Several weeks ago I watched a segment on CBS Sunday morning, featuring a book titled "The Wisdom of Crowds." The author gives multiple examples on how crowds are smarter than individuals. For example, if you have a jar jelly beans in your window and you ask people to guess the number of them in the jar, the average of all the guesses will be better than the guess of an expert.
But as someone who watches incredible amounts of television, I have found a chink in this theory. How is it possible that the viewing audience of "Dancing with the Stars" chose Jerry Rice over Stacy Keibler? Are they blind? The flamboyant and irritating judges (experts) got it right this time, by giving Jerry and Anna a lower score. Maybe its because I hate to think of my childhood football hero ballroom dancing. No, I'm pretty sure, it is simply that Jerry lacks rhythm and light fancy feet required for dancing. And even though I hate Stacy (completely out of jealousy of her amazing body), I have to give her props on the dancing.
It obvious to me that Mr. Surowiecki, the author of "The Wisdom of Crowds," does not watch reality television. I can find multiple examples from shows like, "American Idol," in which the crowd makes the "wrong choice." Maybe I am mistaking matters of taste with wisdom. No, I'm pretty sure the television viewing crowd is simply un-wise in its collective decisions.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Y chromosome "why's"
As humans, we are gifted with an oversized cerebrum that gives us powers such as cognition, inductive reasoning, and logic. So why is it that all these abilities go out the window in intergender relationships? Being a woman of logic, I am perplexed by the actions of those carrying a Y chromosome. Of course, not all men are bad apples, it is just the majority of them seem to lack good communications skills. Men, like most things in nature, are probably normally distributed:
So below are some questions I have for the majority of men. I ask in hopes of skewing the curve to the right. (While I have included my own opinions, I do not represent the sentiments of all women.)
So below are some questions I have for the majority of men. I ask in hopes of skewing the curve to the right. (While I have included my own opinions, I do not represent the sentiments of all women.)
1) Why can't men commit to a plan? For instance, if it is Monday and you ask a guy to a Friday night party(in a non-date setting), why will he answer "I'll try to go, but I cannot promise anything."
- We aren't asking for marriage, we just would like to organize our week. If something better comes up, you can back out then. Not committing does not avoid hurt feelings. It does, however, guarantee that we will be pissed that you are indecisive.
2) Why do men alter who they are when in a relationship?
- Men can isolate themselves from friends, and immerse themselves in coupledom. While we want to see you, we should continue in the activities you participated in before we got together. Don't assume that we desire to spend every waking moment with you.
2b) And why do men complain that their girlfriends are too controlling?
-If you just stood up for yourselves and were less indecisive, we would not have to make all your decisions for you. Control is given not taken.
3) Why do men (no matter how unattractive or how horrific their self esteem may be) think that when an ex/old friend tries to contact them it is only as a booty call or because that she is in love with him?
- Sometimes when a girl says "Hi, how are you doing?", she means "Hi, how are you doing?"
3b) Why do heterosexual men assume that every homosexual man is hitting on them?
-Maybe they are, I cannot speak for the gay world, but I really doubt it. Stop thinking you are all that.
4)Why do men think romance is a big production?
- Amongst ourselves, we do not make that "ahhh" sound when we hear that a man proposed on the Red Sox billboard. We swoon when we a man leaves a love note in our lunch for no special occasion.
5) Why do men think when one woman talks about another woman, she is being catty?
-Listen, men gossip just as much as we do so either both sexes are catty or not. You got to choose.
Here is the root of the problem: most men try to interpret what a woman is saying instead of listening to what she is saying. This act will only complicate life. My theory is that all this miscommunication can be blamed on the dating game. The beginning of relationships, even platonic ones, are filled with deception and intrigue. Both players are trying to look like the less interested one, the cooler one. Making the transition from being guarded to trusting someone and to stop trying to find the hidden meanings to every statement is daunting. Perhaps honesty is not worth it, because you rather believe you are being manipulated, rather than think your less than amazing. Totally understandable.
