Life-changing Nov 12, 2015
I've had a few experiences in life which have changed me from that point forward.  Some of them seem almost trivial to call life-changing, but they literally altered the way I viewed or approached situations.  Here are some of them: 
  1. Harry Potter books.  These books introduced me to literary fiction.  Before reading them in my late 20s, I mostly read non-fiction books and whatnot.  I read obligatory fiction in high school and hated all of it, feeling completed disinterested in any character or plot.  For whatever reason, Harry Potter changed that.  Its mix of approachable language, compelling storytelling, relatable characters, and complementary movies literally changed my life.  Now I read fiction for fun.
  2. NFL RedZone Channel.  I used to watch football in a love-hate way:  The local team, on the local channels, filled with commercials and boring gameplay.  The RedZone channel plays only the exciting parts of every single game.  I went from watching a few hours interspersed on a Sunday afternoon, to seven straight hours of commercial-free action.  It literally changed how I watch football.
  3. All-wheel drive.  My old two-wheel-drive car used to get stuck in my own (flat) driveway.  Plans were changed because my car couldn't make it in less-than-ideal driving conditions.  With all-wheel drive, I can literally drive in the snow.  I've passed cars on snow-covered, hilly roads, spinning their tires, as I effortlessly drive through it.  It's literally changed when I can drive and how much bad weather I can drive through.
  4. Destiny.  This video game was given to me as a gift, and I wasn't that into it at first.  It's a first person shooter with a mediocre storyline, but it's designed by people who understand human psychology.  There are elements of collecting, time-specific quests, and compelling personal challenges that get players to spend more and more time (and money).  I used to play a video game until I beat it in 20 or so hours.  I've spent something like 100 times as long on this game, and I'm still going.  It's ridiculous to think about, but this game has literally changed the way I live my life and play games.
#psychology
Hard work vs. reality Oct 14, 2015
We like to tell young people that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.  You can be anything, accomplish anything, as long as you put your best effort and your hardest work into it. 

This is all obviously false.  It's good to encourage young people, because it sets their standards high and motivates them to succeed.  But in reality, you can't be anything.  You should still try hard, and dream big, and work for it.  But there's a really high chance you won't be an astronaut.  You almost certainly won't be a professional athlete, no matter how much you practice.  You probably can't be a professional musician, because you'll die of starvation before you get your first record deal. 

And that's just statistics, i.e. a very small proportion of people who try to become these things actually succeed.  There's also the idea of innate talent.  Some people are born with certain talents that enable them to do certain things.  Some people are born without those talents.  They might be able to work hard to get up to the level of a person born with that talent, but chances are, they'll still be behind the curve because they didn't win the genetic lottery. 

This idea occurred to me admittedly somewhat recently in life -- the idea that I might not be able to accomplish everything I set my mind to.  Two recent examples are embarrassingly trivial, but kay-suh-rah.  The first is bodybuilding.  I've always been a skinny person; it's genetic.  But I've also always been moderately athletic, both from genes and from practice.  I've always wanted to develop bigger muscles, and I've never had much success.  I was told it was my weightlifting style.  I improved it.  I was told it was my diet.  I changed it.  I was told it was calories, carbs, protein type, specific exercises, amount of weight, number of reps, etc.  I've done lots of different things to build strong muscles, and I've completely failed, aside from some slight increases in the amount of weight I can lift.  I've finally stumbled to the conclusion that I'm not genetically built to be a big, strong, muscular person like all the other people at the gym.  That sucks, but at least I've reached a conclusion and can stop being disappointed by my lack of progress. 

