Thursday, February 18, 2010

It Gets Better Every Time



In other news, a recent post by Lewd Bob rightfully named and shamed some wanker psychologist for claiming that the coffee we drink can 'tell' us something about ourselves.

In the midst of the comments, many of you came to the protection of Psychology, and so you should, but my argument at the time was that popular psychology saturates the media, and it is mostly, from my vantage point atop my soapbox, fucking rubbish.

The latest example is some group that examines people's Facebook status and is attempting to glean the mood / morale of entire nations.

"The creator of the index, Adam Kramer, a social psychology student at the University of Oregon (who happens to be 72 percent happier than the average American Facebook user) explains on his blog; "every day, through Facebook status updates, people share how they feel with those who matter most in their lives. These updates are tiny windows into how people are doing." From this angle it looks like social media could be the brave new frontier of the science of happiness."

Facebook the science of happiness? A 'social psychology' student getting the headlines? I rest my case. The whole article is here.

In other other news, vale Ruby Hunter.

20 comments:

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

?!

Mr E said...

Hey. I though we had the lines of demarcation established here.

Ramon does Obscure.
Perseus does Angst.
Bob doe what ever that stuff that Bob does.
Boogey does pompous.
KItten does stupid.

Did I miss a meeting?

Puss In Boots said...

I thought people only posted things on status updates which make them look cooler/funnier/etc to their "friends?" I'm not sure they should be taken at face value of what mood the writer is in. Ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Ramon, I assume your comment was in reference to the accompanying video.

I would like to second it.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

Indeed Alex.

Mr E - you've given me a splendid idea for a post.

squib said...

I third it

I thought 'The Age' was Melbourne's best paper?

Lewd Bob said...

Perseus, we agree again.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

It would seem not, Squib.

squib said...

No wonder many libraries are no longer storing newspapers in their collections

WitchOne said...

Puss I lost an old high school friend recently (bloody careless but entirely deliberate) because she had a go at me for not "understanding nor caring about her angst".

Now I have a number of problems with this statement.

1) Her status updates on FB are all (and I quote) "I is happies" "Morning everyone! My writings will be updated on my blog this morning, I spent all night having such wonderful dreams to share with you all" etc and so on and on and onnnnn.

2) She professes to be a writer yet her grammar is the worst I've ever seen.

3) Anyone who posts such meaningless psuedo positive drivel as a status update has no idea how to express her angst and therefore it is useless asking if she has any.

Am I right? If I'm wrong I'll run and apologise immediately but FB as a window into the collective soul? Bullshit. People lie on FB (apparently).

Perseus said...

It wasn't Aesophia was it? I like her. Where is she hiding, by the way?

And where the hell is Pepsi?

Puss In Boots said...

Um, I just watched that clip. What the fuck?!

Perseus said...

It's one of the most awesome under 60 seconds video I've seen.

I have no idea what it all means either.

Just like a David Lynch film, I put meaning to my left, expectation to my right, and just sit back to enjoy the journey (except Inland Empire, which felt less like a journey, and more like being buried alive).

Ramon Insertnamehere said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WitchOne said...

God no! That girl and I will end up in the same nursing home wearing purple hats. Don't know why she's been quiet lately, I think she goes through phases. She has updated our blog recently though.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

Talking about the bizarre, do people want a Poetry Slam Friday tomorrow?

Warning; it is a depressing Marxist poem from a depressed Marxist.

Anonymous said...

It's one of the most awesome under 60 seconds video I've seen.

There's a whole army of those G.I. Joe moral spoofs, if you're interested Perseus. I first saw them when they were doing the rounds about 5 or so years ago, along with the He-Man "Quest for Chicken" parody.

I was wondering what relevance it had to your post, but now I know.

And knowing is half the battle.*

*And if you don't get this joke, you clearly don't watch enough 25 year old children's shows.

Perseus said...

Alex - This is the first I've heard of the GI Joe spoofs. Someone showed me this video last night and I watched it ten times in a row, laughing more each time.

Ramon - Of course we want PSF. Hell, it's the only consistent thing we have at this site.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

OK, but don't say I didn't warn you.

Anonymous said...

Here you go Pers, I think that's all of them. Use the "play all" button to um, play them all.