But try this. Just once, ask for what you want, and take her answer at face value. You may be surprised on how much simpler and enjoyable life will become.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Fantastic sport!
V and I agree. The best Winter Olympic sport to watch thus far: SNOWBOARDCROSS.
Mesmerized by the Men's event last night. Will watch the women tonight with high anticipation.
Mesmerized by the Men's event last night. Will watch the women tonight with high anticipation.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Monday, February 13, 2006
Nap time ZZZzzz
I am an insomniac. I have been since I was three years old. My incessant roaming during the night used to drive my then roommate, my sister, crazy. Over the years I have learned to cope with little sleep. (Insomnia also explains why I have seen so much crappy TV. See ET#2's last entry). Normally, I can get in at least a consecutive four hours of a very deep quality sleep. Which can be attested to by subsequent roommates who often had the unenviable job of shaking me awake to respond to a blaring fire alarm, or my father who was thwarted in his efforts to wake me in the mornings by vacuuming my room.
Lately, I have been able to only squeeze in an hour to an hour and half of sleep at a time. Even I have my limits, and this pattern has become increasingly exhausting. I follow the "good sleep hygiene" guidelines.: I don't exercise three hours prior to going to bed. I use the bed for sleeping only (sadly enough this is true). I meditate before sleeping. I try to reduce stress in my life. I drink a cups of warm milk. I have even gone as far as being prescribed Lunesta and Ambien CR, neither of which solved the problem.
But as always, I digress. What I really wanted to talk about is napping at work. I don't understand why "sleeping on the job" is such a bad thing. Because I have been so tired lately, I find myself craving that 15 minute siesta around 4:30pm. My old boss understood this phenomena, and brought in his old couch into the microscope room. He figured if you napped at work there was a greater chance you would work longer hours. He was wise.
Here at Longwood Medical Campus, there is nowhere for a student to take a nap. No student lounge, no unused dark room, no supply closet, no couches anywhere. I am forced to siesta at my desk. Others in my lab will sneak in a nap by slumping over their desk. K even stored an airplane pillow in his desk just for the occasion. I need to stretch out. So I normally put my feet on a stand underneath my desk, pull back my chair and lean my head back. While it is necessary for me to function for the day, it does have its drawbacks:
1) It is highly unattractive. I once awoke with a spittle of drool hanging down the rightside of my mouth.
2) I can never pretend I was simply trying to get a closer look at that paper I am hunched over. It is ridiculously obvious that I am napping. I have been busted numerous times, as my desk is in a high traffic area.
3) The nap is never fully restful, because of the constant worry of being caught by the big man.
What I want to do is buy one of those nap pods for the school. I would like a guilt-free 15 minute nap to refresh my brain. It would be a good use of my time because normally I am just surfing the internet for those 15 minutes anyway, pretending I am doing work. And after a nap, I think more clearly because instead focusing on the fact I am so tired I can focus on the task at hand.
Maybe napping is the ultimate solution for having a more efficient workplace. Workers would be happy, less careless, and stronger. What if our record trade deficit 725 billion dollars is not due to rising oil prices, but lack of naps? What if American kids are simply not sleeping enough, and in fact are not fundamentally more stupid than every other industrialized nation's children?
Naps could be the solution to all our problems!
(Disclaimer: I am typing furiously so my boss who has passed my desk 12 times in the past hour will think I am working on our paper. I am so tired I have no idea what I am writing right now. If only I had a nap pod right now....)
Lately, I have been able to only squeeze in an hour to an hour and half of sleep at a time. Even I have my limits, and this pattern has become increasingly exhausting. I follow the "good sleep hygiene" guidelines.: I don't exercise three hours prior to going to bed. I use the bed for sleeping only (sadly enough this is true). I meditate before sleeping. I try to reduce stress in my life. I drink a cups of warm milk. I have even gone as far as being prescribed Lunesta and Ambien CR, neither of which solved the problem.