The other example is video games.  I've been playing a lot of player-vs-player (as opposed to player-vs-enemy) games, and I'm routinely worse than any of my teammates or opponents.  Even after a lot of hard work and practice, I still lagged behind most people.  Like weightlifting, I came to realize that certain people are just better than me.  In technical terms, they probably have faster reaction timing, better quick-twitch muscle control, and things like that.  It doesn't matter how much I play or how hard I work at it, I likely just won't be as good as other people.  Again, that's disheartening.  But at least I have an explanation for my mediocrity.  And that's better than failure. #psychology
Time and money variance Oct 5, 2015
I've noticed that equal amounts of time and money spent at different times in history are worth different amounts.  For instance:  I bought an Xbox One a few months ago.  In the ensuing time, I've seen it on sale for lower prices.  This happens with a lot of purchases.  But I've spent a sizable amount of time with my Xbox One.  And I've spent that time playing newly-released games with other people who are doing the same thing.  If I had waited and made my purchase a few months later, I would've missed out on those opportunities.  Even though I would've paid a lower price, it would've been worth less, if that makes any sense.  I always expect that I'll regret spending time or money on something, but I rarely do. #psychology
Surprised by ignorance Jul 15, 2015
I'm surprised by people who are surprised by ignorance.  Ignorance, i.e. not knowing something, is pretty common.  Everybody's ignorant about something, and a lot of people are ignorant about a lot of things.  Not everybody knows physics, or philosophy, or philology.  Our society kind of expects everyone to have a certain level of basic knowledge, i.e. you live on planet Earth, which orbits the sun, which is a star, etc.  But most things other than that are simply specialization. 

My coworker is constantly surprised by my lack of knowledge about things that have nothing to do with our job.  Whenever it comes up, it follows the same pattern: 
Me:  I didn't know that.
Her:  How could you not know that?
Me:  I just don't know it.
Her:  But didn't you learn it at some point?
Me:  If I did, I forgot it, because I don't remember everything I've ever learned.
Her:  I AM A ROBOT FEED ME ELECTRONS
I posted a comment online earlier about some knowledge I had gained regarding a video game.  Some people responded with "Thanks" or "I didn't know that".  But one guy responded with, "Everybody knows that.  How could you not know that?"  Wasn't there ever a time in this guy's life when he didn't know something?  Or was he, like my coworker, simply born with perfect knowledge of everything?  Omniscience isn't a real thing, you know. 

I guess I find it incredibly self-centered that a person can't possibly imagine a scenario in which another human lifeform doesn't have the exact same level of knowledge in the exact same arrangement at the exact moment in time as them.  Come to think of it, what I'm talking about is theory of mind, which is something that usually develops in early childhood.  Maybe the people I'm dealing with are damaged. #psychology
Changing one's mind Mar 3, 2015
I feel like changing one's mind about something is unfairly looked down upon.  Obviously I'm a little biased because I've changed my mind about some pretty big things in the recent past.  Oddly enough, I used to feel the opposite about this particular topic of changing one's mind, but then I changed my mind. 

I remember a past presidential election when one candidate was criticized for being a flip-flopper, i.e. he changed his mind about something, perhaps more than once.  I think it's essential for a politician to change his/her mind about issues, both as a result of new information and also to accommodate the changing views of their constituents.  If you're an elected official representing the views of the people, your views should change to match those of the people, not the other way around. 

And this presupposes that people's views change, which they do.  And they should.  If views didn't change, we'd still be burning witches and lynching black people.  If people didn't change, they'd be the same person as a 20-year-old that they were as a 5-year-old.  Or a 40-year-old via a 20-year-old. 

The only thing that doesn't change is change.  It's ok to change your mind. #psychology
Offensiveness and apologies (1) Jan 6, 2015
Another day, another company apologizing for offending someone.  Just once I'd like to hear about a company not apologizing, as in, "Hey we noticed you're offended; oh well, that's your problem." 

The thing with being offended is that it's a feeling, and while it may be caused by someone or something, its responsibility rests entirely on the feeler.  You can say, "But you made me feel this way."  I don't know how else to phrase this, but that's your problem.  That's on you.  You're allowed to get offended, and you can cry all you want, but in the end you need to get over it.  You know, like a child gets over things. 

