I'd feel exactly the same way about this if it was built in Canada (my home), or anywhere else. It's human pride, whether it is over and against other nations or nature itself. It is not practical, it is dangerous and likely just comes from the machoism "Bigger is Better". All this kind of thing makes me sick to the heart when I think about how petty and superficial the motives are and how real and painful the consequences can be.
Addicted to dopamine, the natural reward chemical in the brain. Scientists have out-fitted rats and monkeys with electrods that stimulate the septal area of the ventral tegmentum, which can be activated by pressing a lever.
"Laboratory rewards can establish compulsive self-administration habits of seeking and ingesting that qualify as addiction (1).Rats and monkeys have been shown to work in a compulsive manner to achieve intravenous injections of stimulants, and when access to the drugs is not limited, they will self-administer the drugs to the point of severe weight loss and death.[2] This demonstrates that the habit of self-administration for intracranial brain stimulation or drug injections becomes compulsive almost immediately. BSR is hypothesized to be so effective in establishing compulsive habits because it bypasses the synaptic barriers in the sensory pathways to directly activate the reward pathway. The lack of delay in the reinforcement of a behavior motivated by BSR increases its effectiveness because even a delay of 1 second between the lever-press and the reward delivery can reduce its effectiveness .[2] BSR offers insights into the neuroadaptations involved in reinforcement and addiction."
Just remember, when you are old or incapacitated you are a burden to us, our lives are measured in monetary value, and if yours is in the red, you best check out. We don't want to have to deal with you. /sarcasm
Genes are important but actually nurture is more important. That is the census among most developmentalists. With the discovery of genes and genetic causes there has been a rising reliance on genetic determinism. But this is illusory. Evolutionary psychologists are not experts in neuroplasticity. And this economist is not an expert in developmentalism.
At roughly age 2, children begin wandering away from their mothers/fathers. If mom/dad is in the kitchen doing dishes, baby will linger around, but will eventually wander into another room. This is exploratory behavior that is also a healthy separation from the parent. However, 2 year olds generally lack object permanence and will begin to cry when they've lost sight of mom/dad.
As a parent, it is your job to raise an individual. Not some-one hopelessly dependent on a watchful eye, or on approval/disapproval. Your job is to raise a self-reliant individual and that means allowing them to explore and hurt themselves on occasion. Pain is the primary sensation by which we learn.
When I was about 10 years old I was having harsh reactions to cats and dogs. My eyes would get red and itchy along with my nose-sniffles. I went to the doc and got a scratch-test which confirmed I am allergic to cat and dog urine and saliva. I've pretty much lived with either a cat, dog or both for the past 20 years without the use of antihistamines or other "solutions" and I guess my body has adapted to it because I don't have those symptoms anymore.
It reminds me of when I moved from the sunshine coast in British Columbia, where the weather is mild and the temperature comfortable, to Ontario mid-winter where the air is freezing cold and awash with snow. I remember wearing a heavy winter jacket unlike anything I'd ever seen and still shivering in my boots. Meanwhile my cousins who had grown up in Ontario were lightly dressed in T-shirts and what looked like fall coats. They were not shivering at all.
I use the same trick to get to sleep as I do for everything else I need to overcome. I remember that life isn't about me. I am not my own. Then all the nonsense that circulates through my head disappears. All thought and concern disappears and I drift into sleep. I apply this to everything, if I am feeling physially drained I remind myself that the pain isn't about me. The pain is about growth. I suppose this wouldn't work for most, but it works for me because I realize that I can not be in possession of myself, in the same way an apple could not possess itself. It simply is what it is. It is there to interact with something else, hence not there for itself. When my focus is too much about me, the pain I feel, both physical and emotional increases. It becomes something I possess and not a momentary occurance. I think clinging to thoughts keeps us awake. To let go of yourself is a liberating experience. To be clear I don't stop doing chores, I just stop considering that I am doing them, and that it sucks to be me doing them. I don't think "Well it has to be done", "Someone has to do it", while doing them I think "Dishes", it's all about dishes. There are no games I *could* be playing, no parties to go to. Just dishes, and when I go to bed; sleep is happening.
