Us-Them distinctions – complex group mechanism of destruction {hypocrite-gene}

Distinction is a social force that places different values on different individuals. The criteria for such judgements have always been a matter of controversy and subject to criticism. They are, furthermore, subject to constant change.

In his book La Distinction, which was published in 1979, Pierre Bourdieu describes how those in power define aesthetic concepts such as “taste”. His research shows how social class tends to determine a person’s likes and interests, and how distinctions based on social class are reinforced in daily life.

The 2004 book The Rebel Sell describes “distinction” as a social arms race, in which social styles are in constant development, and those who do not follow the development become stale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinction_%28social%29

We all have hypocrite-gene inside us.

Positive Psychology {Happiness depends on set point}

hedonic Adaptation – The pleasure acquiring new things, e.g. acquiring a new car, often wears off quite quickly.

What makes us happy? What determines hapiness?

Researchers have focused on questions such as “ what behaviours and attitudes positively affect happiness and self-fulfillment? Can we learn to be happy?
What makes us happy anyhow?

What makes us happy anyhow?

Surprising, happiness researcher Sonia Lyubomirsky discovered that only 10% of our happiness is due to our circumstances e.g. whether we are rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, beautiful or plain, married or divorced etc. The low contribution of circumstances to our happiness level is explained by the principle of hedonic adaptation i.e. in plain English, we get used to even the most marvellous and life changing circumstances , and within about 3 months we hardly notice the difference!

50% of our happiness is in our genetic pre -disposition.  So this leaves us with the fact that a very large slice of our happiness levels (40%)is due to the way we think and behave, what Lyubomirsky calls intentional behaviour. And the good news is that we can change these!

Researchers have identified three types of “happy lives”

1)      The Pleasant Life– the life of pleasure (the hedonic life).Experience as many positive emotions as possible.  Savour and amplify those moments.

2)      The Good life –  flow, the life of engagement ( the eudaimonic life ). Using your signature strengths*, what is deeply characteristic of you, every day ie. much of your time is spent in flow, in being fully engaged in what you are doing.

3)      The Meaningful Life- much of your day is spent in pursuit of your strongest values, your “noble mission” , your overall “big goal” which gives meaning to everything you do and may involve an attachment to something larger than yourself.

And finally, the advice of Ed Diener, happiness researcher: if you have no goal, other than than your personal happiness,you’ll never achieve it! If you want to be happy pursue something else vigorously, and happiness will catch up with you.

Courtesy of  http://positivepsychology.ie/index.php/articles/happiness

Happiest jobs & most hated jobs [The meaningfulness of lives]

“The problems in the most hated jobs can’t be solved by job redesign or clearer career paths. Instead the organizations must undertake fundamental change to manage themselves in a radically different way  with a focus on delighting the customer through continuous innovation and all the consequent changes that are needed to accomplish that.”

*

“In my article on the Ten Most Hated Jobs, there were some surprises. There are also some surprises in the ten happiest jobs, as reported a General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago. (I am indebted to Lew Perelman for drawing my attention to the Christian Science Monitor article.)

1.  Clergy:  The least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all

2. Firefighters: Eighty percent of firefighters are “very satisfied” with their jobs, which involve helping people.

3. Physical therapists: Social interaction and helping people apparently make this job one of the happiest.

4. Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing down the contents of your own mind apparently leads to happiness.

5.  Special education teachers: If you don’t care about money, a job as special education teacher might be a happy profession. The annual salary averages just under $50,000.

6. Teachers: Teachers in general report being happy with their jobs, despite the current issues with education funding and classroom conditions. The profession continues to attract young idealists, although fifty percent of new teachers are gone within five years.

7. Artists: Sculptors and painters report high job satisfaction, despite the great difficulty in making a living from it.

8. Psychologists: Psychologists may or may not be able to solve other people’s problems, but it seems that they have managed to solve their own.

