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Ryan Hamilton

Data & Design How-to's Note 3: Opening open data | Drawing by Numbers - 0 views

drawingbynumbers.org/...note-3-opening-open-data

shared by Ryan Hamilton on 29 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • This is the main location where the United States government publishes data
    • Sean McCarthy
      Sean McCarthy on 29 Oct 12
       
      I never knew that there was this large of an amassing of data.. It's awesome that it's available to all of us!
    • Ryan Hamilton
      Ryan Hamilton on 29 Oct 12
       
      It seems that today there are so many different groups that are trying to have a political influence that they will come up with a new study that backs up what they are activating. It is hard for anyone to even understand any of these studies and if they were actually done in a professional manner or anything of the like. This is important because many activists groups know this and will get money from many people to continue doing these studies. It is important for us to look carefully at studies being thrown at us and to look at the data and how it was collected.
anonymous

Drug experiment - Page 3 - Boston.com - 2 views

articles.boston.com/...3

shared by anonymous on 18 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • with one side calling for incarceration and the other for legalization. “And I just don’t buy it,” McLellan said. The answer is likely somewhere in the middle, he believes, and perhaps that’s where we can learn something from Portugal, a country that at least tried something new.
    • Xochitl Cruz
      Xochitl Cruz on 18 Nov 11
       
      I do not completely agree with having any drugs being legal, but I do think that there is a middle ground. If the drugs are made legal it would take away the temptation of wanting to try it; however, like in Portugal the number of people who try it will increase. There has to be a happy medium because the penalties are drastic for possessing a small amount of any drug.
    • Jacqueline Ramsay
      Jacqueline Ramsay on 18 Nov 11
       
      The middle ground is definitely tricky though since if the U.S. were to legalize only a certain amount of possession, yes it would decrease temptation but it would also open it up to people justifying why they could have more. 
    • Nancy Camarillo
      Nancy Camarillo on 18 Nov 11
       
      The issue becomes complicated when we try to find a middle ground. One can say the best approach to a solution would be to use the data to create that middle ground. But even then we are relying on data that can works for one country, yet this can be different when applied to a different society. To out right close yourself to the idea that some drugs should obtain legality is out of the questions is not the best way to view the problem. In the end it goes back to ensuring that we make a choice that doesn't negatively affect the polis. 
Melissa Moreno

Drug experiment - Boston.com - 0 views

articles.boston.com/...ar-illicit-drugs-casal-ventoso

shared by Melissa Moreno on 17 Nov 11 - No Cached
    • magen sanders
      magen sanders on 18 Nov 11
       
      this reminds me of the subject of criminals who have commited 3 crimes get a life sentence when convicted of 3rd crime, if all 3 a drug possessions that is a waste of resources and energy of the police force, at least with this system its cleaning up streeets and truly utilizing the authorities and the states resources
  • They decided to decriminalize the possession of all illicit drugs — from marijuana to heroin — but continue to impose criminal sanctions on distribution and trafficking. The goal: easing the burden on the nation’s criminal justice system and improving the people’s overall health by treating addiction as an illness, not a crime
    • Felecia Russell
      Felecia Russell on 18 Nov 11
       
      Ahh, I dont know how i feel about this. However, I do think whatever we socialize as a nation becomes acceptable. So, since marijuana is the new "push" people want it to be legal. I also agree with decriminalizing the punishment with regards to marijana. But I disagree with having bigger punishments for traffing of marijuana because it will already be legal. If we can traffic a bunch of tomatoes, why not a whole alot of marijuana? My point is, if it is legal then it is legal and if it is illegal, then it is illegal. But eradicate all these double standards!
    • Jonathan Omokawa
      Jonathan Omokawa on 18 Nov 11
       