I also sleep during the day on a fairly busy school-bus route with my head close to the street-side of the house. Meanwhile my girlfriend gets up and gets ready to work at 8AM. So it works pretty good. But I should stess this has come only after 5 years of intensive study into psychology, spirituality and contemplative meditation. If you don't know the value in what I'm talking about already, your mind is likely to throw out all kinds of disagreement which centers around what "I" (you) get out of it. The whole key is to subdue that "I".
One of the reasons that appears smart to us is because we aren't much different from sheep. This is the reason old parables used sheep as an analogue for humans. Sheep are myopic, only able to see a short distance in-front of them. They are strong herd animals, probably because they can't see that far. However they can see almost 180 degrees peripheral. There are two traditional ways to herd sheep; by sheep-dogs or horses (using fear) and by buckets of food (using desire). Like all animals, humans too are either driven by fear or desire (desire is king, even fleeing from fear is a form of desire to get away from a threat).
Many of us claim to be shephards using fear to herd our fellow sheep to what we think are greener pastures. But because we rely on fear we are not really that far-sighted ourselves. A good shephard recognizes the sheep are locked-in to fear and desire and choose to lead the sheep by buckets of food. In the Christian parable this refers to "spiritual food" which at first is like "milk" suckled from the teet of religion and can contain all manner of fantastical delusion, but the Bible also refers to "solid spiritual food" which is withheld from the majority of sheep because they would simply run away in fear.
So, actually, on older vending machines you can lift up the plate that covers the shoot and there is a switch. If you press the switch upwards it dispenses product. It is usually part-way up a slot on the right side, so you have to take a penny or other change and flick it up the slot. You may lose the penny but you get the product for 1c. BTW, I've only done this once to verify it and it was an arcade game. Most newer vending machines are protected by a separate plate connected to the first plat in an L-shape that blocks the slot when the dispenser shoot is open.
The sheep probably just started licking the machine and eventually flicked the switch with his tongue. After so many times she would learn how to hack the machine, but she wouldn't need much 'intelligence' to do it, just a strong desire for treats and the ability to learn from experience.
The Tower of Babel reference is coming. The old fable illustrates a key principle. No matter how good we think we are, some natural (A.k.a. Godly) event will chop us down and all our towers.
It may not be a pissing competition between humans. If such a structure were built at home we'd be apt to say it was part of a "human" aspiration to achieve new heights. The key point is actually human pride over and against nature (a.k.a. God)
The saddest part is that this very deliberate and back-handed way of promoting a product results in a consumer who asserts "I don't know why I like them, I just do, now leave me alone."
transference - the advertiser shows you an image that you have strong affective associations with, then they toss in their product to generate an assocative link in your brain.
Cat -> Cute -> Lottery
According to Donald Olding Hebb "cells that fire together wire together". The first time you see this ad there is a metabolic processes which ever so slightly connects the neurons for Cat & Cute up with the neurons for Russian Lottery. If you see this on television, it will probably be during a 30m or 1h block of time, and the ad will run every commercial break, exposing you to the technique multiple times in a single sitting. The repeated exposure has a compounding effect on the associative link. The actual process is known as Long-Term Potentiation.
Interestingly, I offer a similar operation where I cut away parts of your soul, the parts that aren't satisfied with who you are and cause you to engage in all kinds of personal augmenation. Infection isn't a problem, though there is a small chance I might take off a bit too much.
The portrait on the wall for Sweety Todd looks like Infomania's Sergio Cilli. In-fact, I believe this is the picture: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1826186/mediaindex
Promos are usually pretty silly, if she had been doing this just because she's rich and possessive of her dog, that'd be a bit different. Still a waste of resources.