But as always, I digress. What I really wanted to talk about is napping at work. I don't understand why "sleeping on the job" is such a bad thing. Because I have been so tired lately, I find myself craving that 15 minute siesta around 4:30pm. My old boss understood this phenomena, and brought in his old couch into the microscope room. He figured if you napped at work there was a greater chance you would work longer hours. He was wise.
Here at Longwood Medical Campus, there is nowhere for a student to take a nap. No student lounge, no unused dark room, no supply closet, no couches anywhere. I am forced to siesta at my desk. Others in my lab will sneak in a nap by slumping over their desk. K even stored an airplane pillow in his desk just for the occasion. I need to stretch out. So I normally put my feet on a stand underneath my desk, pull back my chair and lean my head back. While it is necessary for me to function for the day, it does have its drawbacks:
1) It is highly unattractive. I once awoke with a spittle of drool hanging down the rightside of my mouth.
2) I can never pretend I was simply trying to get a closer look at that paper I am hunched over. It is ridiculously obvious that I am napping. I have been busted numerous times, as my desk is in a high traffic area.
3) The nap is never fully restful, because of the constant worry of being caught by the big man.
What I want to do is buy one of those nap pods for the school. I would like a guilt-free 15 minute nap to refresh my brain. It would be a good use of my time because normally I am just surfing the internet for those 15 minutes anyway, pretending I am doing work. And after a nap, I think more clearly because instead focusing on the fact I am so tired I can focus on the task at hand.
Maybe napping is the ultimate solution for having a more efficient workplace. Workers would be happy, less careless, and stronger. What if our record trade deficit 725 billion dollars is not due to rising oil prices, but lack of naps? What if American kids are simply not sleeping enough, and in fact are not fundamentally more stupid than every other industrialized nation's children?
Naps could be the solution to all our problems!
(Disclaimer: I am typing furiously so my boss who has passed my desk 12 times in the past hour will think I am working on our paper. I am so tired I have no idea what I am writing right now. If only I had a nap pod right now....)
Thursday, February 09, 2006
I love TV
I went to knitting club last night . . . the first time since November which was the only time that I had gone. I finished my first project (yay!) which was a grey scarf for BF. He was genuinely surprised when I gave it to him last night which is funny because I told him when I started it that I was making it for him. Short memory, I guess.
The conversation at knitting club tends to be very girly -- 2 of the girls are planning their weddings. I tend to zone out at those moments since I am not planning a wedding any time soon and because I have to concentrate on knitting or else I end up making mistakes and having to pull out rows of stitches (aargh!). Anyway, we were talking about our current TV lineups. When I said that I watch Lost and 24, Bride to Be ("B2B") pointed out that I like action shows. I never really thought of it that way, but I guess she's right. This explains why I watch Alias but it doesn't explain my recent obsession with reality TV. Current faves include Project Runway, America's Next Top Model (both of which I got sucked into last weekend because there were marathons and I ended up watching them while cleaning my apartment) and Dancing with the Stars. I guess those balance out my "action" side. I also love watching teen shows such as What I Like About You, the OC and Gilmore Girls. Then there are the one offs like House and Scandinavian Cooking with Tina Nordstrom. Enough about my current TV trends.
What made for interesting conversation last night was when we started
talking about relatively new TV shows -- none of which I had heard of (Injustice?). But then someone mentioned Rob Estes. Before I could stop myself, the words "You mean from Silk Stalkings!" popped out of my mouth. The Other Bride to Be ("OB2B") didn't believe me. She was convinced that David Duchovny was on Silk Stalkings. Uh-uh. No way. As ET#1 knows, I had watched all of the Crime Time After Prime Time shows and David was never on any of them. OB2B was getting Silk Stalkings confused with the Red Shoe Diaries. Not the same thing at all. B2B then said that I was right (of course) and that Rina Sofer was the girl on the show. Wrong again. I couldn't remember her name at the time, but no way was it Rina Sofer (it was Mitzi Kapture). This got me thinking about the rest of the shows on Crime Time After Prime Time -- why was I watching all of these? Because we didn't have cable and it was on CBS after the news. This morning, I googled Forever Knight (another Crime Time After Prime Time show) and found this. The internet is an amazing thing.Monday, February 06, 2006
Random thoughts by Evil Twin #1
An homage to Jack Handey.
