Apr 19 2013: I'm not so sure our political system is broken. The USA and its average citizen are presumably doing about as well as most other countries. The problems that the USA (and other countries) experience may be more a product of human nature than distribution of political influence.
Apr 3 2013: Those brushless motors and lithium polymer batteries have been used in the RC model airplane/helicopter hobby for several years now, and the RC hobby demand is the reason they so widely available at a reasonable cost. That size of RC motor, direct from Hong Kong, costs around $100, the battery maybe $300, the speed controller maybe $100, The belt could be $10 from a vacuum cleaner. The radio receiver is maybe $30. The transmitter and the skateboard structure appear to be custom designed and engineered.
Lipo batteries used in RC model airplanes generally go bad and need replacing after 50 to 100 rechargings. Some versions of lithium battery last longer but they also cost two or three times as much.
Feb 23 2013: Explains why they are so difficult to swat. They have the advantage. A fly's neural signal only has to travel about a mm from its eye to its muscle but mine has to travel a meter or so, which I suppose allowis them to react faster than I can swat.
Jan 24 2013: Long term, the Dow has steadily risen. Long term, quality of life has steadily risen. Short term, they both fluctuate around a steadily increasing trend line. The Dow and the economy don't fluctuate up and down together at the same time. The Dow tends to lead in anticipation of economic changes. Economic prosperity, stock market investment, and economic profits all slosh back and forth between more wealthy countries now-days. The USA's "national quality of life" can be left holding an empty bag when, on average, there may have been quality-of-life improvements world wide.
Jan 17 2013: Your TV science proves global warming has already melted the ice by showing images of a polar bear in water, implying ice had melted right out from underneath the poor thing before it had a chance to move. Real science is http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/28/sea_levels_new_science_climate_change/
Jan 7 2013: Sea level has been rising at only about 3 or 4 mm per year so even if that rate were to triple it would still take 1250 years or so for seas to rise the 15 meters in Jonathan's scenario. Most structures don't last 1250 years so would likely be rebuild on higher ground as they become dilapitated and before they are inundated, so long as those other more imminent asteroids doesn't kill us off first.
Nov 11 2012: Sounds like what his study discovered is that people's minds tend to wander while they are bored and people are unhappy with being bored, which is a pretty well known and simple concept. If his study had controlled for boredom maybe it would have revealed more insight on the associations of focus and happiness.
I wonder how often participants responded to the app while actively making love or commuting?
Oct 25 2012: I guess he is saying that consciousness is an illusion of memory, which makes you think you are aware of a moment in real time but which is really just a collection of microseconds worth of short term memories that are not quite 100% accurate.
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A comment on Talk: Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim
A comment on Talk: Sanjay Dastoor: A skateboard, with a boost
Lipo batteries used in RC model airplanes generally go bad and need replacing after 50 to 100 rechargings. Some versions of lithium battery last longer but they also cost two or three times as much.
A comment on Talk: Michael Dickinson: How a fly flies
A comment on Conversation: The Dow is steadily improving while the national quality of life is consistently worsening.
A reply on Talk: Jonathan Haidt: How common threats can make common (political) ground
A comment on Talk: Sue Austin: Deep sea diving … in a wheelchair
A reply on Talk: Jonathan Haidt: How common threats can make common (political) ground
A comment on Talk: Jonathan Haidt: How common threats can make common (political) ground
A comment on Talk: Matt Killingsworth: Want to be happier? Stay in the moment
I wonder how often participants responded to the app while actively making love or commuting?
A comment on Talk: Dan Dennett: The illusion of consciousness