tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post110641906192292866..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Rivalry and habituationSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1141666002785138872006-03-06T12:26:00.000-05:002006-03-06T12:26:00.000-05:00The "hedonic treadmill" made the WSJ again today (...The "hedonic treadmill" made the WSJ again today (3/6/06, p.B1), in an article about people's expectations of happiness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106587831968953902005-01-24T12:30:00.000-05:002005-01-24T12:30:00.000-05:00MFA,
Thank you for the kind words on the blog - I...MFA,<br /><br />Thank you for the kind words on the blog - I think it reflects the fact that (as my colleagues might say) my interests are a bit *too* broad :-)<br /><br />I was lobbying to save the SSC while a postdoc. A well-known string theorist, with whom I used to argue about phenomenology (I hate that term) vs string theory, asked me "what are you going to do if they kill the SSC?" Without Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106580157805077072005-01-24T10:22:00.000-05:002005-01-24T10:22:00.000-05:00Pleasing company, indeed :) I have been reading a...Pleasing company, indeed :) I have been reading about boreal owls, at least a boreal owl who managed to find a home for a time in a Central Park tree. Think about owls flying through the night with no wing sound. Ah, design.<br /><br />AnneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106555906261096732005-01-24T03:38:00.000-05:002005-01-24T03:38:00.000-05:00Steve and Anne: I am happy to be in such good comp...Steve and Anne: I am happy to be in such good company! :)<br /><br />Steve, <br /><br />I agree that the pressure is even more intense in academia. I could sense some of it when in grad school, so decided I would be better off getting my Ph.D. (after learning QFT),and then heading off to industry/engineering. It helped that the SSC was cancelled. I really did not want to be a part of the "publishAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106542912167986642005-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:002005-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00MFA,
I think I've also managed to keep a slow pac...MFA,<br /><br />I think I've also managed to keep a slow pace of habituation. For example, I still drive the car I bought as a grad student - quite a sight when parked in the lot on Sand Hill Road with all the VC porsches and mercedes! This is not so surprising for academics in academia, although people who left for finance are a different matter.<br /><br />There are some things which are quite Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106515190985347952005-01-23T16:19:00.000-05:002005-01-23T16:19:00.000-05:00Hmm, it seems my interest in the economics of happ...Hmm, it seems my interest in the economics of happiness is not shared by others :-)<br /><br />Actually the topic is interesting, and I enjoyed the comment by MFA and rather think we are alike in taste. Should we then be more competitive? I will think about this.<br /><br />AnneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106505416769729022005-01-23T13:36:00.000-05:002005-01-23T13:36:00.000-05:00Regarding Tiannenmen, I believe it was looked at v...Regarding Tiannenmen, I believe it was looked at very differently by people in China than elsewhere. Based on thier historical experience with the West, Western symbols and slogans have different interpretations.<br /><br />I remember talking to a Chinese grad student, who thought that the majority view in China then (1989) was that the protesters had to be removed because they were holding the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106504884224447022005-01-23T13:28:00.000-05:002005-01-23T13:28:00.000-05:00An interesting article similar to this is:
http:/...An interesting article similar to this is:<br /><br />http://slate.msn.com/id/1915<br />The CPI and the Rat Race<br />New evidence on the old question of whether money buys happiness.<br />By Paul Krugman<br />Posted Sunday, Dec. 22, 1996, at 12:30 AM PT<br /><br /><br />Actually, (not intending to sound pompous) I honestly think I have been able to get off the hedonic treadmill; and I have seen Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106500828361335562005-01-23T12:20:00.000-05:002005-01-23T12:20:00.000-05:00It is terrifying to think that college students in...It is terrifying to think that college students in China no longer know what happened at Tiananmen...<br /><br />Hmm, it seems my interest in the economics of happiness is not shared by others :-)Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106429804292873352005-01-22T16:36:00.000-05:002005-01-22T16:36:00.000-05:00Another aside, I will be much chastised: The New Y...Another aside, I will be much chastised: The New York Times has another sensational critic.<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/21/movies/21head.html?ex=1107345231&ei=1&en=fc59e449f9f2e103<br /><br />Janaury 21, 2005<br /><br />Two Misplaced Souls Decide They Might as Well Live<br />By MANOHLA DARGIS <br /> <br />Love doesn't just hurt in the jagged German romance "Head-On"; it cuts and Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106429563104474232005-01-22T16:32:00.000-05:002005-01-22T16:32:00.000-05:00Does this mean, by the way, that I actually have t...Does this mean, by the way, that I actually have to care who wins the playoffs? Could it mean the reverse? But, of course, I do not care already. Life is so drab if I let just let you win, but what do I know about little physicals or big :)<br /><br />AnneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106425277728789252005-01-22T15:21:00.000-05:002005-01-22T15:21:00.000-05:00An aside:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/inter...An aside:<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/international/asia/22zhao.html?pagewanted=all&position= <br /><br />For Beijing Students Now, Protests Aren't Even a Memory <br />By JIM YARDLEY <br /><br />BEIJING - For Yu Yang, a mop-haired biology major, the small notice posted this week on Beijing University's Web site about the death of a former Communist Party leader seemed like an Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1106424673245131432005-01-22T15:11:00.000-05:002005-01-22T15:11:00.000-05:00Ah, now you issue an implied challenge. Competiti...Ah, now you issue an implied challenge. Competition forever, so the spice to life will stay spicy. Hmmm, but i still like my parrotlet even though your is no doubt much more physically astute :) Engage we surely must.<br /><br />AnneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com