As I sit at the computer right now, I'm seething.
I truly do not understand why it is so difficult to take your dirty clothes (as you take them off) and put them down the laundry chute that is six steps away from your room. All three of my kids have inherited my wife's comfort level with living in a mess.
I just argued with my son who has his entire floor covered with clothes. I asked him what these clothes were and why they were on the floor and he rather indignantly replied that they're supposed to be on the floor because they're dirty. I do not get it. When I take any article of clothing off, I hold them in my hands or have them nearby in order to drop them down the laundry chute. It is not a difficult task. More importantly, I do not understand how his room can even get to that stage of messiness. I mean, surely when these kids walk into their rooms and see the floor covered with clothes, some rational thoughts go through their heads wondering why the entire floor is covered with clothes. I'm not talking about one or two items. But, can you explain to me how you can walk into a room where the floor is covered with dirty clothes (again and again and again) and not even notice that they need to be disposed off appropriately (with the relatively effortless act of flinging them down a laundry chute)?
There must be some research into this ...
Monday, June 25, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
First Born Intelligence
It looks like latest research supports something I've believed for a while based on anecdotal evidence. In generally, in families with multiple children, the first born ends up being more intelligent not because of genetics but because of the way their parents treat them.
It's hard for a fish to see the water it lives in. But, I often hear comments from relatives (okay, mainly my Mom) that I seem to be harder on my eldest son than I am on the other kids. While I often brush away these comments, sometimes, when confronted with specific examples, I see how I might expect more from him than I expect from the other kids. It is so easy to compare his performance with the other kids and demand that he meet a higher standard than the others because he's "so much older."
I think it's unfair, but at least I can now rest easy knowing that it's for his good in the long run! :-)
It's hard for a fish to see the water it lives in. But, I often hear comments from relatives (okay, mainly my Mom) that I seem to be harder on my eldest son than I am on the other kids. While I often brush away these comments, sometimes, when confronted with specific examples, I see how I might expect more from him than I expect from the other kids. It is so easy to compare his performance with the other kids and demand that he meet a higher standard than the others because he's "so much older."
I think it's unfair, but at least I can now rest easy knowing that it's for his good in the long run! :-)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
What Will You Have Done At The End of Today?
I know this is a problem I have, but I can't seem to get out of the trap and it's coloring my perceptions of other people. Sometimes I think it's unfair, but at other times I wonder whether people really are relatively inefficient users of time.
Enough with being cryptic. I'm talking about the fact that I'm a list maker. I have so many things going on and so many tasks that need to be completed that I'm completely driven by my Outlook calendar. If it doesn't get on my calendar, it doesn't get done. Every little task that needs to be done must be scheduled on my calendar. I actually use my calendar as a "To Do List" of sorts. Because I'll often schedule a task during any empty spot on my schedule and not actually do it at that time. However, it then gets on my reminder list automatically and pops up whenever I open Outlook at the start of every day. So, even if I didn't complete a task, it stares me in the face every day all day.
The interesting thing is that when I don't actually fill up my calendar with tasks, I still keep busy doing lots of things (I'm never just sitting idle wondering what to do), but I don't get anything important done on those days. I stay busy, but at the end of the day, I realize I got very little done. As a result, I have started to dislike people who don't maintain a clear To Do list of what they want to achieve that day. I believe that they essentially end up being completely unproductive during the day. They stay "busy" and feel that they're oh so busy, but don't really get any projects done. I think if you don't set clear goals of what you're going to achieve each day, you'll end up finding ways to fill up your time with inefficient nonsense. If you don't have a clearly defined set of tasks for each hour of the day, it is easy to keep busy and then not make any headway on your major projects. It's not that I'm never behind. In fact, as I said, I often don't get things done during the scheduled time slots since numerous other things crop up each day. However, when that happens, because it is now an ongoing reminder, I know when I'm behind and then schedule times at night or weekends to catch up. If you don't have the task list, you could end up not getting much work done on major projects and not lose any sleep over it. You still watch TV, putter around and relax (because you've worked so hard getting nothing done during the day), get to bed early, and wake up the next day with a fresh goal of nothing.
If you don't know exactly what you're going to get done each day or week, that's exactly what you'll get done.
Enough with being cryptic. I'm talking about the fact that I'm a list maker. I have so many things going on and so many tasks that need to be completed that I'm completely driven by my Outlook calendar. If it doesn't get on my calendar, it doesn't get done. Every little task that needs to be done must be scheduled on my calendar. I actually use my calendar as a "To Do List" of sorts. Because I'll often schedule a task during any empty spot on my schedule and not actually do it at that time. However, it then gets on my reminder list automatically and pops up whenever I open Outlook at the start of every day. So, even if I didn't complete a task, it stares me in the face every day all day.
The interesting thing is that when I don't actually fill up my calendar with tasks, I still keep busy doing lots of things (I'm never just sitting idle wondering what to do), but I don't get anything important done on those days. I stay busy, but at the end of the day, I realize I got very little done. As a result, I have started to dislike people who don't maintain a clear To Do list of what they want to achieve that day. I believe that they essentially end up being completely unproductive during the day. They stay "busy" and feel that they're oh so busy, but don't really get any projects done. I think if you don't set clear goals of what you're going to achieve each day, you'll end up finding ways to fill up your time with inefficient nonsense. If you don't have a clearly defined set of tasks for each hour of the day, it is easy to keep busy and then not make any headway on your major projects. It's not that I'm never behind. In fact, as I said, I often don't get things done during the scheduled time slots since numerous other things crop up each day. However, when that happens, because it is now an ongoing reminder, I know when I'm behind and then schedule times at night or weekends to catch up. If you don't have the task list, you could end up not getting much work done on major projects and not lose any sleep over it. You still watch TV, putter around and relax (because you've worked so hard getting nothing done during the day), get to bed early, and wake up the next day with a fresh goal of nothing.
If you don't know exactly what you're going to get done each day or week, that's exactly what you'll get done.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Why Are You Doing That?
I've always been interested in attribution theory. Basically, how do individuals observing an action decide to what to attribute that action? Why is it that two people observing a single person acting a certain way can make differing attributions? When do you make personal attributions to a behavior as opposed to situational attributions (that is, when do you you attribute a behavior to a person's conscious decision to act that way as opposed to a response to an external situation)?
I have always tended to make situational attributions when others make personal attributions.
But when there is a high consistency of behavior across situations, theory suggests that people would make personal attributions.
What do you do when you think someone is trying to make your life miserable? Whenever you tell them what you would like, you find them ensuring that the opposite happens? And that happens over and over again in a variety of different situations?
For some reason, I find it hard to overcome my natural tendency to make situational attributions. Could it be that this person is actively working to undermine me?
I have always tended to make situational attributions when others make personal attributions.
But when there is a high consistency of behavior across situations, theory suggests that people would make personal attributions.
What do you do when you think someone is trying to make your life miserable? Whenever you tell them what you would like, you find them ensuring that the opposite happens? And that happens over and over again in a variety of different situations?
For some reason, I find it hard to overcome my natural tendency to make situational attributions. Could it be that this person is actively working to undermine me?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Top Spin
I started taking tennis lessons several months ago and started to really enjoy the game a lot. Then, the coach got busy with his college teams and although I continued to play occasionally, I stopped getting the coaching for several months.
For some strange reason, I really struggled with my forehand and had no trouble with my backhand. For most people, it is the opposite. I was completely unable to manage any top spin with my forehand and continually sliced the ball when returning a forehand shot.