      Assuming that our nation made marijuana illegal because of the adverse health affects, then why make it legal? I am not saying that it shouldn't be legalized, but like Felecia said, we need to eradicate the double standards. They offer marijuana to patients who have terminal cancer, or some other illness, because it helps with the pain. Does that mean the government will legalize something because it may not be good for you, but your dead anyways so what does it matter? Biologically, we are dying from the moment we are born. I don't quite understand this thought process.
    • Jacqueline Ramsay
      Jacqueline Ramsay on 18 Nov 11
       
      I agree with the idea that if marijuana were to be legalized, then why make distribution illegal? And personally, the idea of giving medical marijuana cards is very questionable since I know many teenagers who told a doctor they couldn't sleep at night or had pain and in turn received a medical marijuana card. This system seems flawed to me.
    • Ryan Brown
      Ryan Brown on 18 Nov 11
       
      Yeah I dont think this is a smart idea. I understand the point they are making but it does not touch on one of the biggest problems we are faced with today: what do we do with all the peopel already imprisoned by drug offenses. Are we just going to let them out? I am obviously not in favor of this idea as a whole but they are skipping a very important part of the entire process. That is one of the major hold ups with marijuana right now I believe, especially with the three strikes law in California.
    • Sarah McKee
      Sarah McKee on 18 Nov 11
       
      I remember hearing about this, it worked. Obviously I will actually be reading that as I get further into the article but I don't really understand what you all are discussing. If the legalize the use of a drug it is different from legalizing the trafficking of the drug. But if I remember correctly the idea was to let people kill themselves with drugs if they want to, it doesn't usually directly affect other people.
    • Matt Nolan
      Matt Nolan on 19 Nov 11
       
      I agree with Felicia, there is a double standard. The problem with legalizing marijuana is where do we draw the line for what drug is per say good and which drugs are bad. In other states it is a felony to have possession of marijuana and if it were legalized I feel there would be more problems then there already are with drug trafficking. The line that would be drawn would be too thin and much larger crimes would be occurring by possibly using marijuana as a cover for a much larger drug market.
    • anonymous
      anonymous on 21 Nov 11
       
      Portugal definitely had an interesting concept with its spin on the overall legalization of drugs but keeping trafficking activity illegal. It allows people to not fear jail time or other consequences (therefore removing the stigma of doing drugs as "doing something wrong", decreasing the overall allure of the topic in general) and to get the help they need when they need it most. This may not be the right solution for more upscale areas, but for ghetto locales and low-income areas, Portugal has the right idea. It may actually have a positive impact overall in that more people are given the resources to get the help they need and rid themselves of substances once and for all.
  • drug addicts, no longer in danger of going to prison, have been able to get the help they need.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • drug addicts, no longer in danger of going to prison, have been able to get the help they need.
    • Jacqueline Ramsay
      Jacqueline Ramsay on 18 Nov 11
       
      This seems to be a major benefit.
    • Mark Drach-Meinel
      Mark Drach-Meinel on 18 Nov 11
       
      It seems like a good idea to have the cops try and stop the bigger problems before attacking the smaller situations. It makes one wonder why this isn't implemented in other drug-heavy areas.
  • They worried that the country would become a junkie nirvana, that many neighborhoods would soon resemble Casal Ventoso, and that tourists would come to Portugal for one reason only: to get high.
    • nsamuelian
      nsamuelian on 18 Nov 11
       
      If they legalize drug use throughout the country then everyone will go there to get high. With all due respect, that's the stupidest thing a country can do. but seeing how it helped about ten years later, i guess that was a battle they fought and won.
    • Sarah McKee
      Sarah McKee on 18 Nov 11
       
      I really don't think it's that stupid, if they go there to get high, they will go there, get high and leave. Or they will be doing serious drugs there all the time and die. Or they will realize that drugs are readily available and treat them more like alcohol rather than illegal drugs... I'm hoping that made sense.
  • But nearly a decade later, there’s evidence that Portugal’s great drug experiment not only didn’t blow up in its face; it may have actually worked
    • Joette Carini
      Joette Carini on 18 Nov 11
       
