Toyota on Emotional Design

(sort of)

Interesting read from the TED Blog about a Toyota Camry that's going to be racing in NASCAR: TED Blog: And in walked emotion. They're surprised, as am I, to be writing about NASCAR, but it's an interesting marketing strategy on Toyota's part.

From TED:
"Of course, the Camry racing in NASCAR isn't the Toyota you and I can buy -- it's a pure race car with a motor that you can't get feeding power to the rear wheels. So it's more of a Toyota "Camry", but it looks the part, and it gives current and soon-to-be Toyota fans something to hoot and holler about in an irrational kind of way. ...

"Racing in NASCAR is part of of a larger trend of emotional design sweeping the entire Toyota-Lexus-Scion range."

The blog entry also points to some exciting new Toyota products -- especially surprising when the words "Toyota" + "exciting" weren't used in the same sentence before. My former Camry was called the "mom car" (and I'm not a mom!); the newer Honda Accord is, frankly, a little more exciting. Maybe my next car will be an exciting Camry!

Choice in the Library

Heard another *terrific* TED Talks podcast (and no, I have NO affiliation with Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) at all -- I should be so lucky!) about the value of choice in our lives. From the TED Blog: "Barry Schwartz is a sociology professor at Swarthmore College and author of The Paradox of Choice. In this talk, he persuasively explains how and why the abundance of choice in modern society is actually making us miserable."

My interpretation of what he said is that no choice is bad. Some choice is good. Lots of choices is really bad. Problems with too many choices include: lingering doubt ("maybe I should have bought both the black *and* the navy shoes. Why!! didn't I buy the navy shoes, too?!") and self-blame if the choice doesn't pan out ("darn it! I would have been so much happier if I'd bought the navy shoes instead of the black shoes") -- you can probably imagine more. Or you'll listen and hear Dr. Schwartz' ideas.

That's the interesting cog-sci element. But, as happens so often, cog-sci does meet lib-sci: we offer our patrons so many darn database choices -- it's no wonder they are confused and prefer Google. Not only is the search box simple, but the *choice* of which search engine to use is pretty simple, too.

We should make a greater effort to simplify our patrons' choices. Perhaps this is heresy; listen to the podcast and you might change your mind.

David Pogue on TEDTalks

Listened to David Pogue podcast on TEDTalks last week. It was awesome! He's funny, articulate, good with a tune, and a definite advocate for good design.

Watch the video here:


or download the podcast from the Ted Blog.

Check out other CogSci & librarian-friendly TED stuff on the Ted Blog.

Thoughtful Talk about Positive Psychology

Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology ("a field of study that examines healthy states, such as happiness, strength of character and optimism") spoke at the Ted Conference back in 2004, and the video has just been made available online:



He talks clearly about the state of positive psychology today, including some background. Psychology (arguably, clinical psychology, though he doesn't explicitly say this) has long been known for making "miserable people less miserable" - but Seligman argues that there is a cost to this: we become "victimologists," ignore "normal people" and genius, and we don't work on developing "interventions" on helping people become happier.

He describes three kinds of "happiness:"

1. The "pleasant life" includes having as many pleasures and pleasant emotions as possible. Some drawbacks: much of this is "heritable," meaning that you are born with it or you're not; and like tasty food, pleasant emotions can be "habituated," (Seligman analogizes French vanilla ice cream: the first bite is scrumptious, but by the sixth bite, you forget it's the best ice cream you've ever had).
2. The "good life," which Seligman describes as being about "flow:" when time stops, you have intense concentration, and you are totally consumed by what you're doing.
3. Meaning. Knowing what your strengths are and using them to good effect for yourself and others.
   

Finally, Seligman talks about successful "positive interventions" which help improve people's happiness. He assures the audience that studies for these interventions are done in the same "rigorous" manner in which drug effectiveness is tested, including long-term studies, placebo controlled, and random assignment of therapies. He describes some interesting activities which enhance the pleasant life:

1. Plan a beautiful day
2. Gratitude visit
3. Strengths date (with couples)
   
4. Fun vs. philanthropy (note: philanthropy has longer-lasting "pleasant" results than fun)

Watch the video for details about these activities, and check out his web site for even more information.

For More Information

• Seligman, Martin. What Positive Psychology Can Help You Become. TED Talks, February 2004.
• Authentic Happiness, Seligman's home page at the University of Pennsylvania. It includes:
• Strengths test - find what your strengths are to improve meaning, and a whole bunch of other questionnaires.
  
• Seligman, Martin, Tracey Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher Peterson. "Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions." American Psychologist 6.5 (2005):5-14.
• Links to more resources about positive psychology.
  
