Dan Ariely - The Cost of Social Norms

Dummies don't hit back

Muk yan zhong are essential training tools for Wing Chun. As per this article by Ben Judkins:

Wing Chun students who look back to Cantonese Opera as a critical link in the transmission of their system often assert that dummies were either part of the ships rigging or were actually mounted on the specially built (and highly uniform) fleet of Red Boats.  Opera students are said to have used them in both their basic training of performance skills as well as in their pursuits of the higher reaches of Wing Chun system.  In fact, the Red Boats are often imagined as floating martial arts schools.

If we accept this, then that means that at one point Wing Chun practitioners were training on their dummies very differently from now. The action of the waves on the ship would have caused practitioners to have unstable footing, adding a small amount of unpredictability when they issue their techniques. People would have had to work harder to gain footing, let alone the necessary grounding/rooting.

I think this is why it's important to know the history of your art - you gain insights into how your predecessors actually trained.

The World is a Big Place

The world is filled with people who can do amazing things because of hard work. Back in the day these skills would be kept within families, as they were a source of livelihood. Now individuals keep these arts alive and teach them - sometimes for a fee...

There's so much to see and discover in the world; and artistry comes out where you least expect it.

Matthew 6:26

This verse in the Bible talks about the birds in the air, and how we should not fear for our future because God values us more than birds, whom He already greatly cares for.

...Except He doesn't, really. Care about them all that much, I mean. Birds don't have food shoved down their throats. They have to search for food from wherever. I've even seen birds eat leftover scraps of chicken off trash from a fast-food restaurant.

Animals in the wild contend with competition, starvation, parasites, inclement weather... the list goes on. We don't see those who can't adapt to these circumstances. And when we fell trees for our own human reasons the birds lose shelter and food.

If God treats His birds this way, whom He cares for, what can we, who are supposed to be more valuable, come to expect?

The Attribution Effect

I came across this video and the panel ended up discussing the fundamental attribution error as it applies to the current developments in the Ahmed Mohamed incident. It's a pretty good explanation about what the cognitive bias is.

Finishing the form

Yesterday I was taught the final set of postures to complete my kungfu school's form. It took me about three years to get everything; now starts the process of correction and refinement. I need to be able to use it in real applications, get the flow and intention down, etc. And also since my teacher doesn't have to spend so much time teaching the form we can concentrate more on partner work, all the way until I am proficient in sparring.

I still have to do the foundation exercises though, along with several drills and training methods to bring out the flavor of the style. And then someday, I have to learn how to be able to transmit it to someone else.

I have not finished anything of note at all, to be honest...

On Reputation and Empathy

Here's something to ponder - What is Reputation?

And:

Being Wrong

I'd earlier posted an entry about a very popular talk about body language. It seems like current attempts to reproduce the results of the initial experiments aren't being successful. 

Interesting videos

I believe the following clips are leading me to a breakthrough in my practice. Sharing them here so I won't forget, and so that someone may benefit from them as well.

Visayan Corto Kadena Eskrima - Sword Practice with Pendulum

Zhan Zhuang Part 2

Here's a few things I've learned in the past few years regarding standing practice:

• The scapulars must engage when raising the arms. You must feel the scapulars wrapping against the ribs.
• The glutes must also be engaged. Do this as you lift the coccyx up and maintain the closing intention in the anal sphincter.
• The upper back does not bend; it is plumb and straight. The only place the back is not plumb and straight is at the lower back.
• Relax and bend at the pelvic crease.
• Mind the weight on the feet, they should not be on the heels or toes too much.

Coincidences

I remember watching a documentary about my country's police force. A cop was responding to a report of a mugging. He was late, so he tried to do patrols around the general area perps usually frequented on the off-chance he might find the criminal. By a stroke of luck he found the criminal, who bolted. Mr. Cop gave chase, all the way into shanties - think like the old Kowloon Walled City, but wide instead of tall - in the dead of night.

Now, Mr. Cop might be a lot of things but he has my respect for being brave enough to go into the dark where knives and drug addicts and professional criminals and cop-haters abound, at night without backup other than a cameraman. 