I knew it was something very simple I was doing wrong and longed for a return to the coaching. Amazingly, when we had our first lesson in months this week, I explained my problem and frustration to the coach and he fixed it almost instantly. Essentially, he just asked me to stand with my racket held low to the ground instead of up above my waist. Almost immediately I could see a difference in my swing and the way the ball responded to being hit. I still need to practice this swing to see if the problem really is fixed, but his explanation made sense. More evidence of the importance of having a good teacher!
For some strange reason, I really struggled with my forehand and had no trouble with my backhand. For most people, it is the opposite. I was completely unable to manage any top spin with my forehand and continually sliced the ball when returning a forehand shot.
I knew it was something very simple I was doing wrong and longed for a return to the coaching. Amazingly, when we had our first lesson in months this week, I explained my problem and frustration to the coach and he fixed it almost instantly. Essentially, he just asked me to stand with my racket held low to the ground instead of up above my waist. Almost immediately I could see a difference in my swing and the way the ball responded to being hit. I still need to practice this swing to see if the problem really is fixed, but his explanation made sense. More evidence of the importance of having a good teacher!
Monday, June 18, 2007
An Exercise in Game Theory
My colleague and I who were traveling together from Poland had an experience on Sunday that should serve as an excellent discussion point on game theory. Okay, here's the setup: He and I were able to communicate on the flight in to Detroit and, since we had a VERY short time for a connecting flight, agreed that we would not wait for each other if one of us got their baggage early. We agreed that whoever got their bags would head straight to the gate of the connecting flight and see if there is any chance of getting on.
When we landed (we got our bags at the same time), we were told by the airline representative that we could not make the flight. Instead, we were booked on a later flight through a different city. So, we just decided to go to the gate for the new flight. On getting through security, I happened to look at some flight monitors and noticed that the earlier flight was delayed slightly and there was a very small chance that we could catch it if we rushed straight to the gate for that flight. I whirled around and could not see my colleague anywhere. He did not have a cell phone, so there was no way of contacting him. What would you do?
Well, I assumed that (a) either he also noticed that the flight was delayed and had headed straight to that gate, (b) he was walking towards the gate for the later flight and would notice that the earlier flight was delayed and rush there, or (c) he would never realize that the earlier flight was delayed and he would be comfortably ensconced at the gate for the later flight waiting for me. What would you do in this situation? If you go to the gate for the later flight looking for him, you will almost certainly miss the earlier flight. Perfect game theory situation where you have to respond in anticipation of how someone else will respond without being able to communicate with them!
I went running to the gate for the earlier flight, hoping he would already be there. In two of the three options he would be there. In the third option, neither one of us would make the earlier flight. It would have been foolish to head to the gate for the later flight and I assumed he would realize this and head straight to the gate for the earlier flight. No such luck. I was able to board the flight and get home earlier, never knowing what happened to my colleague (he managed to get another flight home).
I was surprised to find that he seemed upset that I had not come to the gate for the later flight to get him (given the time limitation, that would have been impossible). Amazingly, he seemed to suggest that he had noticed that the earlier flight was delayed but still chose to go to the gate for the later flight assuming I would come there. My own guess of his response was that if he had noticed the flight was delayed, obviously the previous agreement (which was premised on taking any possible chance of one of us managing to catch the earlier flight) would supercede the later decision to head to the gate for the later flight (since this later decision was based on the assumption that it was impossible to catch the earlier flight).
Obvious breakdown of game theory because of some indeterminate differences in our assumptions on how the other person would act. Strange and interesting ...
When we landed (we got our bags at the same time), we were told by the airline representative that we could not make the flight. Instead, we were booked on a later flight through a different city. So, we just decided to go to the gate for the new flight. On getting through security, I happened to look at some flight monitors and noticed that the earlier flight was delayed slightly and there was a very small chance that we could catch it if we rushed straight to the gate for that flight. I whirled around and could not see my colleague anywhere. He did not have a cell phone, so there was no way of contacting him. What would you do?
Well, I assumed that (a) either he also noticed that the flight was delayed and had headed straight to that gate, (b) he was walking towards the gate for the later flight and would notice that the earlier flight was delayed and rush there, or (c) he would never realize that the earlier flight was delayed and he would be comfortably ensconced at the gate for the later flight waiting for me. What would you do in this situation? If you go to the gate for the later flight looking for him, you will almost certainly miss the earlier flight. Perfect game theory situation where you have to respond in anticipation of how someone else will respond without being able to communicate with them!
I went running to the gate for the earlier flight, hoping he would already be there. In two of the three options he would be there. In the third option, neither one of us would make the earlier flight. It would have been foolish to head to the gate for the later flight and I assumed he would realize this and head straight to the gate for the earlier flight. No such luck. I was able to board the flight and get home earlier, never knowing what happened to my colleague (he managed to get another flight home).
I was surprised to find that he seemed upset that I had not come to the gate for the later flight to get him (given the time limitation, that would have been impossible). Amazingly, he seemed to suggest that he had noticed that the earlier flight was delayed but still chose to go to the gate for the later flight assuming I would come there. My own guess of his response was that if he had noticed the flight was delayed, obviously the previous agreement (which was premised on taking any possible chance of one of us managing to catch the earlier flight) would supercede the later decision to head to the gate for the later flight (since this later decision was based on the assumption that it was impossible to catch the earlier flight).
Obvious breakdown of game theory because of some indeterminate differences in our assumptions on how the other person would act. Strange and interesting ...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Simple Endings Are Never Easy
I was actually hoping to end my blogging about the Poland trip with a simple sentence about an uneventful trip back home on Saturday. Were I only that lucky ...
Early morning on Saturday, one of our hosts, Radek, picked us up at the hotel for the 2.5 hour drive to Warsaw from Olsztyn. Our flight was at 12 noon and everyone suggested that we leave by 6:30 AM to be safe. So we did. The drive to Warsaw airport was quite uneventful and we arrived at the airport very early (by 9:45 AM). After a little confusion about which terminal to go to, we waited around the crowded, disorganized and confused terminal for check in. It's weird. They have a medium-sized hall with a bunch of check-in windows along three sides of the hall. In the middle of this hall, there is a large jumble of people waiting for ther flight check-in to open. Mingled with this shifting mass of people are those who are already in line for their check-in counter. At first glance, it is difficult to see who is standing where and why. Eventually, with the help of an information window, we found put which counters would be open for our flight and just waited around for it to open.
The flight to Amsterdam was smooth and uneventful. Once in Amsterdam, we went through the security check for our flight and were told that it was delayed. We waited around for a few hours (with no additional information update) and then were told that the flight (which was scheduled to leave Amsterdam at 3:30 PM) had been "delayed" until 9 AM the next morning! Even this information we gathered from the mass of people who let out a collective graon. The announcement on what to do was made while some other airport announcements were being made and was basically unintelligible. There was a mass movement of bodies towards the counters as everyone asked everyone else around them what exactly was said. I gathered from the crowd that we were to go to baggage claim #3 to get hotel vouchers for the night.