9. Financial services sales agents: Sixty-five percent of financial services sales agents are reported to be happy with their jobs. That could be because some of them are clearing more than $90,000 dollars a year on average for a 40-hour work week in a comfortable office environment.

10. Operating engineers: Playing with giant toys like bulldozers, front-end loaders, backhoes, scrapers, motor graders, shovels, derricks, large pumps, and air compressors can be fun.  With more jobs for operating engineers than qualified applicants, operating engineers report being happy.

In Pictures: 10 Happiest Jobs

It’s interesting to compare these jobs with the list of the ten most hated jobs, which were generally much better paying and have higher social status. What’s striking about the list is that these relatively high level people are imprisoned in hierarchical bureaucracies. They see little point in what they are doing. The organizations they work for don’t know where they are going, and as a result, neither do these people.

1. Director of Information Technology
2. Director of Sales and Marketing
3. Product Manager
4. Senior Web Developer
5. Technical Specialist
6. Electronics Technician
7. Law Clerk
8. Technical Support Analyst
9. CNC Machinist
10. Marketing Manager

The meaningfulness of lives

Why were these jobs with better pay and higher social status less likely to produce happiness? Todd May writing in the New York Times argues that “A meaningful life must, in some sense then, feel worthwhile.  The person living the life must be engaged by it.  A life of commitment to causes that are generally defined as worthy — like feeding and clothing the poor or ministering to the ill — but that do not move the person participating in them will lack meaningfulness in this sense. However, for a life to be meaningful, it must also be worthwhile. Engagement in a life of tiddlywinks does not rise to the level of a meaningful life, no matter how gripped one might be by the game.”

This is what underlies the difference between the happiest jobs and the most hated jobs. One set of jobs feels worthwhile, while in the other jobs, people can’t see the point. The problems in the most hated jobs can’t be solved by job redesign or clearer career paths. Instead the organizations must undertake fundamental change to manage themselves in a radically different way with a focus on delighting the customer through continuous innovation and all the consequent changes that are needed to accomplish that. The result of doing this in firms like Amazon, Apple and Salesforce.com is happy customers, soaring profits and workers who can see meaning in their work.”

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/09/12/the-ten-happiest-jobs/

Hubert Naugle

I wanted to follow up and let you know how great I cherished discovering your website today. We would consider ...

30 November 11 at 06:28

Understanding Human Behavior – Good vs bad. Double rooted personality based on primal instincts and intelligence as baseground of any mankind society and prediction of our future

View all 7 comments

Wiley

Unlike to some statements, proper researched articles still drag in readers such as me. This is my first time I ...

23 October 11 at 15:17

banda

Hello.This article was really remarkable, especially since I was looking for thoughts on this issue last week.

12 December 11 at 11:00

technology {human} technology – “i” reflects human-centered point of view on technology by Steve Jobs

Although I am not i-user in terms of gadgets (I am not using iPhone, iPad etc) I am a big fan of Steve Jobs himself. Whatever he was just lucky in terms of timing with his ideas, or it was evolutionary process to grow up to products we can see on Apple shop shelves.

Reading recently article “Five things Steve Jobs taught us about technology” I came across one very interesting sentence. “It doesn’t matter what something does, it’s how people feel about it that matters”. “Sell the concept with a bunch of smiling people and you could be on to something.”

So simple, so true, however most of the time misunderstood guideline. Simple fact that Jobs intends to understand simple things and develop then into simple products is a genius. Simplifying what others perceive complicated is a gift of few.

In twisted world filled with technology and gadgets where we can pick from thousands of different products for same job, the only thing we lacking is happiness. So putting all the experience and technology in one simple box, build just for the purpose, but making you feel happy is the key to success Jobs have discovered. Following simplest principles of convenience described by Lers Thisayakorn in his version of traditional marketing 4P he referred to as new 4V: validity, value, venue and vogue.
Other words I could describe it, oldest attempts of all big brands to sell happiness was finally successful in simplest form of technological inventions combined in simplified usable products.

