Saturday, July 7, 2018
Friday, July 6, 2018
Saving Us From Ourselves
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction — with an app
By William Wan
To understand why it’s so hard to pry yourself free from your phone, Facebook account and Twitter, you need to know about B.F. Skinner’s pigeons.
In the 1950s, Skinner began putting the birds in a box and training them to peck on a piece of plastic whenever they wanted food. Then the Harvard psychology researcher rigged the system so that not every peck would yield a tasty treat. It became random — a reward every three pecks, then five pecks, then two pecks.
The pigeons went crazy and began pecking compulsively for hours on end.
Fast forward six decades. We have become the pigeons pecking at our iPhones, scrolling through news feeds, swiping left/right on Tinder for hours, the uncertainty of what we might find keeping us obsessed by design.
In the modern economy of tablets and apps, our attention has become the most valuable commodity. Tech companies have armies of behavioral researchers whose sole job is to apply principles like Skinner’s variable rewards to grab and hold our focus as often and long as possible.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/rebel-developers-are-trying-to-cure-our-smartphone-addiction--with-an-app/2018/06/17/153e2282-6a81-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8fe002b2ec79
Rebel developers are trying to cure our smartphone addiction — with an app
By William Wan
To understand why it’s so hard to pry yourself free from your phone, Facebook account and Twitter, you need to know about B.F. Skinner’s pigeons.
In the 1950s, Skinner began putting the birds in a box and training them to peck on a piece of plastic whenever they wanted food. Then the Harvard psychology researcher rigged the system so that not every peck would yield a tasty treat. It became random — a reward every three pecks, then five pecks, then two pecks.
The pigeons went crazy and began pecking compulsively for hours on end.
Fast forward six decades. We have become the pigeons pecking at our iPhones, scrolling through news feeds, swiping left/right on Tinder for hours, the uncertainty of what we might find keeping us obsessed by design.
In the modern economy of tablets and apps, our attention has become the most valuable commodity. Tech companies have armies of behavioral researchers whose sole job is to apply principles like Skinner’s variable rewards to grab and hold our focus as often and long as possible.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/rebel-developers-are-trying-to-cure-our-smartphone-addiction--with-an-app/2018/06/17/153e2282-6a81-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8fe002b2ec79
Thursday, July 5, 2018
A Revised Pledge
I pledge allegiance to the PEOPLE of the United States of America, and to the democracy for which we demand, one diverse nation, part of one incredible world, with liberty and justice for all!— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) July 5, 2018
Goodnight, America. A happier birthday next year! https://t.co/OYnakPU5rw
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Again and Again and Again
An excerpt from the Huffington Post -
Black State Rep. Says Someone Called Cops On Her While Canvassing
The constituent alerted police as Rep. Janelle Bynum was knocking on doors and spending lots of time on her phone.
By Willa Frej
An Oregon state representative called on her community to be better to one another after a constituent mistook her behavior as suspicious and called the police while she was canvassing.
“Big shout out to Officer Campbell who responded professionally to someone who said that I was going door to door and spending a lot of time typing on my cell phone after each house—- aka canvassing and keeping account of what my community cares about!” Rep. Janelle Bynum (D) wrote Tuesday on Facebook.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-state-rep-cops-canvassing_us_5b3cadb1e4b09e4a8b28faaf
Black State Rep. Says Someone Called Cops On Her While Canvassing
The constituent alerted police as Rep. Janelle Bynum was knocking on doors and spending lots of time on her phone.
By Willa Frej
An Oregon state representative called on her community to be better to one another after a constituent mistook her behavior as suspicious and called the police while she was canvassing.
“Big shout out to Officer Campbell who responded professionally to someone who said that I was going door to door and spending a lot of time typing on my cell phone after each house—- aka canvassing and keeping account of what my community cares about!” Rep. Janelle Bynum (D) wrote Tuesday on Facebook.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-state-rep-cops-canvassing_us_5b3cadb1e4b09e4a8b28faaf
History Repeating Itself
I was reminded of an incident involving my oldest son, that happened twenty-three years ago.
Sometimes progress is hard to measure.
~~~~~~~~~~
First the current article:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rochester-school-wont-allow-its-first-black-valedictorian-to-speak-so-mayor-does_us_5b3d2326e4b05127cceebf06
Now the article from 1995:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/24/opinion/in-america-the-valedictorian-s-un-graduation.html
Sometimes progress is hard to measure.
~~~~~~~~~~
First the current article:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rochester-school-wont-allow-its-first-black-valedictorian-to-speak-so-mayor-does_us_5b3d2326e4b05127cceebf06
Now the article from 1995:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/24/opinion/in-america-the-valedictorian-s-un-graduation.html
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