May 24, 2010
The Snopes Parallax
A cursory Google search tends to disprove mass emails, hoaxes, and canards, but for some people, reality is way too biased to be of use.
I got one of those e-mails the other day. You know which ones I'm talking about. The mass forward kind from that one guy on your e-mail list who seems to hit forward almost as a Pavlovian reaction to news of doom and gloom which may or may not be government induced. He felt compelled to inform me that NASA, apparently, issued an acid rain warning because of a dark circle around the Moon. It sounded pretty astonishing so I did what I usually do when I get one of these e-mails, I ran a Google search, and low and behold, the first result -- not the tenth, not the second, the first result -- said: “Acid Rain hoax”. The link was to one of my favorite sites, Snopes.com, the internet clearing house for sorting through e-mail cons, pranks and fabrications. In the old days, the wild-west days of 2002, before I knew about Snopes, I sometimes had to spend up to a grueling four minutes to disprove a hoax e-mail with a Google search. But now, with the help of Snopes, an inquiring mind can do it in under 60 seconds. Snopes is the Sgt. Joe Friday of the internet, it gives you "just the facts, ma'am". (BTW, Sgt. Friday never actually said those words on Dragnet. It's a bit of an urban legend. Wanna know how I know that? Snopes.)
May 21, 2010
Confessions of Gambler Part 2.
UPDATE: The original name of my blog, Intermittent Reinforcement, has changed since the date of this post, but I feel the concepts behind it still apply.
Since someone asked about the name of my blog...
"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me right back in." complains Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part III. For a lot of aspirants in Hollywood, this is a somewhat familiar feeling, except that they don't want to get out, they want to get inside. During the struggle, it often feels that you just had your last shot at the game, you just played your last chip, and this tournament is about to come to a halt for you.
And this is usually when the call comes in. "So-and-so liked your script over at fill-in-the-blank company." Now the roller coaster is back on again. In psychology they call it "intermittent reinforcement", when the reward for a specific action is received at intermittent and unpredictable intervals -- it's the most effective way to hook someone on performing a specific action. Other than being a very effective dog training tool, it's also how Las Vegas makes most of its money. If you sat in front of a slot machine and it never gave you a dime, you'd stop playing pretty fast. And if it gave you a dime every tenth try, you'd probably figure out the math after thirty tries or so -- free money has a way of turning people into math wizards. But instead, every slot machine is programmed to give out certain random amounts of money at random intervals, sometimes often, sometimes seldom, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot -- but always less than what it takes in. The slot machine is intermittent reinforcement at its purest form.
Hollywood is nowhere near as pure, but for many people, it works on the same principle.
That's it for now, but I will be back soon to write some more. Not sure when yet. Maybe soon, maybe not so soon, maybe I'll write a little, maybe a lot...
Since someone asked about the name of my blog...
"Every time I think I'm out, they pull me right back in." complains Michael Corleone in the Godfather Part III. For a lot of aspirants in Hollywood, this is a somewhat familiar feeling, except that they don't want to get out, they want to get inside. During the struggle, it often feels that you just had your last shot at the game, you just played your last chip, and this tournament is about to come to a halt for you.
And this is usually when the call comes in. "So-and-so liked your script over at fill-in-the-blank company." Now the roller coaster is back on again. In psychology they call it "intermittent reinforcement", when the reward for a specific action is received at intermittent and unpredictable intervals -- it's the most effective way to hook someone on performing a specific action. Other than being a very effective dog training tool, it's also how Las Vegas makes most of its money. If you sat in front of a slot machine and it never gave you a dime, you'd stop playing pretty fast. And if it gave you a dime every tenth try, you'd probably figure out the math after thirty tries or so -- free money has a way of turning people into math wizards. But instead, every slot machine is programmed to give out certain random amounts of money at random intervals, sometimes often, sometimes seldom, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot -- but always less than what it takes in. The slot machine is intermittent reinforcement at its purest form.
Hollywood is nowhere near as pure, but for many people, it works on the same principle.
That's it for now, but I will be back soon to write some more. Not sure when yet. Maybe soon, maybe not so soon, maybe I'll write a little, maybe a lot...
May 12, 2010
The 48 Laws and the 44th President
I know I said this blog would be more about the movie biz, but I happen to believe that everything in Hollywood is all about politics and everything in Washington is all about theater. And the one man who probably understands this more than most is Barack Obama.
There have been countless articles written about the 2008 election along with a crop of books from both left and right wing pundits dissecting Obama's rise to power. I had my own theory, a hypothesis that continues to strengthen over time; I think to understand Obama's strategies and motivations one needs to look no further than Robert Green's bestselling book, The 48 Laws of Power. In this seemingly mischievous tome published in 2000, Green dissects the history of power and leadership through the centuries into 48 lessons everyone in a management position would be well advised to learn. The book itself has garnered some controversy as well as a big following among not only the upwardly mobile of the corporate world, but famously among the hip-hop community on both the east and west coasts. I happen to be an unabashed fan of this book for its insight into the psyche of leaders, and their followers. It's also no secret that I'm a supporter of Mr. Obama, for his progressive politics, and for his mastery of the game of power.
Of course I have no way of knowing whether Obama has actually read this book--though I would be surprised if he didn't--but I do know that he fully understands and utilizes the principles outlined in it, and does so with expertise.
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| Robert Greene's 48 Laws |
Of course I have no way of knowing whether Obama has actually read this book--though I would be surprised if he didn't--but I do know that he fully understands and utilizes the principles outlined in it, and does so with expertise.