As we could read on CNN website “Apple triggers ‘religious’ reaction in fans’ brains, report says. Achieving what big brand were “giggling” up till now. Other research shows that big brand like Heinz, or Coca-Cola are “manipulating” us in different way. Part of human brain responsible for recognizing family members and friends is becoming activated when we seeing well-known big brand product in shop shelf. So we are most likely to buy it because we trust it and we don’t even know why. Well now we know. Smart marketing burying brand roots deeply in our subconscious. Apple does it differently by associating its client with brand using similar stimuli as religious organizations. If you looking for confirmation of any of those attempts you should focus on little details which are betraying those brand. Combination of words, pictures, music. Pretty much anything what can stimulate our brain, and that is all our senses are used here. All carefully chosen just for one reason. It is marketing masterpiece which goes way beyond term marketing. Mixture of psychology, hours of analysing behaviour, product development, advertising.

Convenience is anything that is intended to save resources (time, energy) or frustration.

Trust rely and abandons control over the actions performed by another based on expectations that another person will behave as desired minimising uncertainty of actions of other person so we minimise risk of harm. Words related would be honesty, competence, belief, confidence (dependency?).

This blog post gives the light in which we can observe the reality.

View all 8 comments

Grayce

Hi there extremely cool site!! Guy .. Superb .. Superb.

29 October 11 at 00:47

gastar

thank you for helpful tips and simply good info

21 November 11 at 16:30

Social Phobia, social anxiety disorder, excessive shyness, social inhibition

Social phobia, also called social anxiety disorder, is the third most common mental health disorder after depression and substance abuse, affecting as many as 10 million Americans. Social phobia is an anxiety disorder involving intense distress in response to public situations. Individuals with social phobia typically experience symptoms resembling panic during a social encounter. These situations may include speaking in public, using public restrooms, eating with other people, or engaging in social contact in general.

Persons with this disorder fear being humiliated or embarrassed in social and/or performance situations by their actions and may become intensely anxious, with an increased heart rate, diaphoresis, and other signs of autonomic arousal. These physical symptoms may cause additional anxiety, often leading to a conditioned fear response that reinforces their anxiety in public situations.

The onset of social phobia may or may not be abrupt, often manifesting after a stressor or humiliating social experience in an individual with a childhood history of excessive shyness or social inhibition. Social phobia is considered a disorder if it is severe enough to adversely affect social or occupational functioning. That is, individuals with true social phobia go to great lengths to avoid social situations, usually to their own detriment. The fear of embarrassment is egodystonic, and persons with social phobia are distressed by their symptoms.

The median delay from onset to seeking treatment can be as long as 28 years.

Don’t worry if you experiencing increased heart rate before your job interview or speech on the front of hundreds it is rather natural and desirable symptom indicating your healthy attitude (respect) towards another human being and society. But if you will turn great job offer down because you are afraid of your exposure or failure at the interview, then you might consider asking for second opinion about your fears.

We should seek the greatest value of our action – Stephen Hawking: "There is no heaven"

Stephen Hawking dismisses belief in God in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Photograph: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory/Discovery Channel
A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a “fairy story” for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.

In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain’s most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.

The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.

“I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first,” he said.

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark,” he added.

Hawking’s latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an “elementary fallacy” of logic.

The 69-year-old physicist fell seriously ill after a lecture tour in the US in 2009 and was taken to Addenbrookes hospital in an episode that sparked grave concerns for his health. He has since returned to his Cambridge department as director of research.

The physicist’s remarks draw a stark line between the use of God as a metaphor and the belief in an omniscient creator whose hands guide the workings of the cosmos.

In his bestselling 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking drew on the device so beloved of Einstein, when he described what it would mean for scientists to develop a “theory of everything” – a set of equations that described every particle and force in the entire universe. “It would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God,” he wrote.

The book sold a reported 9 million copies and propelled the physicist to instant stardom. His fame has led to guest roles in The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Red Dwarf. One of his greatest achievements in physics is a theory that describes how black holes emit radiation.