At passport control, my colleague who was traveling with me got stuck (which I didn't know as he was behind me) because he had an Indian passport and they needed to issue him a visa to enter the Netherlands for the night. Meanwhile, I was issued a hotel voucher and shipped off to a poky hotel with tiny rooms. That started a whole bunch of events including numerous cross-continental calls as I tried to track down my colleague. Realizing that there are only two flights from Detroit to Duluth (one at 12 noon and one at 9:30 PM), I also called Northwest Airlines and had them rebook us on the 8 AM flight from Amsterdam as the 9 AM departure would result in us being unable to catch the 12 noon flight (and the idea of spending many more hours in Detroit at that point was not appealing). After a whole series of communications which are too long and confusing to detail here, I managed to get in touch with my colleague and asked him to get to the airport early. When I got to the airport, I was told that there was no way we could travel on the 8 AM flight since our baggage was loaded on the "delayed to 9 AM" flight. They emphasized that for international travel, the passenger must travel with the bags. After unsuccessfully speaking with many people and getting the same answer, we resigned ourselves to working things out after getting to Detroit.
On our arrival in Detroit, the ticket agent re-routed us through Minneapolis and then to Duluth, getting us in to Duluth at 6:30 PM. I specifically asked her if there was any chance of making the 12 noon flight and she said "No, it's too late for that one" since it was about 11:45 AM at this point. I even answered saying "I know, but I was hoping it was delayed." She shook her head.
Since there was plenty of time, I took my time going through security and sitting on a chair past the security to tie my shoelaces. Then, just for the heck of it, I wandered over to the bank of monitors to find that the 12 noon flight to Duluth had been delayed to (according tot he monitors) 12:17 PM. At this point it was a few minutes to 12 noon. I whirled around to look for my colleague to tell him we should just head to that gate to see if there is even a small chance of getting on the flight, but I could not find him. Assuming that he had walked past me (not having seen me waling over to these monitors), I ran out of the security area and headed to the "C" Terminal for the Duluth flight. I practically ran all the way (of course, it was the furthest terminal from where we were) and got to the gate to find them still boarding the flight. There was no sign of my colleague at the gate. I asked them if I could get on the flight, and after a whole set of nerve-racking phone calls and adjustments (too detailed to go into here), I found myself on the flight without my colleague. He obviously never checked the monitors to find out about the delayed flight and headed straight to the gate for our 3:30 flight to Minneapolis.
I arrived home (a day late) and recently checked to ensure that the 3:30 flight to Minneapolis (on which we were scheduled to fly) was on its way with my colleague and our baggage only to find that the airplane was indefinitely delayed due to mechanical problems that eventually led to an aircraft change. Amazingly, on this entire trip, not a single Northwest plane left on time and two of the four had mechanical problems. Something surely is a problem with this airline.
Early morning on Saturday, one of our hosts, Radek, picked us up at the hotel for the 2.5 hour drive to Warsaw from Olsztyn. Our flight was at 12 noon and everyone suggested that we leave by 6:30 AM to be safe. So we did. The drive to Warsaw airport was quite uneventful and we arrived at the airport very early (by 9:45 AM). After a little confusion about which terminal to go to, we waited around the crowded, disorganized and confused terminal for check in. It's weird. They have a medium-sized hall with a bunch of check-in windows along three sides of the hall. In the middle of this hall, there is a large jumble of people waiting for ther flight check-in to open. Mingled with this shifting mass of people are those who are already in line for their check-in counter. At first glance, it is difficult to see who is standing where and why. Eventually, with the help of an information window, we found put which counters would be open for our flight and just waited around for it to open.
The flight to Amsterdam was smooth and uneventful. Once in Amsterdam, we went through the security check for our flight and were told that it was delayed. We waited around for a few hours (with no additional information update) and then were told that the flight (which was scheduled to leave Amsterdam at 3:30 PM) had been "delayed" until 9 AM the next morning! Even this information we gathered from the mass of people who let out a collective graon. The announcement on what to do was made while some other airport announcements were being made and was basically unintelligible. There was a mass movement of bodies towards the counters as everyone asked everyone else around them what exactly was said. I gathered from the crowd that we were to go to baggage claim #3 to get hotel vouchers for the night.
At passport control, my colleague who was traveling with me got stuck (which I didn't know as he was behind me) because he had an Indian passport and they needed to issue him a visa to enter the Netherlands for the night. Meanwhile, I was issued a hotel voucher and shipped off to a poky hotel with tiny rooms. That started a whole bunch of events including numerous cross-continental calls as I tried to track down my colleague. Realizing that there are only two flights from Detroit to Duluth (one at 12 noon and one at 9:30 PM), I also called Northwest Airlines and had them rebook us on the 8 AM flight from Amsterdam as the 9 AM departure would result in us being unable to catch the 12 noon flight (and the idea of spending many more hours in Detroit at that point was not appealing). After a whole series of communications which are too long and confusing to detail here, I managed to get in touch with my colleague and asked him to get to the airport early. When I got to the airport, I was told that there was no way we could travel on the 8 AM flight since our baggage was loaded on the "delayed to 9 AM" flight. They emphasized that for international travel, the passenger must travel with the bags. After unsuccessfully speaking with many people and getting the same answer, we resigned ourselves to working things out after getting to Detroit.
On our arrival in Detroit, the ticket agent re-routed us through Minneapolis and then to Duluth, getting us in to Duluth at 6:30 PM. I specifically asked her if there was any chance of making the 12 noon flight and she said "No, it's too late for that one" since it was about 11:45 AM at this point. I even answered saying "I know, but I was hoping it was delayed." She shook her head.
Since there was plenty of time, I took my time going through security and sitting on a chair past the security to tie my shoelaces. Then, just for the heck of it, I wandered over to the bank of monitors to find that the 12 noon flight to Duluth had been delayed to (according tot he monitors) 12:17 PM. At this point it was a few minutes to 12 noon. I whirled around to look for my colleague to tell him we should just head to that gate to see if there is even a small chance of getting on the flight, but I could not find him. Assuming that he had walked past me (not having seen me waling over to these monitors), I ran out of the security area and headed to the "C" Terminal for the Duluth flight. I practically ran all the way (of course, it was the furthest terminal from where we were) and got to the gate to find them still boarding the flight. There was no sign of my colleague at the gate. I asked them if I could get on the flight, and after a whole set of nerve-racking phone calls and adjustments (too detailed to go into here), I found myself on the flight without my colleague. He obviously never checked the monitors to find out about the delayed flight and headed straight to the gate for our 3:30 flight to Minneapolis.
I arrived home (a day late) and recently checked to ensure that the 3:30 flight to Minneapolis (on which we were scheduled to fly) was on its way with my colleague and our baggage only to find that the airplane was indefinitely delayed due to mechanical problems that eventually led to an aircraft change. Amazingly, on this entire trip, not a single Northwest plane left on time and two of the four had mechanical problems. Something surely is a problem with this airline.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Retail Stores and Pig's Necks
We started the day with a breakfast meeting with Szeczpan Figiel, who is the Associate Dean for research at the University. He was headed to a conference and wanted to meet with us before he left. As we finished breakfast, Wojciech came in to pick us up for a visit to various retail distribution outlets in the city. I happened to mention that I wished I could have bought more CDs and he said that we would start at Media Markt, which is an electronics “hypermart.” This place was incredible.It is about twice the size of Best Buy and had all the CDs, DVDs, and electronics one could want. I quickly found a few CDs that I was looking for (I’ll be featuring them in my other blog next week) and walked around the store. The CD selection was about as big as a typical Best Buy and I found the same CDs I had purchased the previous day for about half the price. Since our objective was to visit as many different types of retailers during the morning, we couldn’t linger there. I of course could have spent all day there, but I was forced by the others to quickly pick up something and move on. So I did, with great regret.We then visited supermarkets, discount stores, convenience stores, independent kiosks, different styles of furniture stores, and more. It was a whirlwind breathtaking view of a variety of retail outlets available in
We then headed to the University for lunch followed by more meetings with groups of students. This sequence of meetings led directly to our presentation to students and faculty at the college. We had 46 people at the presentation, of which 7 were faculty. So, it was a relatively large group. The room was just steaming hot. I was wearing a full suit (with an undershirt) and so was sweating like a pig. Halfway through my presentation, it started pouring with rain. This was an incredibly heavy downpour. So, they shut the windows, which only raised the heat in the room another notch. Seriously, my entire shirt and suit were soaked in sweat by the time I was done. I must have looked funny, standing in the room spouting sweat like a fountain. Still, I think the presentation went well and was quite well received.
