Chemical reactions happen whether or not you want them to. Nobody is immune to this.
As for gifts influencing decisions, I realized that I myself am often in this position. I use many different industrial microbiology products in the course of a day, and whenever I go to a conference, every single vendor bombards me with free stuff and tries to convince me that their product is better than their competitor's. It's their job, so I don't mind it too much unless they're very persistent. The trick to making sure that you are not unduly influenced is to be an asshole; I take the free stuff they give me and go with the cheapest solution anyhow.
The trick to making sure that you are not unduly influenced is to be an asshole; I take the free stuff they give me and go with the cheapest solution anyhow.
I don't think the trick is being an asshole, the trick is having an impartial methodology.
For example, I am in the process of buying a flat high definition television. My new apartment doesn't have enough space for a non-flat television, and I have an XBox 360 now that needs some high-def lovin'. I'm almost completely decided to get this bad boy.
There is no doubt whatsoever that bullshit meaningless things such as brand have influenced my decision. There are plenty of televisions out there from "lesser" brands such as Vizio or whatever. They are significantly cheaper, and people say they are just as good as the big names. The only real difference is that the plastic bezels on the cheaper sets are uglier. However, I just can't bring myself to buy the Vizio. I can't prevent myself from worrying that it will be a cheap piece of shit simply because it has a crappy brand, and also has a less durable-looking industrial design to it.
I think the best way to escape this is, as I just said, to have a methodology to your decision making process. If you just decide on your own, you will end up being influenced by emotions and false perceptions. But if you come up with an impartial system for making a decision before beginning the research process, you will resist those influences.
For example, let's say you decide you will buy the cheapest 40" TV. If you stick to the plan, brand won't get you. Let's say you decide to buy the biggest hard drive you can get for under $X. Well, it's not going to matter if it's Maxtor or Seagate if you stick to the plan. The times you get influenced are when you are left to your own devices to freely make a decision. Come up with a decision-making procedure, and stick to it. Then nobody can mess with you.
This gives more and more credence to the Zebra Storyteller.
unless one becomes aware of the weather and attributes oneÂ’s gloomy mood to the gloomy sky, which eliminates the influence.
It's the same principle as with purposeful lucid dreaming. You can't, in a vacuum, realize that you're dreaming. But, once you have the trigger, the external stimulus that causes to you recognize the dissonance in your experience, you have the sudden moment of revelation. Avid lucid dreamers use techniques like the hand trick to basically ping themselves with a periodic "check the state of my consciousness" command, like a clock tick.
I suppose one could use the same technique in waking life, to force a sort of personal assessment of one's mood and attempt to identify the causes of any unpleasant feelings.
I suppose one could use the same technique in waking life, to force a sort of personal assessment of one's mood and attempt to identify the causes of any unpleasant feelings.
How about some Harrison Bergeron style devices that make a constant ringing in your ear to remind you?
How about some Harrison Bergeron style devices that make a constant ringing in your ear to remind you?
I used to do that with music. I'd play the same song on a loop every night while I slept. Whenever I heard the song (which I was not likely to hear outside of my own room), I checked to see if I was dreaming. It worked rather well.
For example, let's say you decide you will buy the cheapest 40" TV. If you stick to the plan, brand won't get you. Let's say you decide to buy the biggest hard drive you can get for under $X. Well, it's not going to matter if it's Maxtor or Seagate if you stick to the plan. The times you get influenced are when you are left to your own devices to freely make a decision. Come up with a decision-making procedure, and stick to it. Then nobody can mess with you.
Of course, there can always be a flaw in your decision-making criteria, and depending on the situation, you may need to have a more complex decision-making matrix. The criteria you choose may still very well lead you to a poor decision. This is how industry representatives make a living; they're usually marketing solutions to you, and those can often have more variables attached to them.
So why didn't you implement a decision-making procedure of your own for the HDTV? You're aware of your bias against cheaper brands, so why not mitigate it?
So why didn't you implement a decision-making procedure of your own for the HDTV? You're aware of your bias against cheaper brands, so why not mitigate it?
Because real life is never as simple as the examples he uses to prove his points. :P
So why didn't you implement a decision-making procedure of your own for the HDTV? You're aware of your bias against cheaper brands, so why not mitigate it?
Primarily because of the shitty industrial design of the plastic casing. That shitty plastic doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the quality of the underlying electronics. Also, it's mad ugly, and will clash with my awesome modern stylish furniture.
This is what gets me. You would think that the electronics would be the hard part of making a TV, and that having stylish plastic would be easy. I mean, you don't even need to get fancy. Make the TV a black rectangle with the smallest amount of bezel possible, and it will look great. So easy, yet almost nobody does it.
So why didn't you implement a decision-making procedure of your own for the HDTV? You're aware of your bias against cheaper brands, so why not mitigate it?
Because real life is never as simple as the examples he uses to prove his points. :P
A-duh. That's what I was getting at.
The decision-making matrices in real life can sometimes be more complicated, and that's where industry representatives thrive. This is particularly true in dynamic fields like public health and the life sciences, where things vary wildly between individual problems. One treatment may work for one patient but not for another, and one particular diagnostic solution may work in one laboratory but not in another. I've run into people who do literally the same work that I do, but have to go about it in a different way because my method doesn't work for them.
Primarily because of the shitty industrial design of the plastic casing. That shitty plastic doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the quality of the underlying electronics. Also, it's mad ugly, and will clash with my awesome modern stylish furniture.
Oh yes, Aesthetics are meaningless, aren't they, Scott.
Primarily because of the shitty industrial design of the plastic casing. That shitty plastic doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the quality of the underlying electronics. Also, it's mad ugly, and will clash with my awesome modern stylish furniture.
Oh yes, Aesthetics are meaningless, aren't they, Scott.