      I really believe that if you make something that is illegal perfectly fine to do, there will be less of it. I do realize that is a little bit vague, so a good example would be how many people think that if marijuana use is made legal, then there will be less abuse of it and the number of users would deplete. My theory was definitely proven to be true with the way that they changed things in Portugal. 
    • Sabryna Aylard
      Sabryna Aylard on 18 Nov 11
       
      I do agree with Joette that we need to make drugs like marijuana legal and not glorify it by making it a "horrible" crime. However, I believe we should also treat the addiction. Otherwise when they are punished in prison, they are just going to continue when they get out. So using rehabilitation methods for crime would be more efficient because we would be getting to the root of the problem instead of skimming it.
    • Eric Henderson
      Eric Henderson on 18 Nov 11
       
      I definitely agree with both Joette and Sabryna, if you make something legal that was illegal, the usage of the substance tends to decline. However, there will still be usage of the substance in addictive cases, which is where the treatment needs to happen to help bring these people back to being contributing members of society.
    • John Buchanan
      John Buchanan on 18 Nov 11
       
      It may be a little naive for me to say this, but I feel like most of those who advocate the legalization of drugs grew up in well-off and predominantly white communities that have never seen the true problems of drug use.  If one takes a trip out to the Sunnyslope or Maryvale neighborhoods of Phoenix and asks people about the legalization of drugs, the locals will look at you like you are out of your mind.  This is because they realize the effects that drugs (even something as innocuous as marijuana) have on the well-being of their communities and families.  I feel like before someone just makes a decision on this topic by crunching the numbers and reading the studies, they need to take a drive through south-central LA...
  • after the reforms took hold, a 499 percent increase in theamount of drugs seized — indications, the authors argue, that police officers, freed up from focusing on small-time possession, have been able to target big-time traffickers
    • Melissa Moreno
      Melissa Moreno on 18 Nov 11
       
      This is a common argument I found when people talk about legalizing marijuana. It would free up so many more police officers, funds, and reduce the market for it. Now who knows if the argument is completely true. But there is something to be said for the fact that pot dealers don't want it to become legalized because they know it will be bad for business. This is something to take into account when looking at our own drug problems in america and looking for solutions. 
  • Kiera Murphy on 18 Nov 11
     
    The idea of legalization of drugs, marijuana or changing the drink age has always been a possibility in my mind. I've heard the argument many of times. To think that people would abuse drugs less is a interesting thought. Portugal seems to have proven the theory. It may be a way to combat drug problems in other countries as well. However, I'm still a floater on this subject. I think it's something that policy makers are scared to actually commit to. I would be shocked if policy was ever actually implemented even if it would eventually work.
Kim H

What Makes Us Happy? - Joshua Wolf Shenk - The Atlantic - 0 views

www.theatlantic.com/...3

shared by Kim H on 23 Sep 12 - No Cached
  • If you follow lives long enough, the risk factors for healthy life adjustment change
    • Kim H
      Kim H on 23 Sep 12
       
      This makes perfect sense to me. As we age, different things take priority in our lives and it's good to realize this and adjust accordingly. 
Kelsey Fratello

Embrace the Wonk : CJR - 0 views

www.cjr.org/...embrace_the_wonk_1.php

shared by Kelsey Fratello on 15 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • But even in day-to-day coverage, a poli-sci perspective can have value in helping reporters make choices about which storylines, and which nuggets of information, really matter
    • Lauren Dudley
      Lauren Dudley on 15 Oct 12
       
      I believe this needs to be done as the people need to be taught in depth about the issues at hand, not just the tid bits of informatin that then they have to rely on to make decisions, but if political scientist establish their prespectives and everything, I believe it would be beneficial for everyone. The political scientists can really point out the important issues instead of just glancing over them for the people to be more in the know in order to really help this country.
    • Tori Mayeda
      Tori Mayeda on 17 Oct 12
       
      i agree that small pieces of information are being used when the whole story or full knowledge of the story isn't known. i also believe that a poli-sci input would be significant to helping this problem. 
    • Kati Miller
      Kati Miller on 17 Oct 12
       