After the presentation, Wojciech was supposed to run us to the hotel to get changed before heading out to a restaurant for a Polish barbecue. Well, the downpour had flooded some roads and the streets were jammed with cars that weren’t going anywhere. After a few futile attempts to find a way around the traffic jams, we gave up and headed straight to the BBQ.
In addition to my ever present beer, I also really enjoyed the delicious kielbasa (commonly known in the
We were dropped back to the hotel at about 9 PM. I just finished packing and we leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning for
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Copernicus Droppings & Virgin Apparitions
We had a slower start today, with one of our hosts picking us up from the hotel at 9:45 AM. We headed into the town of
We then walked around the city and visited the local mall, bought a couple of unique products for use in our classes (you can buy McDonalds brand ketchup here). We also stopped by a music store in the mall (which I was told was the biggest music store in town) and looked for some interesting CDs. This was actually a very small store with a relatively small collection. I found a couple of interesting CDs and found them to be quite expensive. Since I didn’t think I’d get another chance to do any shopping, I went ahead and bought them.
We then headed to a restaurant near an ancient church in the town of
We were back in the hotel only long enough to change and quickly check email before one of our hosts, Wojciech Kozlowski, came by to pick us up for dinner at his apartment. Wojciech and his lovely family (wife who is a lawyer and two kids – a 16-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy) were great. While the young boy was off playing his PS2 during the evening, his pretty daughter, who is quite fluent in English as she is taking classes after school, and the rest of the family entertained us all evening. His wife had made a really spectacular spread for us. There were numerous dishes (I can’t remember all the names, sorry), several desserts, and beer, wine, and vodka. It seemed like she must have spent all day cooking the dishes. There really were more items than we could even sample. The family had just recently moved into this spectacular, modern apartment that was quite dazzling all around. It was clear that the place had been scrubbed and tidied for our visit. It felt like such a pity to waste all the food she had made, but she could have fed 12 people or more with all the food that had been made. To make matters worse, we had lunch only at about 4 PM. Apparently, the typical time for lunch in
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Early Beer and Stomach Lining
I broke a couple of personal records today. First, I had my first glass of beer before 9 AM. Second, for the first time, I digested something that could digest me. Both of these require the explanation that follows.
Today, we had a couple of business visits lined up. We started early in the morning. After a relatively uncomfortable night in a hot, non-a/c room (have I mentioned that we had no air conditioning?), we were up by 5:30 AM and at breakfast by 6:30. I was surprised to find that the room cost us about $200 for the night! Anyway, we left by 7 AM for the first business visit that our hosts had lined up. It happened to be at the Amber Brewery (I swear, I didn’t ask for this!). We arrived at the brewery at 8 AM and had a fascinating tour of the place. This is a very modern brewery (built about 1995 with the latest equipment and computer-controlled systems) that currently brews four primary brands: Zlote Lwy, Amber Red, Kozlak Bock, and their current flagship Piwo Zywe. The last is an all-natural unpasteurized beer that they have actually have achieved some level of success selling this beer in the Polish equivalent of Whole Foods stores. This is considered to be an “organic” and healthy brand of beer. Interestingly, it was also, to my tongue, the tastiest of the three. After the brewery tour, we had not choice but to taste the beers, which led to my pre-9 AM beer consumption. They also export a beer to the US under the “Kopernik” label. Our host at the brewery, Roman, was very friendly, intelligent, and clearly in charge. In addition to being the brew master, he also serves as the general manager of the brewery, responsible for all aspects of its running. A great brewery in a beautiful, rural setting. Make sure you check out their web site.
Next, we headed to the town of Łubiana (remember that Ł is pronounced as a W in Polish) to visit the famous Łubiana porcelain factory there. This was another fascinating tour as we saw the entire process of porcelain making from both the plastecine base as well as the “granulat” base. One is a clay like substance that is pressed into shape using a mold. The “granulat” which is a powdered form of the mixture (basically a mixture of a couple of types of unknown rock and quartz) is pressed into shape using high compression. The factory is amazingly modern and it was interesting to see the rows of robots mechanically performing a series of tasks in the manufacturing process. The actual inspection, buffing, and painting is done manually by hundreds of women who sit in rows and rows on a massive factory floor. Very interesting tour. We also visited the gift shop where I was unable to resist buying some porcelain mugs. If Jerrie had been with me to choose some patterns, I have no doubt that I would have bought some full serving sets and had it shipped home.
We then headed to the spectacular Malbork castle which was home to the Teutonic knights starting the 13th century. Interestingly, the castle went through a major renovation between 1895 and 1906. Given that photography had recently been invented, they photographed most elements of the castle in great detail at that time. We could see the spectacular photos of the castle taken at that time. These photos turned out to be invaluable when the Nazis bombed the place and left it in ruins in 1945. This is truly a spectacular, huge castle that is impressive today. It is almost painful to see the few photos of the castle in 1945 after the war – the place was shattered. A few of the rooms such as the church are still not restored and I constantly was left shaking my head in despair when I compared the broken, ruined room (essentially a pile of bricks) around me with the incredible, lavish pictures of the place from 1906. This place was standing and in use all the way from the 13th or 14th centuries to the early 20th century and in a few years, this war destroyed centuries of history. It is just tragic and if more people got to see how much of this incredible history was destroyed during the war, I am certain they’d ask whether it really is worth it. It was simultaneously sad to see how much of this historic site was ruined by the war and inspiring to see how far they have come in restoring the grandeur of the place in the sixty years since then.
For lunch, we stopped at an open-air restaurant on the castle grounds. As I often like to do, I asked my hosts to order something for me and said that I would be happy to eat anything they were eating. They ordered flaki and szaszlyk for me. Flaki is a stew which they said was beef and the szaszlyk was essentially “Polish barbecue” with cubed pork on a stick that was grilled. The flaki was delicious, but was certainly not beef. The bowl was piled with whitish strips that looked like pure fat on one side and like the surface of my tongue n the other. After eating several mouthfuls, I asked them what it was. “Beef” they replied. “But this is certainly not beef as I know it,” I said. “Yes, it is,” said Woicecz, “Beef stomach.” Believe it or not, I found that exhilarating. Another exotic food that I was actually enjoying! I completely finished off every shred of “beef stomach” in the large bowl. On checking the Internet, I found that Flaki is a common Polish “tripe” soup that is made of strips of the first three chambers of a cow’s stomach. It is cleaned and boiled for several hours. What made it tasty was the fact that it was quite flavorful (with pepper, salt, and other spices) unlike most Polish food I’d tasted. In fact, after the delicious flaki, the szaszlyk was a disappointment. Although they called it “barbecue,” it was quite tasteless pork. It was more “smoked pork” rather than “barbecued pork.” My colleague couldn’t believe I actually finished the large bowl of stomach lining, especially after I found out what it was. I think that part of my enjoyment when I’m traveling is to try things I otherwise wouldn’t try. When I find something I’m eating is particularly exotic to my experience, I actually enjoy it more because now I’m getting something more out of it than just the taste and nourishment – I’m gaining another interesting experience that I can talk about. On the other hand, when I told my wife what I’d eaten, she thought it was quite disgusting. I think I’d mentioned in an earlier post the importance of being open-minded. That’s why I often like to tell people in countries I’m visiting “order anything that you would eat or you would think I’d like.” That way, I’m likely to end up with something I would not have ordered on my own. I certainly don’t think I’d have ordered “cow stomach stew” if I’d seen it on a menu. And I would have missed out on a tasty dish!
