Happy New Year’s Eve!
Dec. 31st, 2022 04:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutHappy New Year’s Eve!
We are well, and are having a great break from the school routine.
I’ve gotten lots of walking, lots of time with extended family, and lots of fun activities; I’ll update more in a couple of days.
In the meantime, I’ve had a super relaxing afternoon reading a book I bought a while ago and then never got around to reading. _The Blind Spot Effect_, in chapter 3, Shortcut to Flow State, has this absolutely hilarious sentence in it. (Unintentionally hilarious)
“The fact that they are considered rock stars in the world of behavioral economics shows how relevant their findings are across fields of study.”
The “they” in question are Kahneman and Tversky and things like _Thinking Fast and Slow_ heavily inform _The Blind Spot Effect_. I like the basic idea of this book — and honestly, while I have issues with Kahneman and Tversky’s work, in general, there is quite a lot to like there as well. But the author is … overselling things? Maybe that’s the right way to put it? I mean, _yes_, mindfulness and insight are super awesome for helping us see ourselves clearly and cut through our own denial / bullshit so that we can interact with reality more closely, which in turn is helpful for actually accomplishing whatever the hell we want to accomplish and can even contribute to one’s enjoyment of life and be restful and so forth. All good stuff.
I’m still not adopting this way of thinking about thinking, tho. I still prefer the frames approach.
Anyway. I’m now into the author’s explanations of availability and confirmation biases, and how to push back on them. *shrug* Obviously, I behave in a way that says I think it is a good idea to push back on this stuff. Yay? Also, I’ve become really aware recently of the trouble I cause by being so relentless about pushing back at this stuff so, you know, maybe display the moderation that I do not.
“How can two people come away from the same situation with two completely opposite stories?” Oh, I don’t know, they’re both wrong, but different from each other? I mean, we’ve all seen that happen for sure. “Two people can have a conversation and, because of their differing perspectives, pick out key elements of it that bolster their own side of the story.” Honestly, this would be an unusually sane and reality based version of conflicting stories. “Yet sometimes only one person is right, right?” Wait, what is the author talking about here? Then goes on to tell a story about a slide deck confusion with a co-presenter, and concludes — as one would, I mean, it is a slide deck — that it didn’t really matter who was right even tho it could have been demonstrated which person was right and now she does not even remember because you know team spirit. Which is _definitely_ a characteristic of this author! To a somewhat horrifying degree, really, altho she’s clearly _trying_ to also be Team Reality by following it up with, “People who intentionally manipulate and lie don’t get to have their truth be “right” just because it’s their perspective, and luckily, the truth as a way of revealing itself.” Obviously, that is hopelessly inadequate for my commitment to Team Reality.
Her next example is bizarre — these things are really all over the place.
ETA:
December 31 2nd UO park day
We got up around the same time, but I did not rush. I was watching Hagrid, and it went from “opens at 7”, well after other similar open at 7 rides had listed wait times, to, “Delayed”. We did not go into Islands. I canceled the Mythos reservation after discussing it with my sister. It turns out T. still wanted to go, so he ultimately went on his own. He had done everything already, so that’s all he was going to go into the park to do. LOL
A. and I rode the boat (since we were going to Studios anyway). We did Race through New York, Mummy, Gringott’s, MIB, Simpsons. Then we reviewed all the rides at UO, and concluded that we did not want to go to shows or to playgrounds, nor did we want to do a couple kiddie rides or things like Dumbo rides, or coasters that went upside down. Hagrid’s was too long a wait (still 2 and a half hours). We discussed lunch options, and tried Finnegan’s, but it was a 25 minute wait. We contemplated Citywalk, and decided we wanted quiet. We tried Tuk Tuk market, but everything is pre-made. So we had a chicken sandwich and a pizza at Jake’s instead. Then, off to the room to relax, where I typed this.
We also had dinner at Jake’s, and after that, we packed up to get ready to catch a flight home. We are ready to go home; we had a really nice trip. Oh, and I gave my sister the Lewis N. Clark packable bags, because I’ve decided I never really use the red packable backpack, and the blue packable duffel — which I do use — clashes so much with my outfits that I want something that coordinates better. Also, she said she needed an extra bag. Worked out for both of us!
