Are you right brained or left brained???

Check out this dancer and let us know which way she's turning!

Poll #6 Wrap

Well, well--looks like you guys are a perceptive bunch! I'm not going to say too much on the last survey so as not to give it away for future readers, but very nice going. (The first time I saw that video, the percentage was nowhere near 50/50--it was 3 out of a class of 25!) Anyway, if you liked that one, check out the next poll! Again, thanks for visiting!

(Oh, and by the way, some of you are either feeling too guilty to respond or not being honest about your car-flossing habits...this is more interesting if y'all are honest, so fess up!!)

Poll #6--You Have to Be Honest on This One...

...or else it's no fun!

This survey question has two parts:

PART A--In the video link below you will see a group of basketball players, some in white and some in black passing two balls around. Your goal is to count how many times the ball is passed by those wearing WHITE shirts. It’s that simple. Remember, count just the passes of the ball by those wearing white. Have your cursor over the pause button so when they all stop passing basketballs (at about the 36 second mark) you hit PAUSE. Write down the number of passes you have counted, Do not watch the video again before entering your response to poll question 6A.

PART B-- Go back to the video and play the rest of it before you enter your response for question 6B.

Have fun!

http://viscog.beckman.illinois.edu/grafs/demos/15.html

Poll #5

OK, so far this blog is really falling short of its name. I have been interested in starting (and keeping) a blog going for years now (before "blog" was even a WORD). But I've always hesitated knowing I really don't have the time to regularly post anything. That was the exact reason I thought this survey-style blog would be a nice segue--I could just post up a random question and let you all make it interesting with your collective results! But now I find myself postponing my next question because I feel the need to spend time writing up some sort of closure on the last survey question before moving on to the next topic. Then at dinner last night, my dad gave the insightful suggestion that maybe I DON'T have to actually come up with anything at all except a next, new question! And you all would probably still be perfectly happy to enter in your results and see what random trends exist out there in this crazy world! So here goes with the next round and at least a good intentioned promise to keep this weekly survey blog true to it's name!

SO, with that explained, onward to survey question #5. My mom and I recently made a deal that we wouldn't talk on our cell phones while driving anymore. It hasn't been easy, but now I can spot swerving texters/talkers ahead of me on the road--it really does look a lot like drunk driving! (And we've both found ourselves with lots of extra minutes to spare now if anyone needs them!) Anyway, this poll is to help understand what other dangers exist out there on the road besides cell phone users. Please click your poll selection and if you have any ridiculous stories of things you've seen other drivers doing out on the road, leave us the details in a comment!

As always, thanks in advance for sharing your valued, random input!

"Anticipation and the Value of Delayed Consumption"

Ah-ha! It looks like you all have confirmed the truth of an actual psychological study by the very name of this blog post--that if awarded a free dinner at the best restaurant in the area, the vast majority of you would rather wait a while before cashing in on your winnings. No, I'm not actually reading psych journals (that particular study published by G.F. Loewenstein), but I did read Daniel Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness. Gilbert's book reads almost like a Malcolm Gladwell goldmine and is packed with lots of juicy insights as to why we do the things we do in effort to make ourselves happy.

I particularly liked Loewenstien's study because I recently started to get more serious about starting a routine mindfulness meditation practice and it has proven to be quite difficult to consistently keep mental energy focused in the present. I found a positive spin (justification??) on my struggle in reading Gilbert's matter-of-fact explanation of why we often find it difficult to simply "be here now": because many times "thinking about the future can be so pleasurable that...we'd rather think about it than get there." Gilbert's research frequently indicates humans tend to have very optimistic outlooks on how our futures will unfold. By self-imposing a delay on enjoying our free meal, not only do we get to enjoy our gourmet winnings, we also get the pleasure of looking forward to it for a week or month! As Gilbert points out, "Forestalling pleasure is an inventive technique for getting double the juice from half the fruit"! Of course not all thoughts of the future are pleasurable, but in general we invent the best outcomes in our imagined futures. What a fabulous natural default setting!!

I highly recommend Stumbling on Happiness for more interesting reading including how people who've been through great tragedy or suffering can say "If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing." And to understand how a Pygmie mistaking a buffalo for a gnat is similar to you being far happier to extend an offer to babysit your nieces a month from now than you'd be to watch the kids tomorrow night.

Enjoy and thanks for your opinions!

More Polls

Since I haven't posted anything for way too long, I'm going to put several polls up...go at it! Your insightful votes are appreciated!

Overdue Gender Association Wrap!

Finally! I know you've all been just dying to hear the follow up on the odd and even number/male vs. female random question. Or maybe you're just excited for the next poll...either way, before I move on with the next random question, check out what I found on numbers and gender associations:

I know there was no overwhelming response in either direction on this poll (and even some people out there who just think it's all crazy talk), but if you do get a sense of maleness from odd numbers and femininity about evens, know that your instincts are well founded! Or at least, the evidence for such associations goes WAY back. Back to 500BCE, during Pythagoras's time on this planet when he developed his numerology patterns (and table of opposites). The number 2 represented duality and was female and the number 3 was odd. (The number five, incidentally, represented "marriage" as it's the addition of 2 + 3 and also happens to fall right in the very center of numbers 1 through 9.)

This association can also be found in the ancient Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang and in the I Ching (Book of Changes). Associations of yin are female, dark, even and yang associations are male, light, odd. The yin yang concept describes how seemingly opposite polarities exist, but not in opposition to each other--rather, they represent a duality of complimentary contrasting forces that exist to create one greater whole.

In case you're interested, think of your favorite number (between 1 and 9) and then check out the chart below to see what qualities are associated with that number. Hopefully, you find some good stuff!

1 – willpower, determination, aggression, leadership, ego
2 - harmony, peace, balance, emotions
3 - creativity, versatility, joy, luck
4 – order, practicality, endurance, efficiency
5 – curiosity, marriage, eccentricity, versatility, adventure
6 – idealism, loyalty, perfection, harmony, truthfulness
7 – magic, wisdom, intelligence, mystery, solitude
8 –karma, balance, authority
9 – forgiveness, compassion, possessiveness, inspiration, spirituality