What he was not though, was possessing of mighty endurance. He had to stop and the perp disappeared around a corner. For a while, it seemed like a clean getaway. But lo! Our intrepid authority figure spied lounging against a wall, a man who could have been in his twenties or forties. Mr. Cop put a hand on him, asking who he was, where he lived. The man was calm, even after our policeman put the handcuffs on him. It seems like our hero has caught his man.

I remember distinctly, wondering why the "perp" wasn't even breathing hard or sweating after an extended chase. He didn't have anything on his hands, no jewels or money or weapons. He had already outrun the cop, why then would he suddenly decide to stop and pretend he was a bystander, in his own turf? 

Mr. Cop had a cameraman shadowing him; he elected to chase after a criminal; he couldn't have ended the adventure empty-handed. The bystander was convenient. Most likely, he was wanted for something or was about to be wanted for something - that's usually the way things go with people from the slums. The poor sap was there. That was all our cop needed.

Slow-Burning Hot Pink

Mindsets

How the Me Right Now Understands Apologizing

I have come to understand that apologizing does not indicate the admission of guilt. It is a social ritual, a tactic by which people can restore harmony to strained relations with those of their group. You make a demonstration of recognizing that you have hurt someone, for the purpose of showing that you either did not mean to cause hurt or that the hurt that was caused was something you did not want. 

There is a strategic dimension to apologizing. It is a quick and painless way to get over the current situation so that you and your people can refocus on the greater concerns. Before industrialized times this might mean working together to get the harvest done or taking down that big prey. The one being apologized to accepts the apology to get things back into the status quo. There might be lingering feelings and the offended party might not want to forgive the offender, but the former accepts the apology because there are bigger fish to fry and a mutual concession will get things over with quicker. Plus, if he doesn't accept the apology he risks looking like the douche in the exchange, and might end up being blamed for the group's continued disharmony. 

Eventually the bad feelings are forgotten, because in a true group - at least, one that isn't dysfunctional - the more intense feelings die out while each member continually displays value the others find they could not live without.

The point is that apologizing isn't about forgiveness or making any individual feel better. It's about the group and the group's continued survival. By my definition, apologizing is a social construct for small, tight-knit, non-dysfunctional groups. Apologizing as I define it would not work when one is doing it to loose groups of slacktivists or immature governments. When people want to see the flaws, no one is perfect; when someone falls off the pedestal they crow in delight because they were "correct" - not much else matters.

When one side can hold your future hostage by affecting your livelihood, and this side has no actual incentive to accept your apology and instead can continue to put the squeeze on you - to "ruin" you, I believe the term is - apologizing doesn't work. But - and here's a thing I learned at no small cost to myself - if they can't get organized enough to endanger your livelihood or freedom, if they don't really matter to you as individuals, when the only thing the monkeys can damage is your own monkey mind, then it's fine not to apologize. 

Let's say you work in a company, and rumors about you begin to spread and a faction forms that wants to "teach you a lesson". Well, many of these people will move on because "teaching you a lesson" ultimately doesn't raise their pay or put food on the table. The faction's members really won't even be that close to each other; the most that will come out of it are a handful of Facebook connections. Facebook connections whose only real value are to fluff out newsfeeds and like pretentious selfies.

But what if you were in an environment where backlash of any kind can endanger your prospects? What if you were a public figure or an artist whose income is derived from the patronage of fans? I must admit that I don't have an answer for it, but I do know apologizing isn't the answer.

Easy Access

It was recently after I graduated that I got to work for a company fielding customer service calls. In the office there was this one person who liked to wear short skirts. While there was a dress code, it wasn't strictly enforced - shorts were fine, even pajamas were okay too.

She had friends in the office; most of them were male, or at least those I saw gravitating to her were. There were two lesbians she was close with too. This subgroup of the greater circle that was her office acquaintances, used to call her "Easy Access" - because presumably her short skirts provided that convenience. 

There was one time I was talking to another co-worker about their computer station layout or whatever, I forget. But for some reason or other I remember saying something was for easy access; turned out she was close and had overheard. She gave a quick glance, then went back to her work.

