive number of responses from readers, and the debate has continued in scholarly journals and the mainstream media in the years following publication. Here Professor Greely builds on that momentum, arguing that only some concerns about cognitive enhancements are justified and proper attention is needed to address such issues. He contends that rather than banning cognitive enhancements, as some have suggested, we should determine rules for their use. Probing that question is my ultimate aim in this article, but we will get there somewhat indirectly. Note first, though, that this is largely a hypothetical discussion, as cognitive enhancement remains largely in the future. Why Cognitive Enhancement—and What Kinds of Enhancements?
5 Scientific Ways the Internet is Dividing Us The good news is that the Internet has given us greater access to extended family, news from remote parts of the globe and pictures of exotic genitals we would have never been able to see in the real world. The bad news is that the Internet is also pitting neighbor against neighbor in new and innovative ways that only technology could have made possible. The worse news? #5. Getty The only reason you know anything about how to be a good human being is because other people told you when you screwed up. Yet the Internet is building that bubble of "yes men" around you, right now, and you don't even notice. TechCrunchThere's a downside to kids paying too much attention in math class. What, did you think that Facebook just gave you all of your friends' updates in order? Tech expert Eli Pariser calls these algorithms the "filter bubble," and its implications are pretty sinister. "Standing in this room right now, I can just feel that 2012 is the mullet's year!" #4. #3.
7 Life Changing Lessons You Can Learn from Mark Twain in 1871, Mark Twain was born as Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, U.S. He was a writer, and lecturer. He was called the “greatest American humorist of his age.” virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/huchompg.html">Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He wrote some great stuff that is still read by millions today. “I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.” We walk around all our lives thinking about things that will never happen. Our minds are out of control. Eliminating bad thoughts is possible, through methods such as EFT and The Work. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. We want safety. I’ve battled with this myself, and I often stop myself from doing things because it feels unsafe. In reality, we can’t know what the future will bring. Imagine that something negative happened to you. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
Dunning–Kruger effect Cognitive bias about one's own skill The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. Some researchers also include the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills. In popular culture, the Dunning–Kruger effect is often misunderstood as a claim about general overconfidence of people with low intelligence instead of specific overconfidence of people unskilled at a particular task. The Dunning–Kruger effect is usually measured by comparing self-assessment with objective performance. There are disagreements about what causes the Dunning–Kruger effect. There are disagreements about the Dunning–Kruger effect's magnitude and practical consequences. Definition[edit] The Dunning–Kruger effect is defined as the tendency of people with low ability in a specific area to give overly positive assessments of this ability. David Dunning Explanations[edit] [edit] Statistical[edit]