Thanks and thanks (2) Apr 16, 2010
One of my most common responses when somebody thanks me is to thank them back.  It's not because I'm a nice person; it's because the typical response of "You're welcome" just doesn't feel right.  When I buy something from a store, the cashier usually thanks me for shopping at their store.  I never feel comfortable saying, "You're welcome," so I say thanks back, i.e. "Thanks for being a good cashier."  It's the same with the security people at work who check my badge.  They do their thing, then they say thanks, as in "Thanks for stopping at the guard shack and letting me check your badge instead of running me over with your car."  Again, I don't feel a "You're welcome" is appropriate, so I respond with a thanks, i.e. "Thanks for checking my badge."  When TV or radio shows interview a guest and thank them for being on the show, it always sounds awkward when the guest says, "You're welcome."  It's like they're saying, "I took time out of my busy schedule to share my important information with you, and for that, you should be thankful." #psychology
Ignorance is good Mar 11, 2010
Ignorance, or simply being unaware, is a good thing sometimes (you might even call it bliss).  But only if you're ignorant.  When you're ignorant, you don't know things, and you don't even know that you don't know them.  And as they say, what you don't know can't hurt you.  But as soon as you find out, you're no longer ignorant; you're aware.  And once you're aware of your ignorance, you can't go back.  You can't un-know something.  So really, we should be celebrating and protecting our ignorance, instead of constantly doing things to destroy it.  Things like learning and reading and such. #psychology
Gift obligation Feb 23, 2010
From an episode of The Big Bang Theory: 
Sheldon:  Wait! You bought me a present?
Penny:  Uh-huh.
Sheldon:  Why would you do such a thing?
Penny:  I don't know. 'Cause its Christmas?
Sheldon:  Oh, Penny. I know you think you are being generous, but the foundation of gift giving is reciprocity. You haven't given me a gift. You've given me an obligation.
Heh.  I identify, but thankfully don't feel entirely obligated to reciprocate. #psychology
Say no more Feb 11, 2010
Here are a few phrases people say to avoid talking about something, making me wonder why I even bother to listen: 
  1. "I'll tell you later."  Really?  Or will you just depend on my keen ability to forget things?  Probably the latter.
  2. "I can't talk about that.  It's classified/proprietary/sensitive."  Solution:  Generalize.  For example, if I ask about the ingredients in my favorite candy and your company is more secretive than the military, tell me what I want to hear:  Just some chocolate, sugar, nougat, things of that nature.  I don't care about the specifics.
  3. "We don't have time to discuss that right now."  This comes up in school and church when the speaker feels the need to announce the fact that they have more information on the subject but couldn't possibly cover it all in the allotted time.  In other words, this person is full of themselves.
I like people. #psychology
Rotating dishes Jan 19, 2010
Oh, the psychological nuances of putting away the dishes (via Kottke).  I personally rotate them like store merchandise:  New stuff (i.e. recently cleaned) in the back (or bottom), that way old stuff gets used regularly.  It's the same with my clothes rotation, for which I receive the occasional criticism from Wendy.  And of course this reminds me of auto-ordered plates, something I found great joy in noticing and analyzing like a nerd. #psychology
Easier to lie Jan 14, 2010
I'll be honest here.  Sometimes it's just easier to lie.  It's not that I want to be a liar.  It's just that some situations are made more difficult by telling the truth.  For example, if an acquaintance asks how I am, I respond with some variation of "good," because that's what you do.  The question wasn't asked to elicit a response about the intricacies of the negative things in my life.  It was asked as a sort of long-form greeting.  Another example is when the topic of my job comes up in conversation.  It's kind of complicated.  Not too complicated for normal people to understand, but complicated beyond the scope of a casual discussion.  Instead of listing examples of what I might do in a typical day, I just say I do math problems.  Is that so bad? #psychology
Immediate discount Dec 9, 2009
I showed up to a thing in a faraway place recently and this guy asked me what route I had taken to get there.  I said something like (and this will only make sense to Jerseyites), "80 to 287 to 24 to 78 to the Parkway."  How did I know that combination of roads off the top of my head?  Because that's how you get everywhere in New Jersey when you live where I live and go where I tend to go.  Sure, you could take a bunch of stupid backroads and go 25 mph through towns and traffic lights, but the absolute quickest way to get from my house to pretty much anywhere is on major highways.  And in my little world, that's really not up for debate.  I'm not open to new ideas about this.  I've tried some different options, but I've made up my mind, and I'm sticking to it.  So the guy says, "Oh, you should've taken 80 to 287 to 27 to Main Street to Stupid Road.  That's the quickest way."  It might've been a product of this "type" of guy (argumentative, annoying), but right when he said that, I immediately discounted him and decided to never listen to another thing he said.  So far it's been working out well for me, though I can't be completely sure because I stopped listening to him. 

The same thing happened recently when I filled out a health risk questionnaire online.  I inputted my height and weight, and I was promptly and simply told that I was overweight.  I've been called many offensive things in my life, such as "scrawny," "pasty," and "furry," but "overweight" has never been one of them.  And while I admit that I've gained a good 15 lbs in the past five years, I absolutely refuse to think of myself as overweight.  That being said, I immediately discounted anything else this stupid questionnaire had to offer (such as the never-before-heard "diet and exercise") and finished it as quickly as possible. 

It's not that I won't discuss differing opinions with people or won't accept new ideas, it's that I've made up my mind on certain simple issues, and if someone or something tries to disagree with me, I'll stop listening.  I think that's fair. #psychology
It’s always something (1) Sep 16, 2009
The day I moved in to my dorm room during my freshman year of college, my new roommate said a funny thing.  We were on our way to get dinner at the crappy cafeteria, and he accidentally scratched his face and started bleeding.  As we were walking up the stairs, he couldn't get the bleeding to stop, and he simply stated, "It's always something."  I feel this way a lot.  Some days, whether it's because of my deep-seated cynicism or powers beyond my control, it just seems like if it's not one thing, it's another thing.  My hip doesn't hurt anymore, but now my back does.  I got my car washed, but now there's a rust stain on one of the floor mats.  In the words of the great poet, historian, and American Idol judge Paula Abdul, "I take two steps forward; I take two steps back."  How true, Paula. #psychology
Conversation of idioms Sep 11, 2009
I witnessed an interesting conversation this past weekend between two friends who hadn't spoken in a while.  It consisted almost entirely of idioms, or cliches, or some sort of overly-used phrase that has little to no meaning.  Since I can't remember the exact conversation, I'll pretend this is how it went: 
Friend 1:  I heard it's supposed to rain cats and dogs later. 
Friend 2:  I'll guess we'll have to go back to the drawing board. 
Friend 1:  That would leave a bad taste in my mouth. 
Friend 2:  Later, it'll just be water under the bridge. 
Friend 1:  We could reschedule, that way we'd kill two birds with one stone. 
Friend 2:  And we could keep everything on the straight and narrow. 
Me:  *vomit*
I've noticed a similar pattern with people whose first language is something other than English.  They learn the language by watching movies and listening to people speak, and they tend to remember the things they hear most.  For my boss, it's things like "the freaky thing" and "all that craps", while for other people it's things like, "Nice to see you; have a good weekend."  When it comes down to it, all of human speech is simply a combination of memorized phrases stitched together to create meaning.  That's all she wrote; take it or leave it. #psychology
D & W (1) Sep 10, 2009
I couldn't think of a better way to put this: 
[Image: dwgraph.png]
It applies to pretty much everything.  Energy level, volume, mood, appetite, hair length, etc. #psychology