A Weekend in Hell: Boredom and Blackouts

Scotland bore the brunt of the vile Siberian weather sweeping off the steppes this weekend.  Power went out mid-afternoon on Friday, and I blithely thought they would get it get all sorted out in a few hours.. So, as my lovely heat escaped, and it became unbearable to stay awake, I decided to hibernate. Woke up on Saturday, expecting a cheerful red light on the bedside radio. No such luck, but I got up anyway, wrapped in all the layers of clothing I had, and walked up, down, and around the flat in an effort to stop the blood congealing in my veins. Back to bed not long after, since that was the only practical way of keeping warm. Woke up on Sunday – ditto – except that instead of walking about indoors, I walked into town to see what was happening. Surprisingly, Tesco had power and was open, so I dived in for warmth and something to eat. The place was packed with panic buyers, stocking up as if the end of the world was imminent. My flat was positively balmy after the wind chill outside, enough to rip your face off, and I stayed comfortable enough to read for a while before retreating back to bed. Then, about 5:30, that beautiful red light on the bedside radio!

A horrible experience. I had enough to eat, but no way of making hot food or drink, and I fantasised about wrapping my hands round a steaming mug of strong tea.

Thing is, you can only sleep so much, and then it becomes like a fever dream of tossing and turning, interspersed with actual vivid dreams. Too cold to read, difficult to think because the cold numbs your mind as well as your body, so no consolation in mental distraction. That and the equally mind-numbing boredom.  “Know thyself,” the philosophers say, well I’ve about had it up to here with me.

It used to be that we had the skills and technology to get through extreme weather like this. Most people had proper fireplaces, you could chop wood to keep warm, cook a hot meal, brew up some tea, stay warm. Now we’re so addicted to centralised technology that we’ve become infantilised. Who now has a working fireplace? We can only hope they will somehow fix things so we can keep on living. That adds up to a lot of power in the hands of those who deal in energy and infrastructure, and while we lead better lives, the hidden cost is independence.  I’m grateful to them in weather like this, but the deal looks a bit dodgy from this perspective.

When You Find Out Who You Are

You might have noticed my fascination with images of rust, peeling paint, weathered stonework and so forth. Well, today I discovered I’m a zymoglyphile, according to the definition posted by the splendid Zymoglyphic Museum, edited to refer to a noun.

zy’-mo-glyph, n. [Gr. zyme leaven + Gr. glyphecarving]
1. Image of fermentation, specifically the solid residue of creative fermentation on natural objects.
2. Object, primarily either natural or weathered by natural forces, imbued with artistic or poetic connotations.

I’m chuffed pink to have found the proper name for my condition. It has a ring to it, don’t you think? Here are The Incredible String Band, to help celebrate at least finding the answer to what. Who is a little more complicated.

TED Talks: Jon Ronson on strange answers to the psychopath test

A weekly post featuring talks by innovative thinkers, sponsored by TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). This is what the internet was made for – to allow challenging ideas to escape from their academic ghettoes and hang out in a place where they can talk to each other.

A fascinating and entertaining talk about psychopathy by journalist Jon Ronson. It begins with Ronson unwisely looking at a manual of psychiatric disorders, continues through an encounter with a Scientologist, who introduces him to a mental patient who faked his illness, and includes an interview with a CEO who showcases all the psychopathic symptoms. There seems to be a Catch-22 situation in the diagnosis of mental disorders in general, and psychopathology in particular, that interprets signs of “normality” as symptoms of a disorder. Highly recommended. You never know where Ronson is going next, and it’s always challenging and stimulating.

TED Talks: Kathryn Schulz on being wrong

A weekly post featuring talks by innovative thinkers, sponsored by TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). This is what the internet was made for – to allow challenging ideas to escape from their academic ghettoes and hang out in a place where they can talk to each other.

I read Kathryn Schulz’ book, Being Wrong, last year, and wrote this review at the time. So it was a pleasure to see and hear her in the flesh. This engaging talk explores the human propensity for being wrong, and its equal stubborn corollary, the propensity for assuming we’re right – even when we’re not. For example, I have a nagging feeling that I might have used this TED Talk before, but that can’t be true.

TED Talks: Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation

A weekly post featuring talks by innovative thinkers, sponsored by TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). This is what the internet was made for – to allow challenging ideas to escape from their academic ghettoes and hang out in a place where they can talk to each other.

Here’s one in the eye for all those who justify excessive salaries as a necessary motivation in business. Daniel Pink demonstrates that extrinsic rewards – carrot and stick – increase productivity only when there are fixed rules to be followed. For creative tasks that require originality and imagination, inner motivation produces the best results.  Autonomy, mastery, and purpose produce not only more and better stuff, but happy, invested employees. I’ve known this intuitively for a long time. Nice to see the science behind it.

TED Talks: Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice

A weekly post featuring talks by innovative thinkers, sponsored by TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design). This is what the internet was made for – to allow challenging ideas to escape from their academic ghettoes and hang out in a place where they can talk to each other.

Freedom is a good thing in itself and the more choice we have the more freedom we have, right? Psychologist Barry Schwartz gleefully deconstructs this cherished assumption. He points out that a plethora of choice can produce paralysis or a lack of satisfaction in the choices we do make, precisely because of the allure of the road not taken. Call it buyer’s remorse on steroids. Very entertaining and subversive.

Hannibal Lecter is eating your brains…

I always knew on an intuitive level that multitasking makes you stupid, and here is the data behind it. The dopamine release, as I click quickly from one task to another, explains why I can spend hours on the internet without doing anything really useful. YouTube alone, even when I start with the purest of intentions to find a clip for a blog post, is the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland. That said, this infographic tends to the sensational, as least as much as me conflating excessive internet usage with providing a tasty snack for Hannibal the Cannibal. I can see the Daily Mail headline now – Using the internet gives you Alzheimers! Sound advice, though, and always remember that tafelmusik aids the digestion.

Via: OnlineUniversities.com