"Laboratory rewards can establish compulsive self-administration habits of seeking and ingesting that qualify as addiction (1).Rats and monkeys have been shown to work in a compulsive manner to achieve intravenous injections of stimulants, and when access to the drugs is not limited, they will self-administer the drugs to the point of severe weight loss and death.[2] This demonstrates that the habit of self-administration for intracranial brain stimulation or drug injections becomes compulsive almost immediately. BSR is hypothesized to be so effective in establishing compulsive habits because it bypasses the synaptic barriers in the sensory pathways to directly activate the reward pathway. The lack of delay in the reinforcement of a behavior motivated by BSR increases its effectiveness because even a delay of 1 second between the lever-press and the reward delivery can reduce its effectiveness .[2] BSR offers insights into the neuroadaptations involved in reinforcement and addiction."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_stimulation_reward
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus_accumbens
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Reward
At roughly age 2, children begin wandering away from their mothers/fathers. If mom/dad is in the kitchen doing dishes, baby will linger around, but will eventually wander into another room. This is exploratory behavior that is also a healthy separation from the parent. However, 2 year olds generally lack object permanence and will begin to cry when they've lost sight of mom/dad.
As a parent, it is your job to raise an individual. Not some-one hopelessly dependent on a watchful eye, or on approval/disapproval. Your job is to raise a self-reliant individual and that means allowing them to explore and hurt themselves on occasion. Pain is the primary sensation by which we learn.
It reminds me of when I moved from the sunshine coast in British Columbia, where the weather is mild and the temperature comfortable, to Ontario mid-winter where the air is freezing cold and awash with snow. I remember wearing a heavy winter jacket unlike anything I'd ever seen and still shivering in my boots. Meanwhile my cousins who had grown up in Ontario were lightly dressed in T-shirts and what looked like fall coats. They were not shivering at all.
I also sleep during the day on a fairly busy school-bus route with my head close to the street-side of the house. Meanwhile my girlfriend gets up and gets ready to work at 8AM. So it works pretty good. But I should stess this has come only after 5 years of intensive study into psychology, spirituality and contemplative meditation. If you don't know the value in what I'm talking about already, your mind is likely to throw out all kinds of disagreement which centers around what "I" (you) get out of it. The whole key is to subdue that "I".
Many of us claim to be shephards using fear to herd our fellow sheep to what we think are greener pastures. But because we rely on fear we are not really that far-sighted ourselves. A good shephard recognizes the sheep are locked-in to fear and desire and choose to lead the sheep by buckets of food. In the Christian parable this refers to "spiritual food" which at first is like "milk" suckled from the teet of religion and can contain all manner of fantastical delusion, but the Bible also refers to "solid spiritual food" which is withheld from the majority of sheep because they would simply run away in fear.
So, actually, on older vending machines you can lift up the plate that covers the shoot and there is a switch. If you press the switch upwards it dispenses product. It is usually part-way up a slot on the right side, so you have to take a penny or other change and flick it up the slot. You may lose the penny but you get the product for 1c. BTW, I've only done this once to verify it and it was an arcade game. Most newer vending machines are protected by a separate plate connected to the first plat in an L-shape that blocks the slot when the dispenser shoot is open.
The sheep probably just started licking the machine and eventually flicked the switch with his tongue. After so many times she would learn how to hack the machine, but she wouldn't need much 'intelligence' to do it, just a strong desire for treats and the ability to learn from experience.
It may not be a pissing competition between humans. If such a structure were built at home we'd be apt to say it was part of a "human" aspiration to achieve new heights. The key point is actually human pride over and against nature (a.k.a. God)
Cat -> Cute -> Lottery
According to Donald Olding Hebb "cells that fire together wire together". The first time you see this ad there is a metabolic processes which ever so slightly connects the neurons for Cat & Cute up with the neurons for Russian Lottery. If you see this on television, it will probably be during a 30m or 1h block of time, and the ad will run every commercial break, exposing you to the technique multiple times in a single sitting. The repeated exposure has a compounding effect on the associative link. The actual process is known as Long-Term Potentiation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_potentiation