I wonder how long it took before she stopped thinking people were referring to her when someone said "easy access." And I hope she found a better circle of friends.

Not Knowing Any Better to Help Yourself

Recently I saw on TV a mother being interviewed. Her family is dirt-poor, their house is such a hovel the crew filming couldn't get in and the interview had to be done outside. She has nine children, each about a year apart from each other. Her husband works as a carter while she does laundry on the side to get money. Minutes into the bit the husband walks in on the interview; he'd just woken up from a night spent drinking. Further questioning reveals the family has not even gone to consult about family planning methods.

Those with gainful income are supposed to pay tax so the government is able to improve the country and help people climb the ladder of social classes. The government is supposed to provide tools and opportunities for people to rise up, to change their lot in life if they were dealt a bad hand. But what are we supposed to do about people like this, who seem to can't stop making the hole they are in deeper? How are you supposed to wish for health and good education for your family in the new year with those circumstances?

The interviewers ended the segment by giving the family food and money. I hope they will be able to use this to turn things around, because they won't get another opportunity like this again.

They don't care

The author of this article over at Deadspin was talking about how the Internet has given people a platform to communicate, and in the process made everyone insular to paradigm changes. 

Now, people have been using what was outside themselves - the environment, other people, concepts and ideas - for their own benefit, for as long as there have been people. Prior to the Internet, the process of repurposing was way more difficult than it is now. Now, new connections and new "spins" on something happen at the speed of light. It's the process that birthed all the inventions that have bettered mankind; by standing on the shoulders of giants we are able to reach higher.

The problem lies in the negative externalities - where it is difficult and rare to see good things happen, it is so much more likely for sh!t to happen. The byproduct of the process of repurposing are those products of appropriation, the failed experiments, and the inane. The technology of today provides so many possibilities and tools for scientists and engineers and inventors and thinkers to plumb, which they are doing with rigor and care; the rest of us have to put up with...  well, you know. Everything else.

What are the effects of this phenomenon on us? There's no prior case of such a thing happening. So I guess we find out for ourselves... lucky us.

No Offense, Indeed

This article by Jia Tolentino over at Jezebel is an inspired piece of writing; it elegantly expresses what's taken me several posts to articulate; Ms. Tolentino fleshes the issue out completely and clearly. I wish I could add more insights, but this article just is that good. I can't think of anything to do except reread.

Park Cho A and Bitter Work

She decided to become an idol against  her parents' wishes. She auditioned for SM Entertainment and was rejected fifteen times. She then went to JYP, where she got accepted... only to be let go once she was one step away from debuting. 

She then honed her craft the next couple of years, working part-time at sales to save money. She got into FNC and then spent more than half of her savings to finance her trainee life in this company. She trained (again) for two years before finally debuting as part of a girl group. Because of their CEO's concept for the group, she had to learn to play lead guitar - but the girl band concept didn't take off. It took three more years before AOA began to pull in decent revenue.

The thing that gets me though, is that for all her effort, if it hadn't been for a friend helping her get into FNC her prospects to debut would have been pretty bleak. But if she hadn't worked so hard, she would never be known now as such a great vocalist.

The Arbitrariness of Crowds

During the T-ara bullying scandal, one member was called out and most of the other members got persecuted for it. But when Jessica Jung of SNSD got booted out, the negativity hardly touched the group; if anything, it was Ms. Jung got the brunt of it.

Why? Because the T-ara members tweeted about Hwayoung's unprofessional behavior, maybe. He who casts the first stone - since Ms. Jung tweeted about what happened first, she's the aggressor.

(The above paragraph still doesn't make sense to me, thirty minutes into editing this post. It doesn't have to - it's a script that we fall into, the idea that there's a bad guy and good guy in any conflict.)

People surrender their higher brain functions in a crowd. And crowds figure into cases of unintended consequences.

Groups are fickle, but the sad thing is to get anywhere in this world we have to work with them. We have to work in groups to reach a goal; but one thing I found to be useful is that we don't have to put up with the group outside of reaching the goal.