On the way back to Olsztyn, we stopped at a beautiful hotel (Hotel Anders) on a lake for a cup of coffee. Very tranquil setting in the city of Jabonski and another one of the hundreds of places that I’d like to return to at some point.
Today, we had a couple of business visits lined up. We started early in the morning. After a relatively uncomfortable night in a hot, non-a/c room (have I mentioned that we had no air conditioning?), we were up by 5:30 AM and at breakfast by 6:30. I was surprised to find that the room cost us about $200 for the night! Anyway, we left by 7 AM for the first business visit that our hosts had lined up. It happened to be at the Amber Brewery (I swear, I didn’t ask for this!). We arrived at the brewery at 8 AM and had a fascinating tour of the place. This is a very modern brewery (built about 1995 with the latest equipment and computer-controlled systems) that currently brews four primary brands: Zlote Lwy, Amber Red, Kozlak Bock, and their current flagship Piwo Zywe. The last is an all-natural unpasteurized beer that they have actually have achieved some level of success selling this beer in the Polish equivalent of Whole Foods stores. This is considered to be an “organic” and healthy brand of beer. Interestingly, it was also, to my tongue, the tastiest of the three. After the brewery tour, we had not choice but to taste the beers, which led to my pre-9 AM beer consumption. They also export a beer to the US under the “Kopernik” label. Our host at the brewery, Roman, was very friendly, intelligent, and clearly in charge. In addition to being the brew master, he also serves as the general manager of the brewery, responsible for all aspects of its running. A great brewery in a beautiful, rural setting. Make sure you check out their web site.
Next, we headed to the town of Łubiana (remember that Ł is pronounced as a W in Polish) to visit the famous Łubiana porcelain factory there. This was another fascinating tour as we saw the entire process of porcelain making from both the plastecine base as well as the “granulat” base. One is a clay like substance that is pressed into shape using a mold. The “granulat” which is a powdered form of the mixture (basically a mixture of a couple of types of unknown rock and quartz) is pressed into shape using high compression. The factory is amazingly modern and it was interesting to see the rows of robots mechanically performing a series of tasks in the manufacturing process. The actual inspection, buffing, and painting is done manually by hundreds of women who sit in rows and rows on a massive factory floor. Very interesting tour. We also visited the gift shop where I was unable to resist buying some porcelain mugs. If Jerrie had been with me to choose some patterns, I have no doubt that I would have bought some full serving sets and had it shipped home.
We then headed to the spectacular Malbork castle which was home to the Teutonic knights starting the 13th century. Interestingly, the castle went through a major renovation between 1895 and 1906. Given that photography had recently been invented, they photographed most elements of the castle in great detail at that time. We could see the spectacular photos of the castle taken at that time. These photos turned out to be invaluable when the Nazis bombed the place and left it in ruins in 1945. This is truly a spectacular, huge castle that is impressive today. It is almost painful to see the few photos of the castle in 1945 after the war – the place was shattered. A few of the rooms such as the church are still not restored and I constantly was left shaking my head in despair when I compared the broken, ruined room (essentially a pile of bricks) around me with the incredible, lavish pictures of the place from 1906. This place was standing and in use all the way from the 13th or 14th centuries to the early 20th century and in a few years, this war destroyed centuries of history. It is just tragic and if more people got to see how much of this incredible history was destroyed during the war, I am certain they’d ask whether it really is worth it. It was simultaneously sad to see how much of this historic site was ruined by the war and inspiring to see how far they have come in restoring the grandeur of the place in the sixty years since then.
For lunch, we stopped at an open-air restaurant on the castle grounds. As I often like to do, I asked my hosts to order something for me and said that I would be happy to eat anything they were eating. They ordered flaki and szaszlyk for me. Flaki is a stew which they said was beef and the szaszlyk was essentially “Polish barbecue” with cubed pork on a stick that was grilled. The flaki was delicious, but was certainly not beef. The bowl was piled with whitish strips that looked like pure fat on one side and like the surface of my tongue n the other. After eating several mouthfuls, I asked them what it was. “Beef” they replied. “But this is certainly not beef as I know it,” I said. “Yes, it is,” said Woicecz, “Beef stomach.” Believe it or not, I found that exhilarating. Another exotic food that I was actually enjoying! I completely finished off every shred of “beef stomach” in the large bowl. On checking the Internet, I found that Flaki is a common Polish “tripe” soup that is made of strips of the first three chambers of a cow’s stomach. It is cleaned and boiled for several hours. What made it tasty was the fact that it was quite flavorful (with pepper, salt, and other spices) unlike most Polish food I’d tasted. In fact, after the delicious flaki, the szaszlyk was a disappointment. Although they called it “barbecue,” it was quite tasteless pork. It was more “smoked pork” rather than “barbecued pork.” My colleague couldn’t believe I actually finished the large bowl of stomach lining, especially after I found out what it was. I think that part of my enjoyment when I’m traveling is to try things I otherwise wouldn’t try. When I find something I’m eating is particularly exotic to my experience, I actually enjoy it more because now I’m getting something more out of it than just the taste and nourishment – I’m gaining another interesting experience that I can talk about. On the other hand, when I told my wife what I’d eaten, she thought it was quite disgusting. I think I’d mentioned in an earlier post the importance of being open-minded. That’s why I often like to tell people in countries I’m visiting “order anything that you would eat or you would think I’d like.” That way, I’m likely to end up with something I would not have ordered on my own. I certainly don’t think I’d have ordered “cow stomach stew” if I’d seen it on a menu. And I would have missed out on a tasty dish!
On the way back to Olsztyn, we stopped at a beautiful hotel (Hotel Anders) on a lake for a cup of coffee. Very tranquil setting in the city of Jabonski and another one of the hundreds of places that I’d like to return to at some point.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Walking Towards Hel and Experiencing the Heat
Had a great day in
Anyway, other than this, today was a fun day. We started by heading to the
At about 2:30 PM, we headed back to
We then decided to take the local train to another beautiful town, Sopot.
Across the bay from Sopot is a spit of land that extends out to the sea and ends in the Polish city of
Also, just like I noticed on my last trip to
Well, I better get to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow – we plan to hit the road by 7 AM and are meeting in the lobby (all packed and ready) at 6:20 AM. I genuinely don’t know how I’m going to sleep in this oppressive heat tonight, but that’s all part of the fun experience.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Pork, Fish, Beer, and Vodka
Had a relatively busy day today, filled with meetings at the University of Warmia & Mazury. The campus is vast and beautiful. The University is relatively young (with a history stretching back to only a hundred years or so). We met with the Associate Dean and with a group of faculty.