      I agree. It is apparent in news today that reporters relay their reports from an entertainment and profit-based perspective, rather than focusing on the importance of true political science. If journalists reported ploi-sci based information, the public would be better served factual information, and perhaps the norm of basing bias and opinion on superficial and irrelevant factors would begin to deminish.
    • Carissa Faulk
      Carissa Faulk on 17 Oct 12
       
      I think that at least part of the problem is that news reporters are trying to get more viewers, and as such they report in the way which they think will be most entertaining and intriguing to the public as a whole. They seem to have a fairly low view of the public, and so they give us just little snippets of news and interesting, relatable stories, but they don't give us many big picture facts or poli-sci based info.
    • Kelsey Fratello
      Kelsey Fratello on 17 Oct 12
       
      I agree that news reporters need to focus on the importance of political science. They need to be the means by which people can understand the issues at hand that are most important. People rely on the reporters to make them fully aware of things that are going on, and if reporters are just focusing on the entertaining facts, then they are doing a disservice to their audience. We as a people need to be aware of the problems that are going on in the political world; so if reporters stick to helping us understand them, then it will help this country to progress.
Dana Sacca

Dan Pink: The puzzle of motivation | Video on TED.com - 6 views

www.ted.com/...dan_pink_on_motivation.html

shared by Dana Sacca on 15 Nov 12 - Cached
    • Alexis Schomer
      Alexis Schomer on 15 Nov 12
       
      This Ted Talk is really interesting and relates really well to the idea of incentives and punishments. I definitely can see how incentives kill creativity. I've seen it in school! When students get an assignment to read, they often read it in its entirety but when they get an assignment with questions to answer, they simply search the text for the answers and skip a lot of the other parts (unless they don't read the text at all). The idea of incentives and rewards does work against its motive.
    • Flavio Guzman
      Flavio Guzman on 23 Nov 12
       
      I agree. Even after seeing this TED Talk many of us will continue to think that the way to speed up production is to provide insentives. Regardless of this already having been proved false, many of us will still continue to reject this fact. We need the fact to be proved as a "true" fact in order for us to consider it a fact.
    • Ryan Hamilton
      Ryan Hamilton on 16 Nov 12
       
      This is a great TED talk. And it is how many of the software companies in California are starting to be run. Having incentives for many cases impedes the creativeness to answering complex problems. Look at it in the school sense. If you take classes that you love and have a passion about the incentive or 'grades' take a back seat and you rarely think about them. But if you take a class that is something you are forced to take and is something that you are generally not interested in you start thinking just about getting a better or worse award, in this case a better or worse grade, all based on the amount of time and effort it would take. Companies know this and that is how many of the newest innovations have come about, by just having people work on stuff they love and are interested in.
    • Dana Sacca
      Dana Sacca on 16 Nov 12
       
      He brings the people into his talk by starting it with a personal story. I agree that if you want people to work better you need to reward them, or threaten them, the if... then scenarios. I like how this is science based. "Rewards narrow our focus." The reward does restrict our possibilities because we want to get to the reward, thus we try to do the task asap, meaning cutting corners and such things. It is very interesting that given a bigger reward cognitive skill is poorer, but mechanical skill is greater. The data shows that incentives narrow our creativity to the point that we can't think or get things done.
  • gina Hogrefe on 15 Nov 12
     
    I agree this Ted talk is great. Mr. Pink's enthusiasm is through the roof. It is good to see he's putting his lawyer degree to good use too. In regards to the puzzle of motivation the findings that the federal reserve researched that higher financial incentives led to worse performance. Social scientists know this, the federal reserve knows this, and now I am informed about this so how do you let the business' world know this. My favorite part of of the talk is that success equals the drive to do things because they matter.
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Emily Shandorf on 16 Nov 12
     
