Nov 27 2012: We want to be politically correct, we don't want to hurt others feelings. Sometimes I imagine what would happen if for example everybody is honest with let's say if somebody is overweight, her feelings will get hurt but that hurt may make that person change and be healthier if that's the case. Pain is part of life. I think that if a simple cure for cancer is discovered today, let's say drinking lemon juice with cinnamon, tomorrow there will be a lot of people out of jobs, a huge blow to the economy worldwide, lots of companies out of business. Same thing with a cheap fuel, and also if people stop believing in gods. Too big of a change for the world to handle, a lot of pain, but you can't make an omelette without breaking the eggs.
May 9 2012: This analogy reminds me the story of Adam and Eve, where they ate from the three of knowledge, in that fable the information was literally eaten, and then they were punished and outcast by the "godvernment" for being informed and knowing the thruth.
Apr 24 2012: I think this has to do a lot with the appreciation we receive back from the person we make the donation to. For example, if I give a 100 dollars to my mother she will appreciate it a lot and thank me very much wich will make me happy because I made her happy, on the other hand, if I take the 100 dollars and put them in a random mailbox in a poor neighborhood and run away I don't think I will feel that happy (unless I entertain the idea that it will be used for a good cause instead of drugs), or if I give it to someone and they don't appreciate it, instead that will make me sad. Being recognized and appreciated makes people happy, if you buy something for yourself do it as a prize for being a good parent, hardworker, good student, whatever you think you deserve recognition for and that will make you happier than if you do it with the guilt that you don't deserve it or that you can use that money for a better cause. Recognize and appreciate others and yourself, and that will make you and them happy, no money involved necessary.
Apr 23 2012: (I'm not a cosmologist or related). When a star is at the end of its life it collapses on itself and then explodes in a supernova. What if the Big Bang was just that, a super massive object, let's call it mother star that exploded and that created what we call the universe? And in space you have many mother stars that we can't detect because they are too far appart. What if galaxies are accelerating away from us because we are still in that expansion part of the explossion?
Nov 28 2011: I don't have the exact link of the one that I read, but you can look for it on google or wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion
There's a lot of information about that topic on wikipedia, I also have a link of a site were you can do a test to see how you do on self defeating behaviors, which is related. I could send it to you if you would like.
Nov 16 2011: One thing that I find interesting is that sometimes we use time absolutes: The customer is "always" right, the bread "always" falls with the buttered side down, etc. We say "always" but in reality and what we mean is "usually" (at least for the buttered bread), but by expressing it as an absolute we might perceive it differently. I was reading an article about cognitive distortions where just by changing expressions like "I'm always stressed at work" by "I'm usually stressed at work" makes a difference in the perception of the amout of stress. It would be interesting to know if there's a language out there where things have to be expressed literally and how people perceive those things because of their language.
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There's a lot of information about that topic on wikipedia, I also have a link of a site were you can do a test to see how you do on self defeating behaviors, which is related. I could send it to you if you would like.
A comment on Conversation: HOW DOES OUR NATIVE LANGUAGE AFFECT OUR CONCEPTION OF TIME?