Highlights were lunch, where I had Carpacio Pork (very thinly sliced raw pork) and a breaded pork fillet (another Polish specialty) and beer. For dinner we started with Zyviewc beer (pronounced Zhi-vee-yets), Chlodnik (a cold, yogurt-based "soup" with beets and other vegetables) and sauteed pike-perch with wild forest mushrooms and deep fried potato cakes (another local dish). This was chased down with Zubrowka - Polish bison grass vodka. The vodka is very flavorful and has this relatively strong flavor it gets from a particularly tough, scented grass that the bison feed on. Dinner was at this beautiful restaurant (Prgystan) on a lake.
Again the weather was beautiful with a slight breeze and neither warm nor cool temperatures. I would guess, in the low to mid 70s.
Highlights were lunch, where I had Carpacio Pork (very thinly sliced raw pork) and a breaded pork fillet (another Polish specialty) and beer. For dinner we started with Zyviewc beer (pronounced Zhi-vee-yets), Chlodnik (a cold, yogurt-based "soup" with beets and other vegetables) and sauteed pike-perch with wild forest mushrooms and deep fried potato cakes (another local dish). This was chased down with Zubrowka - Polish bison grass vodka. The vodka is very flavorful and has this relatively strong flavor it gets from a particularly tough, scented grass that the bison feed on. Dinner was at this beautiful restaurant (Prgystan) on a lake.
Again the weather was beautiful with a slight breeze and neither warm nor cool temperatures. I would guess, in the low to mid 70s.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Welcome to Poland!
So, my colleague and I got to Olsztyn, Poland this afternoon after a long flight from Minneapolis to Amsterdam (7.5 hours) and a considerably shorter flight from Amsterdam to Warsaw (less than 2 hours) followed by a 3-hour car ride from Warsaw to Olsztyn. While I made the trip fine, my colleague's bags never even made it to Warsaw. Hopefully, it's somewhere in Poland.
Olsztyn is in northern Poland and is the capital of the Warmian region. Warmia is where Copernicus lived and expounded his theory of a heliocentric astronomical universe. What I find fascinating every time I visit Europe is its living history. Most of us consider Copernicus to be old and waaay in the past. However, it gives me pause to think that Copernicus lived here in the 1500s. He published his theories on the earth revolving around the sun in 1543. Yet, in the town on Olsztyn, you can still see the castle that was built in the 1350s. Also still standing is the Cathedral of St. James which was built between 1380 and 1445. Now think of this. When Copernicus hung around here, these structures were already almost two hundred years old. I can just about imagine a young Copernicus showing visitors around the town explaining about these ancient castles (over a hundred years old!) in his neighborhood. Here we are, an additional 400 years later (more actually), still able to walk through these buildings and marvel at their construction.
That's what I love about history - it's entertaining to imagine people living and seeing these same structures five hundred or more years before me. It is even more fascinating to me to imagine people three hundred years ago pointing to these same "ancient" structures and wondering about the people who lived there two hundred years before them.
This is the sort of sense of insignificance it is hard to get in America. It is so strange to think of how incredibly young our land is. I mean, by the time we had out first settlement in the continental US, Copernicus had been dead for over a hundred years. And we're talking about the first permanent European settlement in the USA!
Had delicious pork cutlets for dinner. The weather here today is just astoundingly beautiful. The sn was shining, but it wasn't hot. We went for a walk in the afternoon and there was a strong breeze blowing that wasn't at all cold, but wasn't warm either. Both my colleague and I commented about how strangely perfect the weather is - not hot and not cold. Let's hope it stays this way.
My room at the Novotel is typical European style. While it is fairly large and not as cramped as these hotels usually are, there is no air conditioning and no fan. So, I know I'm going to find it difficult to sleep. How spoiled we are - I groaned and complained about the lack of air conditioning until I finally realized it wasn't going to do any good. I asked the front desk for a fan and they said they didn't have one. It is now 11 PM and it still isn't as cool as I'd like it to be.
Olsztyn is in northern Poland and is the capital of the Warmian region. Warmia is where Copernicus lived and expounded his theory of a heliocentric astronomical universe. What I find fascinating every time I visit Europe is its living history. Most of us consider Copernicus to be old and waaay in the past. However, it gives me pause to think that Copernicus lived here in the 1500s. He published his theories on the earth revolving around the sun in 1543. Yet, in the town on Olsztyn, you can still see the castle that was built in the 1350s. Also still standing is the Cathedral of St. James which was built between 1380 and 1445. Now think of this. When Copernicus hung around here, these structures were already almost two hundred years old. I can just about imagine a young Copernicus showing visitors around the town explaining about these ancient castles (over a hundred years old!) in his neighborhood. Here we are, an additional 400 years later (more actually), still able to walk through these buildings and marvel at their construction.
That's what I love about history - it's entertaining to imagine people living and seeing these same structures five hundred or more years before me. It is even more fascinating to me to imagine people three hundred years ago pointing to these same "ancient" structures and wondering about the people who lived there two hundred years before them.
This is the sort of sense of insignificance it is hard to get in America. It is so strange to think of how incredibly young our land is. I mean, by the time we had out first settlement in the continental US, Copernicus had been dead for over a hundred years. And we're talking about the first permanent European settlement in the USA!
Had delicious pork cutlets for dinner. The weather here today is just astoundingly beautiful. The sn was shining, but it wasn't hot. We went for a walk in the afternoon and there was a strong breeze blowing that wasn't at all cold, but wasn't warm either. Both my colleague and I commented about how strangely perfect the weather is - not hot and not cold. Let's hope it stays this way.
My room at the Novotel is typical European style. While it is fairly large and not as cramped as these hotels usually are, there is no air conditioning and no fan. So, I know I'm going to find it difficult to sleep. How spoiled we are - I groaned and complained about the lack of air conditioning until I finally realized it wasn't going to do any good. I asked the front desk for a fan and they said they didn't have one. It is now 11 PM and it still isn't as cool as I'd like it to be.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Too Much Talk On The Lot
I was actually looking forward to the TV show On The Lot. I imagined it would be another shot at a great TV show concept like Project Greenlight. That was an absolutely outstanding show that HBO really shouldn't have killed.
But then again, maybe I enjoy watching shows on film making more than the average joe.
But it is so ironic that a show about good film making has such terrible pacing and awful storytelling. The show seems focused on talk, talk, and more talk. The attempts at building "tension" are old hat and a poor copy of Survivor, Apprentice, and American Idol. It's as if the producers of this show assumed that no one would watch more than one episode.
The relatively annoying host of the show keeps recapping what the show is about over and over and over again (and then over again after that). It is like they assume that anyone watching the show at any point has just walked in and has no idea what the show is about. Or, that the target audience is a group of amnesiacs or have serious short-term memory problems like the guy in Memento. She recaps the purpose of the show, the bios of the directors, the films that they shot, the reactions of the judges, and everything else in between. The amount of new content in each episode is laughably small and you really have to be dedicated or a heck of an optimist to tune in to the show again.
Lack of originality, poor scripting, boring writing, failure to use innovative visuals. While this sounds like the judges comments, it is what I would say about the show. Perhaps it's time the judges critiqued the filming and pacing of this show for one episode.
Another great opportunity to make a great show about film making lost. The brilliant Hollywood types are going to assume that it is the genre that cannot succeed instead of blaming the production values of this show.
Sad.
And why don't we just give the award to Zach Lipovsky now and get it over with?
But then again, maybe I enjoy watching shows on film making more than the average joe.