  

Favorite Podcasts

I've had two conversations recently in which I was discussing favorite science podcasts. Since this blog serves as a long-term memory aid, I'm listing, in alphabetical order, some of the sci-tech podcasts I like right now. (read about earlier favorites)

• All in the Mind Terrific 30-minute discussion of all things psychology from Australia's ABC Radio National. Host and science journalist Natasha Mitchell is very knowledgeable and has interviewed folks like Steven Pinker, Dan Dennett, and others in psychology, neuroscience, and even philosophy. I've blogged about many episodes. (note: their web site was down as I wrote this, but it should be back soon)
  
• Brain Science Podcast Host Ginger Campbell (an ER "doc" in Alabama) conducts terrific interviews and book talks about many cognitive science topics. She's interviewed Christof Koch, linguist Alice Gaby, and Brain Rules author John Medina. She asks good, knowledgeable questions and her conversations have inspired me to buy many books for myself and for my library. You can follow Ginger on Twitter, and read what I've blogged about prior Brain Science podcasts.
  
• Free Library of Philadelphia "Author Event" lectures, feature many types of authors including several scientists. I just listened to physicist Paul Davies' talk entitled Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life and was riveted by Simon Winchester talking about The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece. There are also lectures by Steven Pinker on his book The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature and Eric Kandel talking about In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind. Looks like mathematician and physicist Brian Greene will be speaking this fall! These hour-long talks usually contain a 30-minute lecture then ~30 minutes of Q&A with the audience.
  
• Future Tense 3-4 minute radio program subtitled "Public radio's daily journal of the digital age." Host (and Twitterer) Jon Gordon covers many aspects of technology, such as podcasting (not mainstream yet, apparently), PowerPoint, as well as many Mac and PC issues. I've blogged many Future Tense episodes.
  
• GSLIScast Audio recordings from many speaker presentations at Simmons Graduate School of Library & Information Science. They usually run 60-90 minutes.
• Radio Times with WHYY's Marty Moss-Coane. The majority of these 50-minute podcast are NOT about science, but the ones that are are terrific (and the others are, too). Moss-Coane has interviewed Avery Gilbert, psychologist and smell expert; Gary Marcus, Hampshire alum and director of NYU's Infant Language Learning Center; and Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. Unfortunately, the mp3 links have a short shelf-live at WHYY's site, so it's best to subscribe to the show via iTunes.
  
• SirsiDynix Institute Free, hour-long workshops with library leaders about various aspects of library science, including David Lee King's primer on video on the web and the awesome Maximizing the Power of the Web: Pew Internet & American Life Project's 2007 Findings with Lee Rainie.
  
• TED Talks 20-minute talks by prominent thinkers in many disciplines, including science, technology, arts, and more. Topics include Sugata Mitra showing how kids teach themselves; Patricia Burchat shedding light on dark matter; and Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web. I've blogged about several TED Talks.
  
• TVBarn Not science-related, but thoughtful conversations about TV between (Twitterer) Aaron Barnhart and a few radio talk show hosts across the country. My favorites are when he speaks with Paul Harris. They are usually 5-15 minutes but sometimes last longer.

Please add your favorite science podcast(s) in the comments!

Neuroanatomy Now

Neuroanatomy seems to be hot in my podcast feed lately. Ted | Talks just featured a presentation by Jill Bolte Taylor, neuroscientist and stroke survivor.


(or read the transcript)

And my favorite brain science podcaster, Ginger Campbell, just podcast a "whirlwind (55 minute) tour of brain anatomy, based on Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain (2008) by David Bainbridge. Thanks to Dr. Bainbridge’s generosity (and permission) Ginger has embedded some of the brain anatomy figures on her podcast site, along with the author’s legends. This MRI of Bainbridge's own brain is pretty cool.

For More Information

• Bainbridge, David. Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain. Harvard, 2008.
  
• A Brief Introduction to Brain Anatomy. Brain Science Podcast, March 7, 2008. See also the figures page.
  
• Taylor, Jill Bolte. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey. Lulu.com, 2006.
• -- Ted| Talks. February 2008.
  

More Football

Dark Days Follow Hard-Hitting Career in N.F.L.
By ALAN SCHWARZ
Published: February 2, 2007

Former New England Patriot Ted Johnson has symptoms comparable to early Alzheimer's -- as did Andre Waters, whom I blogged about earlier.

This article has a nifty graphic on concussions. Apparently Johnson had several "dings" or mini-concussions shortly after a major one, which he & some doctors feel are leading to his depression and other cognitive problems.

Food for thought this Superbowl weekend.

Concussion Study Among Athletes

Twelve retired sports players have pledged to donate their brains to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (at BU's School of Medicine) which is devoted to studying the long-term effects of concussions. The Center said last week in a press release that the brain of former Houston Oilers linebacker John Grimsley "... exhibited pronounced chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition that is often seen in retired athletes, such as boxers, who have a history of repeated concussions.

The New York Times notes that one of the NFL players who is donating his brain, former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, "... hoped the center would help clarify the issue of concussions’ long-term effects, which have been tied to cognitive impairment and depression in several published studies." The Times reports that the NFL believes that "... the long-term effects of concussions are uncertain."

