Reading Quest #2

What is different about how Psychopaths decide and normal everyday people decide?


This chapter absolutely fascinated me.  It is something that I have been wondering about for quite awhile and I am glad this book broached the topic for me.  I have a big fascination with serial killers such as Charles Manson, Aileen Wuornos, and John Gacy, as depicted in this chapter.  Psychopaths suffer from an emotional disorder, which is caused by a broken Amygdala, this part of the brain is the reason we feel emotions such as fear and anxiety.  So when the Amygdala is broken, psychopaths don't seem to feel bad when others are feeling bad.  "Terror isn't terrifying"  basically, when you watch television and you see a person's face of fear, the psychopath's brain doesn't register it as terror and doesn't get an emotional response from watching it.  So while normal everyday people's decisions are based upon emotional responses, the psychopath has a detachment from the emotion which we all feel towards something that happens which helps us to decide our course of action.  Our body has emotional reactions almost involuntarily, such as a lie detector test, our body reacts when we lie out of anxiety, where as a psychopath feels no remorse for lying and can probably pass the test.  This chapter was very interesting and helped me understand and realize what it exactly is that sets us apart from a psychopath and maybe what the reason is that they decide to kill.  It would be almost impossible to really understand what it feels like to be inside the criminal mind. 

How we Decide #1

While I was reading How We Decide, I was reading the part about Deal or No Deal which is a show I love, and one that my mom sent in an audition tape for, and also while watching on the T.v.I was wondering.

What makes a person make these horrible decisions in this game when they should really have just taken the money to begin with instead of chancing it?

Well, I know that since I am actually not there and not in the person's shoes, and not with the loud crowd and host talking to you and asking you the hard questions that the environment definitely plays a role. The mental defect the book talks about is called "Loss Aversion"  which is "When a person is confronted with an uncertain situation, like having to decide whether to accept an offer from the banker, the individual doesn't carefully evaluate the information of compute the Bayesian probabilities or do much thinking at all. Instead, the decision depends on a brief list of emotions, instincts, and mental shortcuts.

So, putting myself in the position of being on television, seeing the possibility of making rash decisions because of the loudness of the crowd, the millions of thoughts going on in your own head, the crowd telling you what to do, the host bombarding you with questions about what to do, plus your family screaming at you on the sideline, it is clear to me that its very easy to slip into Loss Aversion, us sitting at home aren't factoring everything in and can actually sit down and think about the choices during the commercial breaks, and do so in a calm manner.

Fads Vs. Trends

Fads

1. Angelina's Leg.

Angelina's leg has become an overnight superstar after the oscars.  When the actress kept posing with her leg poking out of her dress people have been crazing over it ever since.  Angelina's leg even has its own twitter account and people have been making parodies of her leg on several websites and making it pop up in random pictures such as The Last Supper, the statue of liberty, etc..61It is pretty interesting what can fascinate and take hold in society, the sensation with her leg seriously took one night to become famous, it won't last long but its definitely a fad right now. If you haven't seen her leg in action at the oscars here is a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zELlUxRrzAk
Angelinas Leg

2. Charlie Sheen's WINNING

Everyone's favorite disaster, was Charlie Sheen.  Everyone loves a coked up washed up celebrity hitting the covers of magazines.  He was kicked off his show Two and a Half men and went on a huge tirade where he coined his own terms "Winning" and "Tigers blood and Adonis DNA"  this became a huge success and people have been quoting charlie in this very recent fad. All of these now coined phrases appearing on t-shirts and in mock music videos, and people saying them out loud all the time come from one of his interviews after being kicked off the show.
Charlie Sheen

3. ShakeWeight

Another fun fad that was hitting our tv screens is the Shakeweight, it shows girls shaking this thing around and gaining tons of muscle from it.  Of course it looks ridiculous watching it on television, and to me, has some sort of hokey joke value and was even parodied in tv shows for the ridiculous style they made fun of it on Saturday Night Live, and did a spoof on Ru Pauls Drag Race.  Alot of my friends want one just because it looks really funny to be walking around working out shaking this weird device. Take a look for yourself! 
Shakeweight

4. Jersey Shore/Jerseylicious/Housewives of New Jersey/Mob Wives.

 Reality shows featuring people from New Jersey have run rampant on our television screens to the young jersey hipsters like those depicted on the Jersey Shore, and those older women live in Housewives and Mob Wives.  I don't really understand this new found obsession with New Jersey and the people that are living there, maybe its their tan skin,attitude, and accents but I dont think this will last long.  Jersey shows depict these women and men as tough individuals which could be a reason for the fascinating, plus a lot of people are interested in the mob and they are stereotyped as all being italian so that could figure into the equation somewhow.
Jersey

5. Skinny Jeans

This is a really annoying fad.  I find Mr. Jack Skellington to be the perfect example of what it looks like when you are wearing skinny jeans, stick legs.  I used to work at a business where we sold tons of these and they never really look good on anybody, I'm sorry.  To me I think they just make you look like a stick figure at least on the legs, and I'm sorry but I don't want to see your Moose Knuckle. I think a reason this became a fad was because many emo and bands started wearing them which then got people persuaded that its the new cool thing to do haha.
The Skinny Jeans

Trends

1. Internet

 Ever since the internet popped up its been a huge hit.  There are so many things you can do on the internet you can basically waste your whole life just surfing things on the internet and creating your own entertainment.  I don't see the internet going anywhere anytime soon which is a good thing because its something that I love to do, surf the internet and play games on it.  Plus you can keep in touch with friends so much easier. The internet has had a huge impact on social culture and pretty much the entire world, its much better than having to go to a library to find everything.
Internet

2. Social Media

 I firmly believe there will ALWAYS be social media.  It might not be called Facebook or Twitter, but I believe that there will always be something around that will help us keep in touch with friends over the internet, and something to share our thoughts on and to have pictures and to basically keep online diaries that is a pretty new recent trend and I don't see it going anywhere.  Businesses have even tapped to social media, using advertising as media can get your business out there, because mostly everyone will see it, bands can also use it to get there name out there instead of depending on a label.
Social Media

3. Pop Music

 Pop music has become all the rage, its become its own genre and also had made its way into other music, they have pop rock, pop punk, pop goth.  Pop songs usually have catchy lyrics, good beats, and even if you hate the artist you probably know what the lyrics are after listening to the song for the first time.  One reason pop music became so famous was because MTV promoted the music because pop music stars were using really good visuals in their videos.  Two people have become labeled as the king and Princess of Pop, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.
Pop Music
Britney Spears
Michael Jackson

4. Disney

Disney has been around for an extremely long time.  The first ever Disney Movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.  Ever since then Disney has made theme parks, shops, toys, etc.. all over the country.  At least 3 generations have experienced Disney in their life and even though the creator Walt Disney has passed away it still continues to pump out extremely successful movies and a continuing build on its theme parks.  I can almost guarantee that you cant run into someone who doesn't have a knowledge of at least 2-3 disney movies.

Walt Disney Company

5. Reality T.V.

 One thing I am glad to say is that Reality T.V. is here to stay.  Reality T.v. shows get more viewers than a presidential debate.  You can't flip past all the channels and not hit at least 5 or 6 reality shows.  These shows can range from singing competitions, ghost hunting, to competition shows like Amazing Race to those trying to find love :)  Humans have a curiosity in watching others lives kinda voyeuristicly and it proves that in the ratings they receive.  People love watching tv shows that have people that they can relate with, which is why people get such strong passions over certain tv shows and they have favorite personalities on the shows.
Reality T.v.