    He is so motivated when he talks, he really believes what he sais and shows passion and convinces people. I find very interesting the example of "the candle problem" created in 1945 by a spycologist named Karl Dunker, it is used in a whole variety of experience and behavior science. In the power of incentives, money always motives you and I find this true. A good example is: "the carrots and sticks". If you want people to perform better, you reward them, bonuses, and commissions. That's how business work. Sharpen thinking and accelerating creativity but it does just the opposite, it dulls thinking and blocks creativity. It is a continuous motivation, if you do this then u get that. I also like the these words that he has said: "New operation system revolves around 3 elements: autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy, the erg to direct our own lives. Mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters and purpose do something larger than ourselves. These are a building blocks our a business." He sais that "…narrow focus, works really well". But the real problem is that you also want to look "out of the box", the more we concentrate and narrow our attention to one thing, it restricts our possibility. Everyone has a different point of view of the candle problem, they all think opposite from each other and it is interesting. In a business there are no feelings, no philosophy, but just facts. I thought they showed a good and interesting example with MIT students, and it proves that the people with higher rewards did badly, "higher incentives led to worst performance", and the people who offered the small rewards did better.
  • Tyler Schnorf on 16 Nov 12
     
    This is a good Ted Talk for many resons. He managed to be funny, to convey valuable information, and get his point across while still being very entertaining for the audience. I just wonder now what will come out of new information like this. Will business start offering less rewards for critical thinking? What is an alternative that will still keep people in business and in other fields motivated?
  • Amanda Garcia on 19 Nov 12
     
    I liked this talk, it presented information I've never heard before. I used to be a business administration minor, and oftentimes I would hear things similar to this in class. Teachers encouraged incentives and punishments for everything from mindless work to creative projects. I dropped it because I was convinced that teachings like that dulled the mind and lead to only the basest of lives. A life simply spent working for rewards and avoiding punishment is not a life well lived; it's a task any dog could achieve. I liked this talk because it presented information we all know to be true for ourselves. For any job or project or subject that we find we can really enjoy working at, the incentive to work is the work itself, and so we strive harder not to run from punishment but to execute a goal we've set for ourselves. Of course, there are situations in which this does not work, but it is a wonderfully idealistic concept.
Lauren Dudley

McAllen, Texas and the high cost of health care : The New Yorker - 0 views

www.newyorker.com/...090601fa_fact_gawande

shared by Lauren Dudley on 08 Nov 12 - Cached
  • That’s because nothing in medicine is without risks. Complications can arise from hospital stays, medications, procedures, and tests, and when these things are of marginal value the harm can be greater than the benefits
    • Lauren Dudley
      Lauren Dudley on 08 Nov 12
       
      I think that this is so weird to think about this way, you would think as I would that the more tests, etc the safer you are with extra things to check, but it is interesting because you have to think that with more procedures etc, more things can go wrong. This is a very interesting point.
Phillip Delgado

Data & Design How-to's Note 1: Where is your evidence? | Drawing by Numbers - 2 views

drawingbynumbers.org/...note-1-where-is-your-evidence

shared by Phillip Delgado on 28 Oct 12 - No Cached
  • “The problem with the Pacific garbage patch is that I've never seen a picture of it that's compelling;  when you go out there they say there's garbage floating over an area the size of the state of Texas. So you sort of imagine it, then you want to see the pictorial evidence of it,  and when you're actually out there, it's not like you're knee deep in garbage. There's a lot of it slightly subsurface, so the pictures don't convey it. However,  that photograph of 13.8 ounces of mostly plastic inside the stomach of one bird tells the story.”
    • Kelsey Fratello
      Kelsey Fratello on 28 Oct 12
       
