Don't Call Me, I Won't Call You

So . . . I don't know what's going on, whether I am on some list of very generous/gullible/surveyable people or if I have just been unlucky, but I have been receiving record numbers of telemarketing calls.  I mean multiple times a day.  Charities, businesses, polling companies, my family, you name it, the calls just keep pouring in.  And I want it to stop (well, except for my family - you can still call once in a while, but please stay within the limits I've assigned you!).  It's annoying, it's unnecessary, and it's driving me up the wall.  I've tried being rude to them and that hasn't stopped the incessant ringing.  Why won't they leave me alone?

A Reason Is Not an Excuse

So . . . there has been a bit of a meaningless storm over some comments that Tony Bennett made on the Howard Stern show last week.    Personally I don't think he said anything too controversial, if you actually think about the content of his words.  I'm not "blame America" type, nor am I a conspiracy theorist when it comes to 9/11 - mass murder was committed that day and those responsible should pay (some have).  But I do think this illustrates a good example of how polarizing an issue can remove some of the opportunity to learn.

Statistical Intuition

So . . . the movie Moneyball opens today in theatres everyone, and I am rather excited to see it.  I read the book some time ago and it really struck a chord with me (you'll understand why later in the post), I like baseball movies (more than I like baseball these days) and I think it could be this year's Social Network.  Yesterday I read a column about the movie and its core message of the use of statistical information to improve decisions.  This column was co-written by Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team and one of the more stats-friendly executives in the NBA. I think that this column really hits the nail on the head and I'd like to elaborate on it here.

Climate Change? Yeah, So What?

So . . . regular readers of this blog already know that I'm not a card-carrying member of the anthropogenic global warming booster club (supporting the idea, not boosting my emissions - though I did have chili for lunch!  Hey-ho!).  I think that there is a lot of missing information and that while it is possible that the phenomenon is documentable (maybe, not sure), the future effects are far from known.  Today I'm going to write about what I believe to be the central problem with the whole global warming discussion: its one-sided nature.  Sure, the blowhards of Fox News can blather all they want, but in the public discourse there is really only one perspective that is allowed to be represented.

Memory Present, Mind Absent

So . . . one of the more memorable books I read over the summer is "Moonwalking With Einstein," by Joshua Foer.  The book chronicles his travels through the world of competitive memory, from a reporter covering the National Memory Championships to his competition, the following year, in that same event.  And his accomplishment is quite impressive - I know that I balk at attempting it, and I believe I have a pretty good memory to begin with (one message from the book is that if you know the technique, anyone can do it; I'm not saying I disbelieve that, but the amount of work involved seems daunting).  But in the end, is his memory any better?  Depends on how you define memory.

May the Force Kick George Lucas's Butt

So . . . today marks the release of the first Star Wars Blu-Ray sets, and like any good film nerd, I have already picked up my copy.  Now, before you groan and complain, allow me to make a few contradictory points.  I do rationalize my purchase in this post, but also bellyache about the same changes to the movies that you hate too.  I don't think there are many people, especially of my generation, that are fans of what Lucas has done to change the original movies.  But isn't that his prerogative?  Which gets to a bigger question: who owns art?  The artist, or the audience?

The Greatest Blog Post About the Greatest Movie Ever Sold

So . . . today is the first day of my marketing communications and advertising class.  In preparation for this (or maybe in honour of this?) I watched a movie on the topic over the weekend.  It was a documentary by Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame), the conceit of which was that it would be the first documentary about advertising and product placement to be fully financed by advertising and product placement.  Hence the title: Pom Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold.  And it was good enough that I will be showing it to my class later this semester.

Sensational Science

So . . . as a consumer researcher, I tend to notice items in the news that relate to behaviour and psychology.  The newspapers seem to love to print articles about scientific research results, and even I have had the pleasure of getting my name in the paper (I won't be so crass as to post a link; simply Google "Eric Dolansky Deal or No Deal" or "Eric Dolansky magical thinking" to find the numerous articles about me and my fabulous work.  Eh, I should have just posted links, so here they are.  Yes, I am that shallow).  But lately I have found more and more problems with this.  Sure, it's great to expose the public to research, but a lot of the time the newspapers just, well, miss the point.  Here are a couple of examples.

The Metaphysics of Student Life, Part 2

So . . . today I'm continuing with my annual Thornton Melon memorial "Back to School" blog week.  By the way, I'm pretty sure that this is the only movie ever to have all of the following people appear: Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Downey Jr., Danny Elfman, Kevin's older brother Wayne from the Wonder Years, Sam Kinison, the bad guy from Karate Kid, and Kurt Vonnegut(!).  Anyway, back to what I was discussing: the start of the new school year.  Yesterday I asked the question "why are we here" with the "we" being students.  I'm going to address the same question today but with a different emphasis; instead of "why are we here," I'm asking "why are we here."  Besides, apparently, to split hairs.

The Metaphysics of Student Life, Part One

So . . . today is the first day of classes at my university.  Though I'm not back in the classroom until next week, I thought I would finish the week with a couple of posts about university, teaching, and higher learning (not the movie - there's not much to say beyond the fact that Busta Rhymes was da bomb).  Today I'm going to discuss that fundamental question of student existence - where's the bar with cheap beer and hot townies?  No, not that one, this one: why am I here?

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

So . . . I'm back!  After two months of near-silence, my irrepressable urge to expound on all available topics has returned.  Hope you've missed me (hell, I hope you even noticed I wasn't blogging!).  Last year I took a break in the summer because of the birth of my daughter (babies keep you busy).  This summer I didn't have as good an excuse other than the catch-all "I'm busy."  And given that I have a previous blog post on how being "busy" really doesn't mean quite that, but rather that you've reprioritized other things, I guess I don't have a good excuse.  But now I'm back, I've got a long list of topics to discuss, and I'm happy to be sharing my brain dumps with you.