Players do not intend their donation to be a condemnation of the NFL; the Times quotes Johnson: "I'm not being vindictive. I'm not trying to reach up from the grave and get the NFL. But any doctor who doesn't connect concussions with long-term effects should be ashamed of themselves." ESPN.com quotes former NFL linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski: "There might be a connotation that this is a witch hunt, point the finger at the NFL. It's just not like that."

Six NFL players' brains have been examined post-mortem, and five were found to have evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Dr. Ann C. McKee, a co-director of the new brain-study center, told the Times:

“I’ve seen thousands of brains of individuals with neurogenerative diseases and debilitating diseases. I can say this is identical to the pugilistica dementia that I’ve seen in boxers in their 70s and 80s. It’s milder because the patients are younger. But once triggered, it seems to progress. The people that develop this disease, most of them show symptoms 10 or 20 years after retirement. It progresses inexorably until death.”

While it's only five cases, McKee says, it is a strong argument for "unequivocal evidence that on-field impacts were a primary cause of the damage, perhaps in association with genetic and other factors her program will attempt to identify."

Boston University released a statement about the study on September 26, which includes some convincing images of brain damage which is an "an indicator of the degenerative brain disease CTE." The images from Dr. McKee show a "microscopic brain section from a 65-year-old control subject," along with a creepy image of linebacker John Grimsley's brain, and a disturbing image of the same cells of "a 73-year-old world-champion boxer with end-stage CTE and dementia."

The press release at Boston University quotes John Grimsley's wife Virginia, who says she plans to reach out to more NFL players, urging them to consider participating in the BU study. "The stigma needs to go away that you’re a sissy if you come out of the game and don’t go back in. A concussion is a big deal. It’s not just a ding."

For More Information

• Former players to donate brains for study of concussions. ESPN.com, September 24, 2008.
• Daniloff, Caleb. NFL, U.S. Soccer Athletes Donate Brains to BU: New Center to Study Concussions and Permanent Damage. BU Today: Science & Technology. September 26, 2008.
  
• Schwartz, Alan. 12 Athletes Leaving Brains to Concussion Study. New York Times, September 24, 2008.
  

"Infectiously Exuberant [Lexicographical] Talk"

Terrific TedTalk by Erin McKean, editor in chief of the Oxford American Dictionary; on the TedTalks web site, they call her infectiously exuberant, and I'd have to agree. It's 15 minutes, but I could have listened for much longer.


On the word "lexicographical": it's a double dactyl, defined by the OED thusly: "Prosody. A metrical foot consisting of a long syllable followed by two short (or, in modern verse, of an accented syllable and two unaccented)." Heh heh, she said "double dactyl".

McKean suggests that the "book-shaped" dictionary no longer going to be the "only shape dictionaries come in." "No one hugs dictionaries", she asserts (tho' honestly, I have been known to pet a dictionary's pages ...)

Further, she defines serendipity -- known in dictionary-land as well as library-land -- as finding unknown things because finding the original item was "so damn difficult."

One of her favorite words? Erinaceous. From the OED again: "Pertaining to the hedgehog family; of the nature of a hedgehog."

Her metaphors and similes are delightful, and her enthusiasm for words and dictionaries is inspiring. If you use words, you should watch this presentation.

For More Information
* Erin's bio @ TedTalks
* Redefining the dictionary: Erin McKean on TED.com Recorded, March 2007 in Monterey Calif. and released online August 30, 2007. Also available via iTunes.
Erin's two blogs:
* Dictionary Evangelist
* A Dress A Day

Rama @ TEDTalks

Vilayanur Ramachandran was recently featured on TEDTalks.

He talked about creativity & the brain, using these three concepts to illustrate his points:
1. Face perception
2. Phantom limbs
3. Synesthesia
Fascinating, as always.



eta: the embedded video no longer works. This link will take you to his talk at TED.

Tidbits

Been remiss in posting lately, mostly because of teaching, work, and ... the article I'm writing for Library Journal on teaching part-time & working full-time. Yipes.

Anyway, here are some podcasts I plan to listen to this week:

• Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Dennett, and David Pogue on TedTalks -- you can download mp3s of their ~20-minute talks, or watch them on video. They say: "The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration."


• ScienceFriday talks about closing the EPA Library: "the US Environmental Protection Agency plans to close the library at its Washington headquarters on October 1, with materials currently available to staff and the public being boxed up for possible later digitization. Leaked budget documents say that similar 'deaccessioning procedures'may be on tap for regional libraries in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City."


• Judy Woodruff talking about advertisers & facebook on the NewsHour. Maybe some useful ideas for librarians-as-marketers?

Just finished listening to Simon Winchester read his book Krakatoa [the day the world exploded, August 27, 1883]. Not quite cognitive science, but very intersesting, well-told, and well-read science nonetheless. If you have 10 hours to listen to something, and you have even a moderate interest in volcanoes / tsunamis, this is worth a listen.