Growing up, my father felt it was important for my brother and me to know about our roots as dirt farmers and coal miners. My mother and father were raised in the coal mining regions on the tri-state border of Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. It was a cultural conflict for them. On the one hand, they wanted us to learn about our Appalachian heritage, on the other they never wanted us to emulate or be around people that lacked in education or standing to a certain degree.…
Category: Cultural Questions
Psychology, Design and Economics of Slot-Machines
I found this great link in a Slashdot post that points to a Stanford class on design taught by Michael Shanks. It is by two students, William Choi and Antoine Sindhu, on the design, psychology, economics and social impact of the slot machine.
“Quick, look over there. No, don’t stare Dammit!”
These are the hushed tones of people celebrity watching. Someone in my office was recently talking about an experience a friend had seeing a celebrity in “real life” Having lived in LA for a bit, I can tell you that few are immune to the odd other-world feeling of seeing someone famous in the flesh. But why do we get those feelings, these are people with jobs and in some cases apparently serious personal issues.…