In the interview, Hawking rejected the notion of life beyond death and emphasised the need to fulfil our potential on Earth by making good use of our lives. In answer to a question on how we should live, he said, simply: “We should seek the greatest value of our action.”

In answering another, he wrote of the beauty of science, such as the exquisite double helix of DNA in biology, or the fundamental equations of physics.

Hawking responded to questions posed by the Guardian and a reader in advance of a lecture tomorrow at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in London, in which he will address the question: “Why are we here?”

In the talk, he will argue that tiny quantum fluctuations in the very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, and ultimately human life emerged. “Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in,” he said.

Hawking suggests that with modern space-based instruments, such as the European Space Agency’s Planck mission, it may be possible to spot ancient fingerprints in the light left over from the earliest moments of the universe and work out how our own place in space came to be.

His talk will focus on M-theory, a broad mathematical framework that encompasses string theory, which is regarded by many physicists as the best hope yet of developing a theory of everything.

M-theory demands a universe with 11 dimensions, including a dimension of time and the three familiar spatial dimensions. The rest are curled up too small for us to see.

Evidence in support of M-theory might also come from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva.

One possibility predicted by M-theory is supersymmetry, an idea that says fundamental particles have heavy – and as yet undiscovered – twins, with curious names such as selectrons and squarks.

Confirmation of supersymmetry would be a shot in the arm for M-theory and help physicists explain how each force at work in the universe arose from one super-force at the dawn of time.

Another potential discovery at the LHC, that of the elusive Higgs boson, which is thought to give mass to elementary particles, might be less welcome to Hawking, who has a long-standing bet that the long-sought entity will never be found at the laboratory.

Hawking will join other speakers at the London event, including the chancellor, George Osborne, and the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
Science, truth and beauty: Hawking’s answers

What is the value in knowing “Why are we here?”

The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we can’t solve the equations, directly in the abstract. We need to use the effective theory of Darwinian natural selection of those societies most likely to survive. We assign them higher value.

You’ve said there is no reason to invoke God to light the blue touchpaper. Is our existence all down to luck?

Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in.

So here we are. What should we do?

We should seek the greatest value of our action.

You had a health scare and spent time in hospital in 2009. What, if anything, do you fear about death?

I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.

What are the things you find most beautiful in science?

Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena or connections between different observations. Examples include the double helix in biology, and the fundamental equations of physics.”

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven

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Voncile

Stands back from the keyboard in amzameent! Thanks!

18 August 11 at 19:11

Viki

What a joy to find soeomne else who thinks this way.

19 August 11 at 17:36

Dialog – legacy of John Paul II

Being person-institution not only for poor and people in need, but also for wealthy people is complex task. Main issue is to talk in language with which both groups are able to identify themselves with. People representing different values, believes on different levels.

Understanding collective benefits to mankind coming from mutual dialog and understanding was the golden key. In addition to that we could find characteristics, which are typical to people to whom we refer as great leaders, like leading by example, sometimes even foolish and child-like trust in good side of people. What we all can remember he had to pay for When confused people were trying to shoot him. Another great example, forgiveness and understanding. He was showing the path. The ultimate path to world without terrorism, piece and living in world filled with jealousy and inequality.

Nobel and wise man, which put collective mankind well being above his own live and health. Like Knights protecting weak, Robin Hood protecting poor. Like philosophers trying to find this answers for non-answerable questions. All the trouble of people finding their path, finding themselves in this world. He seems found his way, the way which we all should adopt as our own, there is no need to look for other one.

I am hoping, it will be my privilege one day to live in the world he has seen – the better world. The world of respectable noble man, world of sacrifice, but glorificated sacrifice. Where it would be a privilege To give away a piece of you, not like today sign of being naive.

Inequality and no understanding is the main issue of current world. Terrorism, wars, conflicts based purely on what jealousy and blind race for power and money.

I am not very religious person in terms of attending to church. I am living by one rule, do whatever you want as far you are not hurting others. And I am finding that all the rules of church, or in fact any religion in the world is based around very same principles.

