JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Errol Morris published a quiz in the New York Times that was supposed to test whether one was a pessimist or an optimist. But it wasn’t really about pessimism or optimism, it was about the effect of fonts on credulity. Apparently certain fonts are more believable than others.

We all know that we are influenced in many, many ways — many of which we remain blissfully unaware of. Could fonts be one of them? Could the mere selection of a font influence us to believe one thing rather than another? Could fonts work some unseen magic? Or malefaction?

Read Hear, All Ye People; Hearken, O Earth (Part 1) in the NYT.

Reminds us of the first issue of Flip. Response to the content was largely positive, but readers LOATHED Times New Roman with a passion.

The idea that being good at something demands harried, exhausted martyrdom is a relatively new idea. “Only in recent history,” as Nas­sim Nicholas Taleb puts it, “has ‘working hard’ signalled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.” If we really want to be good at something, we should stop wasting time exhausting ourselves.

What some people call idleness is often the best investment by Ed Smith in New Statesman

We also believe that one must exert all effort to make her work look effortless. In time it becomes second nature.

Some studies have indeed shown that the right hemisphere seems to be involved more when we have an Aha! flash of insight. For instance, one study found that activity was greater in the right hemisphere when participants solved a task via insight, rather than piecemeal. Another showed that brief exposure to a puzzle clue was more useful to the right hemisphere, than the left, as if the right hemisphere were nearer the answer.

But insight is just one type of creativity. Telling stories is another. One of the most fascinating insights from the split-brain studies was the way the left hemisphere made up stories to explain what the right hemisphere was up to – what Gazzaniga dubbed the “interpreter phenomenon”. For example, in one study, a patient completing a picture-matching task used their left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere) to match up a shovel with an image of a snow storm (shown only to the right hemisphere). The patient was then asked why he’d done this. But his left hemisphere (the source of speech) didn’t admit to not knowing. Instead, it confabulated, saying that he’d reached for the shovel to clear out the chicken coup (the picture shown to the left hemisphere was of a bird’s foot)…

Why the Right-Brain, Left-Brain Myth Will Probably Never Die by Christian Jarrett in Psychology Today.

Holy crap, we’re not that bored!

Boredom, it turns out, is adaptive as a transient state, but dangerous as a chronic condition. In 1986, psychologists designed a test, known as the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS), as a way of distinguishing between those who suffer transient boredom from those who suffer chronic boredom:

1. It is easy for me to concentrate on my activities.
2. Frequently when I am working I find myself worrying about other things.
3. Time always seems to be passing slowly.
4. I often find myself at “loose ends”, not knowing what to do.
5. I am often trapped in situations where I have to do meaningless things.
6. Having to look at someone’s home movies or travel slides bores me tremendously.
7. I have projects in mind all the time, things to do.
8. I find it easy to entertain myself.
9. Many things I have to do are repetitive and monotonous.
10. It takes more stimulation to get me going than most people.
(more…)

Korean cat in Seoul cafe, June 2011. Photo by JZ.

We were in a taxi when the driver pointed to some Koreans coming out of a restaurant. “Mga Koreyano,” he growled. “Magugulang ang mga yan.” (Koreans are deceitful.)

“Bakit naman ho?” (Why do you say that?) we asked.

“Gusto akong dayain,” he replied. “Ihatid ko daw siya sa Laguna, tapos ime-metro? Hindi puede yon.” (One tried to cheat me. He said, Take me to Laguna but turn on the meter. That’s not right.)

We don’t know how taxis charge to drive passengers outside Metro Manila, so we assumed the kontrata system was in effect (They agree on a rate at the start of the trip).

“Magulang ang mga yan,” he repeated.

“Baka ho nagkataon lang,” we said. “Yung mga Koreyano ho sa Seoul mabait naman.” (Maybe it was just that guy. The Koreans we met in Seoul were quite nice.) The first time we tried to use the ticket machine at a Korean train station we must’ve looked so bewildered that someone came over to offer help. As he spoke no English we conversed in signs.)

“Hindi, madaya sila,” the cabbie insisted.

When we got to our destination the meter read 68 pesos. We didn’t have the exact change so we handed over 100 pesos.

“Wala akong barya,” he said peremptorily, showing a roll of P100 bills.

“Meron ho kayong P50?” We had a P20 peso bill.

“Wala, wala talaga.” What he meant was that we should give him the P100 and consider the change his tip.

We weren’t about to give this unpleasant man a P32 tip. A 47 percent gratuity, are we insane?

Fortunately we had a lot of loose change. We gave him the P20 bill and exactly P48 in 5 and 1-peso coins.

* * * * *

Thank you for the advice. Unlike you forward-thinking types we do not carry P68 in 25-centavo coins at all times, as they would tend to jangle.

However, in the dark days of martial law, some lawyers would pay their activist-clients’ bail in 25-centavo coins in order to tick off the authorities.