We are well, and are having a great break from the school routine.
I’ve gotten lots of walking, lots of time with extended family, and lots of fun activities; I’ll update more in a couple of days.
In the meantime, I’ve had a super relaxing afternoon reading a book I bought a while ago and then never got around to reading. _The Blind Spot Effect_, in chapter 3, Shortcut to Flow State, has this absolutely hilarious sentence in it. (Unintentionally hilarious)
“The fact that they are considered rock stars in the world of behavioral economics shows how relevant their findings are across fields of study.”
The “they” in question are Kahneman and Tversky and things like _Thinking Fast and Slow_ heavily inform _The Blind Spot Effect_. I like the basic idea of this book — and honestly, while I have issues with Kahneman and Tversky’s work, in general, there is quite a lot to like there as well. But the author is … overselling things? Maybe that’s the right way to put it? I mean, _yes_, mindfulness and insight are super awesome for helping us see ourselves clearly and cut through our own denial / bullshit so that we can interact with reality more closely, which in turn is helpful for actually accomplishing whatever the hell we want to accomplish and can even contribute to one’s enjoyment of life and be restful and so forth. All good stuff.
I’m still not adopting this way of thinking about thinking, tho. I still prefer the frames approach.
Anyway. I’m now into the author’s explanations of availability and confirmation biases, and how to push back on them. *shrug* Obviously, I behave in a way that says I think it is a good idea to push back on this stuff. Yay? Also, I’ve become really aware recently of the trouble I cause by being so relentless about pushing back at this stuff so, you know, maybe display the moderation that I do not.
“How can two people come away from the same situation with two completely opposite stories?” Oh, I don’t know, they’re both wrong, but different from each other? I mean, we’ve all seen that happen for sure. “Two people can have a conversation and, because of their differing perspectives, pick out key elements of it that bolster their own side of the story.” Honestly, this would be an unusually sane and reality based version of conflicting stories. “Yet sometimes only one person is right, right?” Wait, what is the author talking about here? Then goes on to tell a story about a slide deck confusion with a co-presenter, and concludes — as one would, I mean, it is a slide deck — that it didn’t really matter who was right even tho it could have been demonstrated which person was right and now she does not even remember because you know team spirit. Which is _definitely_ a characteristic of this author! To a somewhat horrifying degree, really, altho she’s clearly _trying_ to also be Team Reality by following it up with, “People who intentionally manipulate and lie don’t get to have their truth be “right” just because it’s their perspective, and luckily, the truth as a way of revealing itself.” Obviously, that is hopelessly inadequate for my commitment to Team Reality.
Her next example is bizarre — these things are really all over the place.
ETA:
December 31 2nd UO park day
We got up around the same time, but I did not rush. I was watching Hagrid, and it went from “opens at 7”, well after other similar open at 7 rides had listed wait times, to, “Delayed”. We did not go into Islands. I canceled the Mythos reservation after discussing it with my sister. It turns out T. still wanted to go, so he ultimately went on his own. He had done everything already, so that’s all he was going to go into the park to do. LOL
A. and I rode the boat (since we were going to Studios anyway). We did Race through New York, Mummy, Gringott’s, MIB, Simpsons. Then we reviewed all the rides at UO, and concluded that we did not want to go to shows or to playgrounds, nor did we want to do a couple kiddie rides or things like Dumbo rides, or coasters that went upside down. Hagrid’s was too long a wait (still 2 and a half hours). We discussed lunch options, and tried Finnegan’s, but it was a 25 minute wait. We contemplated Citywalk, and decided we wanted quiet. We tried Tuk Tuk market, but everything is pre-made. So we had a chicken sandwich and a pizza at Jake’s instead. Then, off to the room to relax, where I typed this.
We also had dinner at Jake’s, and after that, we packed up to get ready to catch a flight home. We are ready to go home; we had a really nice trip. Oh, and I gave my sister the Lewis N. Clark packable bags, because I’ve decided I never really use the red packable backpack, and the blue packable duffel — which I do use — clashes so much with my outfits that I want something that coordinates better. Also, she said she needed an extra bag. Worked out for both of us!