Cooler Dirt

We changed our wordpress theme from Akon(designed by Terry Ng) to Inove (designed by MG12), which we found on the Wordpress site.   We really liked the Akon, but Inove has its upsides too.  Needless to say, we’ll be testing several different themes over the next few weeks as we find our audience, so any feedback you may have, oh loyal reader, will be much appreciated.

And in case you forgot, here is what the old (Akon) theme looked like:

Our Blog with the Akon theme

Uncategorized blog, wordpress theme

According to a recent website and related news stories, some people actually consider themselves real-life superheroes. And by real-life, we mean fake.

They don’t have powers, they haven’t been bitten by radioactive spiders, and they aren’t mutants. And though we don’t want to be accused of being anti-mutite (though in all fairness, those people do have their own school), we’re wondering what kind of person waks up one day and says “You know, a latex costume, helmet and cape sounds like something I want to integrate into my life.”

Not to overgeneralize, but here’s a brief list of the kinds of people we think are attracted to this…uh….job?

1. People in Need of Career Counseling: If you think fighting crime is something you want to do, perhaps you should consider a job in law enforcement. If you see crime as a problem and believe the solution is making a bright costume and coming up with a catchy name and or sidekick, you look at things very differently than most people.

2. People With Otherwise Dreary Jobs: Ever been to the Ren-Fest? We went once. ONCE! And we got the feeling that a lot of the really committed participants engage in this fantasy world creation for the simple reason that they don’t have much else going on in their life. Superhero? We don’t even want to know what is so lacking in your life you have to come up with something like that to take up the time.

3. Socially Mal-Adjusted: Okay, this one is probably pretty harsh, but we think it’s accurate. How many of the people who hang around comic book stores are, shall we say, less than socially acute? The vast majority of the people in this population are probably going to be hesitant when pursuing their passions turns into adopting a fantasy as their real life. But given the underlying population is probably on the lower end of the socially adept scale of things, what kind of people are the subset of those who take that next step and live their lives in that fantasy?

We know this post probably seems critical, but it’s not aimed at mockery. It’s a legitimate question to ask: What makes a person want to adopt what is, to the vast majority of people, a fantasy identity?

(Photo courtesy dougward’s Flickr page, license through Creative Commons. Thanks, dougward!)

Uncategorized blog, book, career, life

Don’t worry, our weekly Testing, Tuesday, Testing post isn’t going to be hard, and it’s not the kind of thing you need to study for. These tests are designed to get

“Designed?” You ask. Yes, but not by us. We rely upon people who actually know what they are talking about. We’ve scoured many of the internets (the blue one and red one mostly) to bring you the finest self-diagnostic/life-hacking/deep-thinking-type-thingy-with-the-attachment-and-the-thing-that-tells-time.

So, this weeks quiz is for everyone who smiles.

But it’s not what you think. We’re going to test whether or not you can detect a fake smile. You know what we’re talking about, don’t you? Have you ever known someone who’s smile just somehow seems odd? Or maybe a person who has the same smile on every picture you’ve ever seen them take?

According to research, a genuine smile is very different than a fake one. But, most people are not very good at telling the difference. How about you?

You can take the test for yourself. In this test, you’ll be shown short videos of several faces as they smile. You only get a very short time to see the smile, and you cannot repeat the video, so watch closely.

We know a relatively simple way to spot the fake smiles, but we’re not going to tell you until after you take the test. (Meaning on a late post.)

So take the test and let us know how you did. How good are you at spotting a fake smile? What are you looking for, specifically? Is it something in the overall demeanor, in the smile, in the face? Is it magic?

Good luck. And don’t worry if you don’t spot the fake ones. Once you learn how to spot the real smile, it is much easier.

(Photo courtesy Misterteacher’s Flickr page through Creative Commons license. Thanks, Misterteacher!)

Testing, Tuedsay, Testing blog, life, quiz, science, survey

We were having a discussion several days ago, and the topic of arranged marriages arose, mostly because one of us was recently informed by his parents that they had found him a suitable, albeit potential, mate.  (He’s from India, where arranged marriages are much more common than they are in the United States and other western cultures.)

Everyone else in the group thought the idea was about as appealing as canine airline pilots, but after a brief discussion, several of us began seeing the potential upside of such practices.  Of course, none of us wanted to be set up for marriage, but the process itself seemed insightful.  Here’s why we thought it seemed interesting, and why it would make for a good conversation starter:

1.  Your Family Knows you Like Everyone Else:  We all see ourselves differently than everyone else does, simply because we are the only person living in our own heads.  We experience the world through our perceptions and our thoughts, while everyone else experiences us through only their perceptions.  They don’t have our thoughts to help/taint their observations.  Because of this, your view of yourself is necessarily different than how everyone else views you.  Since finding a partner requires you to be with someone else, you may be less better suited to determine who you are suited for (since you have your thoughts getting in the way) than those who, like your potential mate, can only judge you according to their perceptions.