A frightening sampling of my thoughts from this Sunday's morning run.
- Possible Remington Steele show titles. While most of the ones I thought of were actual titles here were some originals: Steele Magnolias, Ye Olde Shoppe of Steele, Let's Make a Steele, Steele the One....
- "Try to see it my way, something something something something. Why do see it your way, something something something something...."
- One word sentences. My teaching friend, once told me "Buffalo buffalo buffalo" was a complete sentence. There is "Fish fish fish" and "Dear deer, Dear." Can you think of any others?
- Is Merkel trying to bring a more conservative tone to the EU, or is she really just postering for her constituents?
- Why do the people who win the "Out of Control" vacations on "Regis and Kelly" always choose the cheesy cruises? I sent in my postcard for the trip to Tibet. When I win it is going to be the best time. I wonder if I get to walk along those falls in Llasa?
- "We can work it out, we can work it out. Life is very short. And there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. Something something something something something, so I will ask you once again. Try to see it my way. Something something something something...."
- That ivory and black lace BCBG dress at Lord and Taylor was really cute. It should be on sale by now. I have nowhere to wear it. Gosh, someone has to be getting married soon. I don't really have shoes for it so maybe it is not a good buy. I really need some black shoes. I have a DSW coupon.....
- Roethlisberger is 23, 24 years old. I am older than most of the football players. Basketball, figure skating, gynastics, tennis, I can handle but....
- Evil Twin #2 is thinking about football (congrats Pittsburgh), and I was thinking about clothes. I am really scared.
- "Something something something. Why do you see it your way. There's a chance we might fall apart before too long. We can work it out, we can work it out." Is it "why do you see it your way" or "while you see it your way?" Why can't I get this song out of my head? My internal radio is horrendous. Next time I need to bring a Walkman.
A frightening sampling of my thoughts from this Sunday's morning run.
- Possible Remington Steele show titles. While most of the ones I thought of were actual titles here were some originals: Steele Magnolias, Ye Olde Shoppe of Steele, Let's Make a Steele, Steele the One....
- "Try to see it my way, something something something something. Why do see it your way, something something something something...."
- One word sentences. My teaching friend, once told me "Buffalo buffalo buffalo" was a complete sentence. There is "Fish fish fish" and "Dear deer, Dear." Can you think of any others?
- Is Merkel trying to bring a more conservative tone to the EU, or is she really just postering for her constituents?
- Why do the people who win the "Out of Control" vacations on "Regis and Kelly" always choose the cheesy cruises? I sent in my postcard for the trip to Tibet. When I win it is going to be the best time. I wonder if I get to walk along those falls in Llasa?
- "We can work it out, we can work it out. Life is very short. And there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. Something something something something something, so I will ask you once again. Try to see it my way. Something something something something...."
- That ivory and black lace BCBG dress at Lord and Taylor was really cute. It should be on sale by now. I have nowhere to wear it. Gosh, someone has to be getting married soon. I don't really have shoes for it so maybe it is not a good buy. I really need some black shoes. I have a DSW coupon.....
- Roethlisberger is 23, 24 years old. I am older than most of the football players. Basketball, figure skating, gynastics, tennis, I can handle but....
- Evil Twin #2 is thinking about football (congrats Pittsburgh), and I was thinking about clothes. I am really scared.
- "Something something something. Why do you see it your way. There's a chance we might fall apart before too long. We can work it out, we can work it out." Is it "why do you see it your way" or "while you see it your way?" Why can't I get this song out of my head? My internal radio is horrendous. Next time I need to bring a Walkman.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)