      I agree with Susan Middleton that visuals can have a huge affect on people. It is all about the best way to get your point across to your audience. This picture of the contents of the bird's stomach next to the picture of what plastic items currently float in our oceans needs no explanation. Automatically, the audience can understand that you are against people throwing away plastic items that can choke these birds. This picture is not only perfect because it doesn't need an explanation, but also because it is dramatic enough to cause people to think twice about throwing away small, plastic items. 
    • Lauren Dudley
      Lauren Dudley on 28 Oct 12
       
      I agree with Kelsey as if you see garbage floating in the ocean.. you see it but you do not really see the toll that it takes on the environment/birds, but the dramatic use of the bird and its stomach catches people off guard. The people relate to animals and seeing that kind of pain witht he garbage inside the bird, a death that people could have prevented by not throwing their trash into the water can really affect humans and their mindset.
    • Kim H
      Kim H on 29 Oct 12
       
      These images are effective because they evoke an emotional response from us. We see that the bird suffered, then we see why, then (hopefully) we realize that we can do something to eliminate other birds' suffering. In the same way, political campaigns use color and picture to effect their viewers. When you want the viewer to think positively, show happy people in full color; when you want the viewer to think negatively, show sad people in gray-scale. It's highly effective. 
  • Evidence is not only text and numbers. Collections of information, images, visual arrangements of data can became the evidence that people need to relate to, comprehend and take action on an issue. Take a look at the photograph below:  
    • Erick Sandoval
      Erick Sandoval on 29 Oct 12
       
      When we look at these broken spectacles, we don't really see anything more than 12 spectacles. Once we are told that they belonged to 12 of 58,000 victims of the Holocaust, it makes us picture how horribly these people were treated. Since the spectacles are different from one another, we can imagine that the victims were mistreated in many different ways which makes us think of more stories of what they went through. 
    • Carissa Faulk
      Carissa Faulk on 29 Oct 12
       
      It is absolutely astounding how much power an image has to influence our thoughts and emotions, and it is also astounding how much our brains can deduce from such a simple image. This really illustrates the power of image on our emotions an perceptions of an event.
  • This photograph communicates evidence of an atrocity in a completely different way than through statistics or a list of names. You are immediately made to empathise. This demonstrates what evidence can do: it can tell a strong and memorable story.
    • Tatiana McCuaig
      Tatiana McCuaig on 29 Oct 12
       
      The glasses are an immediate visual that can be seen. As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words" and in this case that is clear. The picture evokes an emotion and is able to tell a story. People can be lost in the transition from human to statistic, yet pictures and visuals put more into each piece of evidence. 
    • Meghann Ellis
      Meghann Ellis on 29 Oct 12
       
      The glasses in this photo is a perfect way to make an audience become more visual. With using a visual such as the glasses one can use their imagination more in order to conclude the story that picture starts.  Agreeing with Tatiana I think that pictures can evoke emotions in people and that pictures can presents more evidence that is "true" to make others believe more.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • evidence is only as valuable as the ability to communicate it successfully.
    • Sarah Marroquin
      Sarah Marroquin on 29 Oct 12
       
      This is very true! Most times when there is game changing evidence that could be the key to a case, the only way it will be acknowledged is if the presenter can properly express themselves.
    • Kevin Olive
      Kevin Olive on 29 Oct 12
       
      I agree. It is much harder to take a piece of evidence seriously if it is just shown in an ordinary manner. If the piece of evidence is well presented to a person, then the person is more likely to interpret the evidence as significant. 
    • Tori Mayeda
      Tori Mayeda on 29 Oct 12
       
      I agree with this completely. The way you present the information or evidence is crucial to how useful it will be. It's not worth anything if you don't understand it and present it in a way that others will understand it as well. 
    • Caitlin Fransen
      Caitlin Fransen on 29 Oct 12
       
      I also agree with this, it is very important how people present their evidence and details in odder to swade an audience. if it is really good evidence, but presented poorly... it will be looked passed. The only way i disagree with this statement and idea is when people are so set on their ideas and view points that not matter what the evidence is or how it is presented they will still think the same. 
    • Nicolas Bianchi
      Nicolas Bianchi on 29 Oct 12
       
