links above not working

seems the sub-blog links at the top of this page aren't working... must be a problem with blogger...
in case takes a while to be fixed, the links are :

Society & Psychology http://halftalk-society.blogspot.com/
Current Affairs http://halftalk-current.blogspot.com/
Readings & Listenings  http://halftalk-readings.blogspot.com
Random Thoughts  http://halftalk-random.blogspot.com/
In the News http://halftalk-news.blogspot.com/
TV tips http://halftalk-tv.blogspot.com/

When people are paid by results their attitudes change

In reading about child motivation I have often come across the thesis that motivating children by means of rewards was not only not more effective, but might actually discourage them from the desired behaviour in general. But it is interesting to see that the same conclusion can apply to adults as well, and even more specifically, adults in the domain of economics, where rationality is still, even if bounded, largely assumed.

See full post HERE

The swype is mightier than the sword

Due to a broken shoulder I'm down to one working hand at the moment and as a result have been writing a lot on my phone using swype. Apart from finding it actually easier and more efficient than trying to stab away on a laptop, once again I find myself thinking about the method itself, and whether there might be a qualitative difference in using it.

With typing, the word is pumped out almost as a unit, via an automatic burst of key strokes which are almost in parallel, and there is little thought or feeling of the individual letters that constitute it (which might explain my tendency in emails to mix up similarly sounding words, like "are", "our" and "or"). But when writing with a pen, or swype, one must deliberately spell out the word, letter by letter, and this must involve slightly different thinking? If only because one must wait until each word has fully resolved itself, and made that bit more of an impression, before one can fully turn one's attention to the next. Maybe it is even similar to the difference between the old way in which reading was taught, with the focus on the full word as a whole, and the new phonics method of teaching, which is supposed to be more effective. The fact that the two styles of instruction differ in effectiveness  indicates a difference in mental processing, between gulping the word down  as a block, and slowly sipping it in in chunks.

My full article on the subject is HERE

To err is human, to ignore errors is political

Jenni Russell's article about Theresa May's (UK minister) problems with admitting a mistake highlights something important and paradoxical about modern politics - the combination between wanting a human leader, but also an infallible one. As the power of the label 'flip-flopper' shows in the US, there is little that can do more damage to a politician's reputation than admitting a mistake, or performing a u-turn. But surely a u-turn is better than continuing off a cliff?

the full article is  (here) and some comments of mine are in a separate post in the current affairs section here

Failure of economics? Economists to the rescue!

It is true that a dominant theme in the recent economic crises is how stupendously misguided the economist 'powers that be' have been, suffering at least from terminal group think and at worst from delusions of their own (or their field's) ability, so it is slightly worrying that they are now being handed even more power.

See this latest post in the current affairs section for some thoughts and articles on the subject.

quote to quote...

"The point is not to understand the world, but to change it"  Karl Marx

A nice encapsulation of the idea that at the end of the day it is what we do that matters, and  how everything else could be viewed as ultimately intangible and unreal; and, if consider the notion that we lead our lives in pursuit of something more than mere pleasure, but to have a purpose, maybe it could be extended to "the point is not to understand the world, or even to enjoy it, but to change it" .

Though maybe related is Woody Allen's quote, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my works; I want to achieve immortality through not dying". Indeed!

What also comes to mind are the following lines from Larkin's "Churchgoing" (the full poem, one of my favourites, is here)

"since someone will forever be surprising,

a hunger in himself to be more serious"

Maybe the driven are simply delusional, and it is better to sit back and enjoy things after all. Mill might have thought "it is better to be a human dissatisfied than a pig satisfied", but maybe he overestimated humans, and underestimated pigs.

Still, something reassuring in having simply wanting to enjoy life as a plan B, a worst case goal if all else fails :-)

Cutting Edge : anonymous accountability?

This week's Cutting Edge documentary (about the  battle between owners and reviewers on Trip Advisor) raises I think some interesting points about the new culture of online commentary. In particular I think there is potential for a new mechanism (of usernames/websites/customs) to be developed to allow 'anonymous accountability' in online identies.

My thoughts on the matter are posted here.