But it is so ironic that a show about good film making has such terrible pacing and awful storytelling. The show seems focused on talk, talk, and more talk. The attempts at building "tension" are old hat and a poor copy of Survivor, Apprentice, and American Idol. It's as if the producers of this show assumed that no one would watch more than one episode.
The relatively annoying host of the show keeps recapping what the show is about over and over and over again (and then over again after that). It is like they assume that anyone watching the show at any point has just walked in and has no idea what the show is about. Or, that the target audience is a group of amnesiacs or have serious short-term memory problems like the guy in Memento. She recaps the purpose of the show, the bios of the directors, the films that they shot, the reactions of the judges, and everything else in between. The amount of new content in each episode is laughably small and you really have to be dedicated or a heck of an optimist to tune in to the show again.
Lack of originality, poor scripting, boring writing, failure to use innovative visuals. While this sounds like the judges comments, it is what I would say about the show. Perhaps it's time the judges critiqued the filming and pacing of this show for one episode.
Another great opportunity to make a great show about film making lost. The brilliant Hollywood types are going to assume that it is the genre that cannot succeed instead of blaming the production values of this show.
Sad.
And why don't we just give the award to Zach Lipovsky now and get it over with?
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Voglio Parlare Italiano
I'm fascinated by how we learn things. What is the best way to learn something? I am currently working on a project with a publisher on using video games to help students at the college-level learn.
But, beyond the game-based learning, I am intrigued by how all the different ways of presenting information can help or hinder learning. Given my upcoming trip to Italy next month, I decided to borrow some "Learn Italian" CDs from the public library. They all take completely different approaches to teaching the language.
The first one essentially presented a series of conversations in Italian. You listen to it and are completely lost. Then, they break down the conversations and explain the key words and phrases in the conversation. Finally, they play the conversation again. This time, you can pick up the gist fo what they're saying and it leads to a gratifying feeling of achievement and actually having gained something.
The second one presented the grammar and structure of the Italian language and tried to teach the language by explaining how sentences are constructed in Italian. This clarified some of the phrases that didn't make sense in the first set of CDs.
The third one essentially is a passive approach to learning. The instructor on the CD explicitly tells you to learn by listening and not to make any effort at learning the language. Very interesting approach. The CDs are essentially like a live taping of him teaching two students the language by starting with small phrases and then building it up and expecting the students to then use what they've learned to speak out loud.
All three approaches have strengths and weaknesses and I'm intrigued to see if there is some combination that is particularly magical. I think the method needed to understand the language may be different than the one needed to speak the language.
All very interesting and thought-provoking in the context of how I teach my college students.
But, beyond the game-based learning, I am intrigued by how all the different ways of presenting information can help or hinder learning. Given my upcoming trip to Italy next month, I decided to borrow some "Learn Italian" CDs from the public library. They all take completely different approaches to teaching the language.
The first one essentially presented a series of conversations in Italian. You listen to it and are completely lost. Then, they break down the conversations and explain the key words and phrases in the conversation. Finally, they play the conversation again. This time, you can pick up the gist fo what they're saying and it leads to a gratifying feeling of achievement and actually having gained something.
The second one presented the grammar and structure of the Italian language and tried to teach the language by explaining how sentences are constructed in Italian. This clarified some of the phrases that didn't make sense in the first set of CDs.
The third one essentially is a passive approach to learning. The instructor on the CD explicitly tells you to learn by listening and not to make any effort at learning the language. Very interesting approach. The CDs are essentially like a live taping of him teaching two students the language by starting with small phrases and then building it up and expecting the students to then use what they've learned to speak out loud.
All three approaches have strengths and weaknesses and I'm intrigued to see if there is some combination that is particularly magical. I think the method needed to understand the language may be different than the one needed to speak the language.
All very interesting and thought-provoking in the context of how I teach my college students.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Thai Food
Went out for Thai food (again). Is there any cuisine in the world that is so consistently outstanding as Thai food? I don't think so.
You can go to Thai restaurants anywhere and order almost anything and leave quite satisfied. As a broad judgment of styles of cuisine (beyond preferences for any single dish), I think Thai food is more consistently tasty and flavorful than any other cuisine.
Mmmm ... and you can get it as spicy as you want!
Dinner at a Japanese sushi place also reinforced the fact that you have to be able to suspend preconceptions in order to enjoy international foods. While I am not too much of a seafood eater, I decided to go with my hosts to a Japanese restaurant they were raving about. They ordered barbecued eel, "dynamite scallops" and a host of other dishes I probably would not have ordered on my own. Wow, this stuff was absolutely delicious. I think half of our food preferences are formed before we even take a bite. Make a conscious effort to avoid pre-judging and you are more likely to end up with a delicious meal. Who would ever have thought eel could taste this good?
You can go to Thai restaurants anywhere and order almost anything and leave quite satisfied. As a broad judgment of styles of cuisine (beyond preferences for any single dish), I think Thai food is more consistently tasty and flavorful than any other cuisine.
Mmmm ... and you can get it as spicy as you want!
Dinner at a Japanese sushi place also reinforced the fact that you have to be able to suspend preconceptions in order to enjoy international foods. While I am not too much of a seafood eater, I decided to go with my hosts to a Japanese restaurant they were raving about. They ordered barbecued eel, "dynamite scallops" and a host of other dishes I probably would not have ordered on my own. Wow, this stuff was absolutely delicious. I think half of our food preferences are formed before we even take a bite. Make a conscious effort to avoid pre-judging and you are more likely to end up with a delicious meal. Who would ever have thought eel could taste this good?
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Academics & The Real World
I am in Boulder today and tomorrow. I had an interesting conversation with a colleague here about the state of our discipline and whether the "real world" is moving much further ahead than us academics.
It is not whether academics are smart or whether we have the ability to make significant contributions. It is whether we are focusing on the right things and not giving enough attention to the phenomena that make a difference in the real world. In an effort to keep our research interesting, are we moving towards studying increasingly "fringe" phenomena? That is, are we getting so focused on publishing "interesting" research that we're studying behavior that is so weird and active under such special conditions that they have little relation to "normal" consumer behavior?
This is well beyond the "academic" vs. "real world" research. I don't imply that all research should have immediate application to the real world. It's just that we may need to study esoteric issues that may have no immediate application, but are rooted in normal consumer behavior over strange quirks in behavior under very specific conditions.
Obviously a very complex issue that has no easy answers. But, thought-provoking nonetheless. I now have more to think about (and argue with my colleagues about).
It is not whether academics are smart or whether we have the ability to make significant contributions. It is whether we are focusing on the right things and not giving enough attention to the phenomena that make a difference in the real world. In an effort to keep our research interesting, are we moving towards studying increasingly "fringe" phenomena? That is, are we getting so focused on publishing "interesting" research that we're studying behavior that is so weird and active under such special conditions that they have little relation to "normal" consumer behavior?
This is well beyond the "academic" vs. "real world" research. I don't imply that all research should have immediate application to the real world. It's just that we may need to study esoteric issues that may have no immediate application, but are rooted in normal consumer behavior over strange quirks in behavior under very specific conditions.
Obviously a very complex issue that has no easy answers. But, thought-provoking nonetheless. I now have more to think about (and argue with my colleagues about).
Monday, June 4, 2007
Big Business BAAAAD!
Another assumption that people almost always make is that big businesses are out to screw the "common man" and will find every opportunity to take advantage of poor, defenseless consumers. It doesn't matter what they do, it can always be rationalized as an attempt to exploit innocent people who toil away under the crushing thumb of big businesses.