It's a very important decision. I mean, the TV needs to match both his furniture and his favorite shoes. Once you add the purse into the mix, things get really complicated.
Primarily because of the shitty industrial design of the plastic casing. That shitty plastic doesn't give me a lot of confidence in the quality of the underlying electronics. Also, it's mad ugly, and will clash with my awesome modern stylish furniture.
Oh yes, Aesthetics are meaningless, aren't they, Scott.
It's a very important decision. I mean, the TV needs to match both his furniture and his favorite shoes. Once you add the purse into the mix, things getreallycomplicated.
And which purse?! Are we talking a bejeweled purple hobo bag or the sleek, black satin clutch with silver accents?
Hm. I'm liking the idea that those external sources of cognitive dissonance, or some other outside interference, is what can sometimes make people break out of a psychological loop or bias, even if it's a bias one is aware of (perhaps currently aware that one is expressing at that very moment).
It squares with some of my own experiences, those along the line of: "Well, I know I'm doing this stupid thing, I think I know why I'm doing it, and I know I want to stop it. So why can't I?" If I sit there too long in the loop by myself, I'm likely to just get more and more miserable until I can't take it any more, and then I fix the stupid thing. But that's the long way, and the hard way.
If I'm smart, and proactive, I'll recruit a friend, get myself some sort of support network. "Hey, if you see me doing that stupid thing, call me on my bullshit." I'm the sort of person who will take advice from a friend, that I might not take from myself.
Also, I'm a bit new to Front Row Crew Forums culture, though a dedicated podcast listener since Otakon 2008 and totally jazzed about PAXeast. What exactly is the Zebra Storyteller?
Honestly, I think it boils down to something very simple... People are instinctively drawn to whatever their psychology tells them. Whatever mental blocks or issues they have comes naturally to them. That is to say, that is their normal thought patterns. If they don't actively fight against it all the time, they will simply think that way and fall into old patterns. Fighting against instinct constantly is tiring, and near impossible. If you think it is easy to overcome instinct and do what your brain tells you is right, then you don't understand what real mental conflict is.
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As for gifts influencing decisions, I realized that I myself am often in this position. I use many different industrial microbiology products in the course of a day, and whenever I go to a conference, every single vendor bombards me with free stuff and tries to convince me that their product is better than their competitor's. It's their job, so I don't mind it too much unless they're very persistent. The trick to making sure that you are not unduly influenced is to be an asshole; I take the free stuff they give me and go with the cheapest solution anyhow.
For example, I am in the process of buying a flat high definition television. My new apartment doesn't have enough space for a non-flat television, and I have an XBox 360 now that needs some high-def lovin'. I'm almost completely decided to get this bad boy.
There is no doubt whatsoever that bullshit meaningless things such as brand have influenced my decision. There are plenty of televisions out there from "lesser" brands such as Vizio or whatever. They are significantly cheaper, and people say they are just as good as the big names. The only real difference is that the plastic bezels on the cheaper sets are uglier. However, I just can't bring myself to buy the Vizio. I can't prevent myself from worrying that it will be a cheap piece of shit simply because it has a crappy brand, and also has a less durable-looking industrial design to it.
I think the best way to escape this is, as I just said, to have a methodology to your decision making process. If you just decide on your own, you will end up being influenced by emotions and false perceptions. But if you come up with an impartial system for making a decision before beginning the research process, you will resist those influences.
For example, let's say you decide you will buy the cheapest 40" TV. If you stick to the plan, brand won't get you. Let's say you decide to buy the biggest hard drive you can get for under $X. Well, it's not going to matter if it's Maxtor or Seagate if you stick to the plan. The times you get influenced are when you are left to your own devices to freely make a decision. Come up with a decision-making procedure, and stick to it. Then nobody can mess with you.
I suppose one could use the same technique in waking life, to force a sort of personal assessment of one's mood and attempt to identify the causes of any unpleasant feelings.
So why didn't you implement a decision-making procedure of your own for the HDTV? You're aware of your bias against cheaper brands, so why not mitigate it?
This is what gets me. You would think that the electronics would be the hard part of making a TV, and that having stylish plastic would be easy. I mean, you don't even need to get fancy. Make the TV a black rectangle with the smallest amount of bezel possible, and it will look great. So easy, yet almost nobody does it.
The decision-making matrices in real life can sometimes be more complicated, and that's where industry representatives thrive. This is particularly true in dynamic fields like public health and the life sciences, where things vary wildly between individual problems. One treatment may work for one patient but not for another, and one particular diagnostic solution may work in one laboratory but not in another. I've run into people who do literally the same work that I do, but have to go about it in a different way because my method doesn't work for them.
It squares with some of my own experiences, those along the line of: "Well, I know I'm doing this stupid thing, I think I know why I'm doing it, and I know I want to stop it. So why can't I?" If I sit there too long in the loop by myself, I'm likely to just get more and more miserable until I can't take it any more, and then I fix the stupid thing. But that's the long way, and the hard way.
If I'm smart, and proactive, I'll recruit a friend, get myself some sort of support network. "Hey, if you see me doing that stupid thing, call me on my bullshit." I'm the sort of person who will take advice from a friend, that I might not take from myself.
Also, I'm a bit new to Front Row Crew Forums culture, though a dedicated podcast listener since Otakon 2008 and totally jazzed about PAXeast. What exactly is the Zebra Storyteller?
People are instinctively drawn to whatever their psychology tells them. Whatever mental blocks or issues they have comes naturally to them. That is to say, that is their normal thought patterns. If they don't actively fight against it all the time, they will simply think that way and fall into old patterns. Fighting against instinct constantly is tiring, and near impossible. If you think it is easy to overcome instinct and do what your brain tells you is right, then you don't understand what real mental conflict is.