2.  Your Family and Friends Know Your Strengths: Your family has known you all your life.  (Well, mostly.)  Your friends and coworkers have been around you as an adult.  Taken together, this group of people probably knows a good deal about how you behave, with whom you have rapport and what kind of people you get along with. They are in a good position to know who would be good for you, or what kind of person brings out your best side.

3.  Your Family and Friends Know Your Weaknesses : Conversely, your family and friends are also around you at your worst times. You may pride yourself on your even temper, but if you are temparamental and easy to anger, it is your family and friends who are better suited to judging you objectively.  We all harbor illusions about ourselves, but when someone else looks at us, they do so without the self interest involved.  Yes, your family and friends love you and don’t want to hurt you, but if you ask them to take the time and genuinely think about what kind of person would be good for you, your flaws will come into the picture.

Now, none of this makes us want to be set up for a blind marriage, only meeting the person on our wedding day.  But it does make us think.

How often do we tell ourselves something, or believe something about ourselves that isn’t accurate? When finding a mate, how can we get past these potential roadblocks and find someone that fits our real personality, and not just our ego.

If anything, family and friends telling you what kind of person you appear to them to be is valuable enough.  Forming the decision to marry on that kind of information has got to be at least somewhat helpful.

Doesn’t it?

(Photo courtesy Kumon’s Flickr page, rights granted through Creative Commons.  Thanks, Kumon!)

Relationships arranged marriage, conversation, conversation starter, family, friends, good conversation, life, love, marriage, personal, science, tech, wedding

Every so often, we come across a famous story that, for whatever reason, has become widespread and commonly believed, even though it is false. Such urban myths are often encountered, but not always understood. So, in an effort to broaden our grasp of the world, we present you with the Multi-Million Dollar Space Pen!

The story goes like this: In the heyday of the space race, NASA astronauts needed to be able to write in space. Unfortunately, the pens the astronauts had didn’t work in a weightless (zero-gravity) environment. So the space agency set about on a costly program that cost millions of dollars, eventually getting the famous space pen so the astronauts could write. In the meantime, the Soviet space agency came across the same problem. But they decided to use pencils.

This story was even told (without any hint that it was false) on the television show The West Wing. Unfortunately, the story is completely false. Not only did NASA not embark upon this program, but the inventor who created the pen out of his own efforts (Paul Fischer), ended up selling his product to every space agency in the world, including the Soviets (now Russia). Before his pen was introduced, both NASA and the Soviets used grease pencils and slate boards to write in space, as the threat of broken pencil lead or wood shavings in a weightless environment was too much of a problem.

The real story of the space pen is a great example of how an individual can invent a product for which there is a need. But, that story is overshadowed by the story of NASA embarking on its costly program.

Whenever we come across an urban myth like this, we often ask: Why was this story believed? Like any urban myth, lots of people often believe these stories, even though they are not true. Smart people, educated people. But why? What about this story makes it so believable?

We think there are several reasons, but we’ll let you come up with your own ideas before we tell you ours.

What do you think? Why are urban myths spread so easily, even when they are easily debunked. (For an absolutely superb myth debunking site, visit Snopes.com. )

(Photo courtesy Buglugs’s Flickr site, granted through Creative Commons license.   Thanks, Buglugs!)

Urban Legends blog

Every Friday, we’re going to post a brain teaser of sorts. We don’t want to go so far as to call what we do philosophy, but we are going to ask the kinds of questions you usually only ask when under the influence of substances that aren’t exactly legal. (Which, by the way, is the only reason we ever wanted to go to grad school.)

So, consider the following hypothetical situation.

1. Last night, and unbeknownst to you, a group of mad scientists snuck into your bedroom and removed your brain.
2. Fortunately for you, they didn’t leave you hanging. Instead of letting you die, these scientists placed your brain in a vat of super-awesome science liquid that keeps your brain alive. (Ever seen that Steve Martin movie, The Man with Two Brains? It’s kind of like that. Here’s a clip.)
3. Further, in all the places where the nerves of your brain connected with your body, they placed microscopic radio transmitters. These allow your brain to communicate with your body even if it is no longer there. So even though you believe your brain is still there, it is really in a jar somewhere in the dark lair of the evil scientists.

So, here is the question: Where are you?
Though your body is currently where you are, your brain is in the hideout. It could be millions of miles away on a distant planet. And everything you think, feel, see, taste and perceive are going on in that hideout. So are you in the hideout, or are you where you are now?

Here’s another question. What if your body is destroyed? Are you dead? You would no longer be able to perceive anything, but you could still think. You’d still have all your memories, still dream, still have desires.

We’ll let you think about that one for a while. What do you think? What do your friends think?

If this question asks anything, doesn’t it ask what it means when we identify ourselves?

In other words: Who, or what, makes you, you?

(Photo courtesy sirtrentalot’s Flickr page, rights granted through Creative Commons license. Thanks, sirtrentalot!)

Foolosophy Friday blog, brain, friends, philosophy, science

We’ve recently moved from the old blogger site to our own website with a new Wordpress layout.   We’ll be making a lot of changes over the next weeks, but we’re still going to continue adding our daily posts.

Feel free to contact us, leave comments and let us know what you think of the site.  We always love hearing from you.

Uncategorized blog, love