Do big businesses do bad things? Absobloominutely. Of course there are businesses and CEOs and executives who are unethical and exploitive. But is that sufficient evidence against big businesses? Suppose I tell you that John earns $160 in tips every night at the Mojican Grill. Will you consider John to be a superstar? Will you jump to the conclusion that John must be doing something extraordinarily well to be able to earn such excessive tips? Not if you find out that the average waiter at this fancy restaurant makes $450 in tips.
Anyone who has taken a class in logic will realize the flaw in highlighting criminal CEOs who have been caught cheating as evidence that all CEOs are crooks. WHile this may be true, you'd have to show that CEOs of large companies are more likely to do crooked things than the average person or even the average small business owner. My problem is that without looking for such evidence, the media do their part in highlighting stories of CEOs gone bad that reinforce the stereotype. This can be very powerful when you're trying to appeal to an audience that wants to believe the stereotype. It makes you feel so much better that you're so good and honorable while those slime ball CEOs rip people off and earn millions.
What brought this thought on was reading a recent USA Today story on how a Coca-Cola secretary was sentenced to 8 years in prison for trying to sell Coke trade secrets to rival Pepsi. She stole some secret new-product samples and confidential documents and tried to sell them to Pepsi. Terrible, huh?
One sentence in the article reveals an interesting sidebar to the story. How did this woman get caught? Well, when Pepsi was approached with these secret formulas and confidential documents, they contacted Coke and warned them that they had been offered trade secrets. Get that? Instead of buying the documents or even ignoring it, they called their intensely competitive rival and told them that someone was trying to steal their stuff. Why wasn't this aspect of the story highlighted? Why wasn't more made about the incredibly ethical response on the part of Pepsi? Why wasn't this given as much press as some sleazy CEO being led out of his billion dollar estate in handcuffs? Because that's not what you want to hear. It wouldn't give you the comfort of knowing how superior you are to those "big business" executives who all ought to be locked up!
Do big businesses do bad things? Absobloominutely. Of course there are businesses and CEOs and executives who are unethical and exploitive. But is that sufficient evidence against big businesses? Suppose I tell you that John earns $160 in tips every night at the Mojican Grill. Will you consider John to be a superstar? Will you jump to the conclusion that John must be doing something extraordinarily well to be able to earn such excessive tips? Not if you find out that the average waiter at this fancy restaurant makes $450 in tips.
Anyone who has taken a class in logic will realize the flaw in highlighting criminal CEOs who have been caught cheating as evidence that all CEOs are crooks. WHile this may be true, you'd have to show that CEOs of large companies are more likely to do crooked things than the average person or even the average small business owner. My problem is that without looking for such evidence, the media do their part in highlighting stories of CEOs gone bad that reinforce the stereotype. This can be very powerful when you're trying to appeal to an audience that wants to believe the stereotype. It makes you feel so much better that you're so good and honorable while those slime ball CEOs rip people off and earn millions.
What brought this thought on was reading a recent USA Today story on how a Coca-Cola secretary was sentenced to 8 years in prison for trying to sell Coke trade secrets to rival Pepsi. She stole some secret new-product samples and confidential documents and tried to sell them to Pepsi. Terrible, huh?
One sentence in the article reveals an interesting sidebar to the story. How did this woman get caught? Well, when Pepsi was approached with these secret formulas and confidential documents, they contacted Coke and warned them that they had been offered trade secrets. Get that? Instead of buying the documents or even ignoring it, they called their intensely competitive rival and told them that someone was trying to steal their stuff. Why wasn't this aspect of the story highlighted? Why wasn't more made about the incredibly ethical response on the part of Pepsi? Why wasn't this given as much press as some sleazy CEO being led out of his billion dollar estate in handcuffs? Because that's not what you want to hear. It wouldn't give you the comfort of knowing how superior you are to those "big business" executives who all ought to be locked up!
Friday, June 1, 2007
I've Changed My Mind (again)
I get a sense that "changing your mind" about something is seen today as a negative trait to have. Perhaps it started with the mocking of John Kerry as a "flip flopper" or perhaps the belief that someone who changes his or her mind frequently cannot be trusted has roots going back much further.
Frankly, I find that view quite puzzling - especially in today's information-rich world. Psychology teaches us that we're constantly forming judgments based on the information we have access to. As more information comes in, we are forced to change those judgments (of course, there is enough evidence that these judgments are resistant to change and the marginal impact of new information on judgments is smaller than if it was the first piece presented, but that is unnecessarily complicating for the point I'm trying to make). Since we are bombarded with so much information, and since that information is presented in condensed "sound-bite" form, I assume that most people form ealry judgments with the expectation that it could change as more information becomes available. But, I'm getting the feeling that "sticking to your guns" and staying with principles is instead seen as a more appropriate response.
Contrary to what you may believe, this has nothing to do with our current political situation. A friend recently warned me (again) that posting opinions on a blog is dangerous and will come back to bite me if I express a "non-politically-correct" opinion here. This warning hit me on several levels. First, it scares me that there really are people who think that freely expressing opinions in this country can get them in deep trouble. Second, he rejected my response that "these are just opinions based on the information I had at the time." He insisted that people are held to always believe things that they may have expressed at any point in their lives. While I must consider the fact that he may be right, I still struggle to understand this.
Perhaps it is my mental make up that focuses on evidence-based reasoning that I am always expecting to change my opinions when more convincing evidence presents itself. That is also probably why I get along well with people generally. I never hold anything against people in the long run. If you're nasty to me one moment and then do something nice the next time we interact, I am much more willing to shift my judgments of people to the favorable side than others. I find it difficult to hold grudges over the long run.
On the other hand, it could be that this expression of a willingness to change opinions is just a normal defense mechanism to prevent from ever being held accountable for what i say and write. But then again, maybe not!
Frankly, I find that view quite puzzling - especially in today's information-rich world. Psychology teaches us that we're constantly forming judgments based on the information we have access to. As more information comes in, we are forced to change those judgments (of course, there is enough evidence that these judgments are resistant to change and the marginal impact of new information on judgments is smaller than if it was the first piece presented, but that is unnecessarily complicating for the point I'm trying to make). Since we are bombarded with so much information, and since that information is presented in condensed "sound-bite" form, I assume that most people form ealry judgments with the expectation that it could change as more information becomes available. But, I'm getting the feeling that "sticking to your guns" and staying with principles is instead seen as a more appropriate response.
Contrary to what you may believe, this has nothing to do with our current political situation. A friend recently warned me (again) that posting opinions on a blog is dangerous and will come back to bite me if I express a "non-politically-correct" opinion here. This warning hit me on several levels. First, it scares me that there really are people who think that freely expressing opinions in this country can get them in deep trouble. Second, he rejected my response that "these are just opinions based on the information I had at the time." He insisted that people are held to always believe things that they may have expressed at any point in their lives. While I must consider the fact that he may be right, I still struggle to understand this.
Perhaps it is my mental make up that focuses on evidence-based reasoning that I am always expecting to change my opinions when more convincing evidence presents itself. That is also probably why I get along well with people generally. I never hold anything against people in the long run. If you're nasty to me one moment and then do something nice the next time we interact, I am much more willing to shift my judgments of people to the favorable side than others. I find it difficult to hold grudges over the long run.
On the other hand, it could be that this expression of a willingness to change opinions is just a normal defense mechanism to prevent from ever being held accountable for what i say and write. But then again, maybe not!
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