Being offended by something doesn't give you special rights or magically require your voice to be heard.  It mainly just makes you annoying. #psychology
Do no harm Nov 20, 2014
I was thinking it would be kind of cool if there was something like the Hippocratic Oath, but for everyday life.  I was falsely under the impression that the Hippocratic Oath says "do no harm," but I was wrong.  Either way, I was thinking there should be an oath like that.  But then I thought, why not just exactly that?  Do no harm.  I feel like that perfectly sums up how to be an adult, a co-worker, a spouse, a citizen, a student, a human.  Do no harm.  Don't hurt people.  Don't cause pain.  Don't be abusive.  Don't be mean.  Don't cheat, steal, rape, kill, pillage, plunder.  Don't be a dick. 

I feel like a good starting point for introductory bipedal primate morality would be just that:  Do no harm.  Everything follows from that. #psychology
Large gatherings Jul 29, 2014
It took me up until about a few weeks ago to realize that I hate large gatherings and I don't have to feel bad about it.  I'm an introvert, and I find large groups of people intimidating and unnerving.  Who am I supposed to talk to?  Where should I stand?  Why is everyone watching me?  The whole thing is terrible, and what I realized is that I can simply not go.  I didn't go to a BBQ at work.  It felt awesome.  I'm not going to a wedding reception this weekend.  Couldn't feel better about it.  I wish I realized this sooner in life. 

This all stems from a few particular things about introversion.  One is that being around people is draining for me.  My energy comes from being alone, or not interacting with other people much.  The other is the quality of interaction I experience at large gatherings.  If I don't know people, will we talk about where we live or work?  Pass.  If I do know people, will the setting be intimate enough to talk about things, or will the music be too loud to hear anything?  I value conversation, but only when it gets past the introductory stuff.  If it's just simple stuff, I can play along for a little while, or I could just skip the event entirely.  I think I'll just skip the event entirely. #psychology
Apologies and compensation Jul 15, 2014
I had an appointment for one of my pets last week at the vet.  I arrived a few minutes early (by accident).  I waited an entire hour before seeing the vet.  More than once during that hour, I was told, "Sorry for the wait."  Since it wasn't ok, I didn't say, "It's ok."  I just gave a slight smile and an acknowledging nod.  When I finally saw the vet, she apologized and explained that there was an emergency regarding another pet.  I nodded in acknowledgement. 

I believe they made the ethically right decision of treating the emergency as more important than the routine appointment.  I would've done the same thing.  And I don't think they made me wait just to mess with me.  But it doesn't negate the fact that (a) I had an appointment, and (b) I had to wait for an hour.  Apologizing didn't give me my time back, and it didn't take away my annoyance. 

I think the proper way to apologize in that scenario is with some form of compensation, probably either a refund on what I already paid or a free visit some other time.  The way I see it, they broke the appointment contract.  But since it was an unforeseen circumstance, I can understand why the appointment wasn't kept.  Seeing that the business was still making money (positive) while treating an emergency (positive) while not keeping my appointment (negative), the only person in the equation who didn't benefit was me.  It stands to reason that the business should compensate for that. #psychology
Imagining different realities Jul 8, 2014
I noticed a while ago that it's really difficult to imagine a different reality than the one you currently occupy.  Not like aliens and time travel and whatnot, but like imagining how things would be in the present if things in the past had gone differently. 

For example, sometimes I wish I drank more in college.  This sounds ridiculous, but give me a minute.  Cheap beer and crappy shots flowed freely in those days, but I held off until I was 21.  If I had started earlier, I could've gotten a few mistakes out of the way early (like Southern Comfort) instead of making those mistakes later in life when my body was older and less inclined to recover from a hangover. 

But if I drank at that time in my life, I probably wouldn't have been hanging out with the people I was hanging out with, which means I probably wouldn't have met my wife, which means I probably wouldn't have had the self-confidence to quit religion, etc.  The point is that we're all essentially a product of our experiences, and it's nearly impossible to imagine how things would've turned out if we changed just one of the many variables. #psychology