They maybe dictating more specific rules, more directly like “do not cheat, or do not kill”, but taking on the account variety of people, their understanding of society and emotional and likewise intelligence, this is sometimes necessary. Enforcement of certain rules for collective mankind well being. And when I am going to the church, I am finding it interesting, how people behave differently in that place. They respect each other’s, just in that place, for that 1h in a week. And that is why I think any religion make us, people, being better. Personally I just like to listen when crowds are singing as one voice, voice flying over the top of the church. Like it is rising to be heard in the clouds. Very spiritual and building experience. Giving “wings”, releasing all the worries of daily-duties, giving a short break from this money/power oriented race.

For a minute they are forgetting they are competitors to each other in that race. Enemies, as every single of them is born in conflict of interest – looking from rather shallow point of view, but unfortunately that is how most of us proved they seeing it.

Inspiration that what religion is, or should be. To stop for moment, open eyes to see bigger picture, to see other person,

Allow your good site to surface. It is in every single one of us, just buried deeply. This inspiration is like rod for the angler, it allows us to pick out the best in us and reveal it.

John Paul II travelling around the world discovered the truth – we are all made from the same materials, we are all the same. No matter what religion, language, and financial status we are equal.

Patience Lusignan

Congratulations, great website.

6 May 11 at 11:17

Liar Liar-Forget Ethics. It’s time of people possesing particular skills of showing bad thins in good light and exaggerating likable factors at the same time.

You wouldn’t hear that word in business at all. It has many shapes, flavours, colours, but meaning is always the same. People using it call themselves sales guru’s, marketers, investors, brokers, managers, board members etc. List is long and variety of particulars makes it impossible to list it down in paper.

Prime instincts of survivor today is leaded by same principles as millions of years ago. It is not about food, it is about money. Money gives you stability, power, pleasures and respect. This is all what drives people today.

So is it fault of those few that they are doing what their instincts telling them to do?

You and I would do the same if we had a chance?

Answer is yes, probably we would. I am not blaming other people for trying to make living, but I am blaming them for hurting others. And that is the very point, which decides whatever we talking about person with values, with ambitions, with ethics or just some junkies in ties. This is what is drawing the line between quick moneymakers and proper businessman.

Business is no different then art, science etc. It should be leaded by honest, proud and passionate people. Where in fact it is full of confused personalities, quite often lost in their private life and their values.

Liar Liar-Forget Ethics. Its time of people possessing particular skills of showing bad thins in good light and exaggerating likable factors at the same time.

According to recent research by Dana Carney (from Graduate School of Business przy Columbia University, published in Harvard Business Review)  sense of authority relieves stress of telling an untruth, and increases the likelihood that a lie is not detected.

Does this mean that the most influential people in the world are great liars?

source: http://www.biztok.pl/Ludzie-obdarzeni-wladza-swietnie-klamia-a909

Kapri

I thought finding this would be so arduous but it's a bereze!

9 January 12 at 16:10

First teleportation achieved

A team of scientists from Australia and Japan have successfully transferred a complex set of quantum data in light form. You see, previously researchers had struggled with slow performance or loss of information, but with full transmission integrity achieved — as in blocks of qubits being destroyed in one place but instantaneously resurrected in another, without affecting their superpositions — we’re now one huge step closer to secure, high-speed quantum communication.

“The breakthrough is the first-ever transfer, or teleportation, of a particular complex set of quantum information from one point to another, opening the way for high-speed, high-fidelity transmission of large volumes of information, such as quantum encryption keys, via quantum communications networks.

“If we can do this, we can do just about any form of communication needed for any quantum technology.”

This image shows the teleporter in
the lab of Professor Akira Furusawa
at the University of Tokyo (click to view full size).

The experiments were conducted on a machine known as “the teleporter” in the laboratory of Professor Akira Furusawa in the Department of Applied Physics in the University of Tokyo.”

source: http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2011/apr/Quantum_teleport_paper.html