      Absolutely agree.  If used in the wrong context, it wont really do much for you.  If you are able to utilize it properly, it will be taken seriously.
    • Caitlin Scott
      Caitlin Scott on 29 Oct 12
       
      Also, we live in a society where we expect everything to be "sold" to us.  We are such a consumer based society that if something doesn't look appealing or isn't eye catching, we will not pay attention or just completely tune out.  I think that is why a lot of evidence is presented as a scare tactic, they argue that if you don't pay attention to something, then horrible results will come out of not knowing the evidence.
  • This information can be used to strategically influence policy and public debate
    • Sean McCarthy
      Sean McCarthy on 29 Oct 12
       
      just like in the presidential debates where the candidates were saying completely opposite statements, yet both were somehow mostly true.
    • Justina Cooney
      Justina Cooney on 29 Oct 12
       
      This is one problem I see with the use of evidence and data. It is like statistics, you can make the results say bascially whatever you want depending on what you measure. It is like the saying we learned that measuring is scientific but what we measure is political. Politicians and the media can give evidence for what ever they want to support by manipulating it. Just watch a fox then msnbc they will have evidence for two very different sides.
  • Evidence is the greatest asset changemakers have.
    • Shannon Wirawan
      Shannon Wirawan on 29 Oct 12
       
      This is true because if a person cannot apply the evidence or just have basic evidence to support their topic, they wouldn't be held credible to others. I feel that the words they say would turn people away, knowledgeable or not, because people would talk and turn others against them. This would make the 'changemaker' have difficulties to try and make changes.
    • Edmund Garrett
      Edmund Garrett on 29 Oct 12
       
      Having evidence can be very helpful for change makers but we kind of just got done discussing how people do not necessarily respond to accurate and well put across evidence. To put evidence across in its most well thought out way requires thought to understand it. The average voter probably is not very intelligent and do not make decisions based off of well thought out evidence. They make decisions off of symbols that are vague and not really explained to a full extent. Symbols are probably a more effective toll for change makers than evidence backing up claims. Almost like lying sort of to appeal to a voter's likes and dislikes. People do not always want the truth but want they want to hear. (these are all just different ways of phrasing my opinion)
    • Finn Sukkestad
      Finn Sukkestad on 29 Oct 12
       
      This makes me think of the lady who called Obama a communist on national television and then when asked about it she simply told the reported to "study it out" and "look it up" repeatedly without giving any sort of evidence to the fact that he is a communist and not an American despite being born here.  She is just a popular youtube video now because she had no knowledge of any real evidence and was looks like she is just there hopping on the Kenyan communist bandwagon and shouting out random things but doesn't really know what she is talking about.
    • madison taylor
      madison taylor on 29 Oct 12
       
      Without evidence you would just be saying random ideas. You have to be able to back up your ideas and prove that they will work or else people wont care what you "think" will help. You must prove yourself because it is the peoples job not to be too trusting and take people for what they say. We need to make them prove their ideas are the right ones.
  • technologies tend to amplify real-world problems, not reduce them
    • Hayley Jensen
      Hayley Jensen on 29 Oct 12
       
      Technologies should never be assumed to solved problems. When we have problems, we have them with other people, specifically relating to using evidence. Technology is a medium to which we can derive specific numbers, communicate faster, make projects go faster, etc. It is a convenient way to do all these things but the responsibility for figuring out these issues lies with people themselves. I believe that it is a very naive way of looking at life if we just think we can off load our problems on technology and think it would automatically be fixed. The reason technologies tend to amplify real-world problems is because we take less responsibility to fix them and instead us technologies to make ourselves, our ideas, our motives, look better than others instead of collaborating with other to solve an issue. In relation to inequality, maybe people who DON'T have access to technologies are the ones who have presented the real-world problem. This takes their ability to solve their problem out of their hands and into someone else's who has the technology. When it is out of the hands of those to which the problem lies, the motive is not personal and the issue can become skewed and potentially inaccurate. 
    • Benjamin Chavez II
      Benjamin Chavez II on 29 Oct 12
       
      I agree with Hayley's statement that we take less responsibility to real-world problems through technology.  I recently read an essay called "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted" by Malcolm Gladwellsince.  In summary it's an argument that the posts on social networks (technology) that ask us to do something that we typically wouldn't be motivated to do in a small form (1 million likes = 100 dollars to charity) is going to eliminate us from doing large things like the civil rights movements because we will already have the satisfaction of doing the small thing.
  • use the best format for the job at hand, with a mix of old and new technologies
    • Brandon White
      Brandon White on 29 Oct 12
       
      This is an idea that I can agree with. I work in a library, and currently we are trying to balance new and old technology. When I help with research, students seems too keen to try to find internet sources before trying to find books that we have that are extremely relevant to their needs. Students always feel that there will be some sort of "magical" journal online that will give them exactly what they need, when in reality. Finding things online is often easier, but students seem to forget that there actually are other formats of information still available: Books, newspapers, periodicals, and the like. The key is to find a healthy balance of information that works best with a specific topic. 
    • Caitlin Scott
      Caitlin Scott on 29 Oct 12
       
      I agree Brandon, I've been at CLU for 3 years, and I had no idea how to search the databases in the library until I had a class that took us there to explain it.  It would have helped me with so many research papers.  I'm glad I have that information now, but if people don't know that they have access to it, all they are going to be doing is searching GOOGLE and finding results that they are not looking for.
  • Between the two extremes - reports and billboards – there are opportunities to use evidence in information design in a layered and innovative way that can appeal to a wide range of potential allies.
    • Nicolas Bianchi
      Nicolas Bianchi on 29 Oct 12
       
      I agree with this as well.  "Potential allies" may take to things differently.  If there was one generic way evidence was used, you may miss out on a few of these allies.
  • Activists have many opportunities to use diverse forms and types of evidence to tell a story, words, numbers and statistics are important, but they are not the only form of evidence.
    • Dana Sacca
      Dana Sacca on 29 Oct 12
       
      There are many different ways to get evidenec, so why aren't they all used? Its mainly only numbers used as evidence.
    • Phillip Delgado
      Phillip Delgado on 29 Oct 12
       
      I believe that the black noise project would generate different results if done in the United States. I believe culturally the people are attracted to different things. Women dressed more provocatively will have a much higher change of being sexually harassed. In India women wouldn't normally dress like that
Sabryna Aylard

Tavish's Questions on Inducements (Discussion for November 11) - 22 views

I feel inducements are beneficial when the people only participate in these behavioral changes just for the inducement. They need to have a interest or desire to want the behavioral change. For ins...

question inducements discussion November 3

started by Tavish Dunn on 10 Nov 11 7 follow-ups, last by Sabryna Aylard on 12 Nov 11
Mike Frieda

The Trap - We Will Force You To Be Free (5 of 6) - YouTube - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

shared by Mike Frieda on 26 Sep 11 - No Cached
    • Mike Frieda
      Mike Frieda on 26 Sep 11
       
      3:20 Rational actors anyone?
John Buchanan

What Makes Us Happy? - Magazine - The Atlantic - 3 views

www.theatlantic.com/...3

shared by John Buchanan on 20 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • ” Warm connections are necessary—
    • Sarah McKee
      Sarah McKee on 20 Sep 11
       
      I definitely agree with this and have said so many times, we are social beings and connections are absolutely necessary for us to live properly. Just because your basic needs like food and air are met doesn't mean you're actually living.
    • Xochitl Cruz
      Xochitl Cruz on 21 Sep 11
       
      I agree with this statement as well because althoguh we have basic needs, we also need warmth and affection. It's not only people but all beings, so it is necessary.
    • Jonathan Omokawa
      Jonathan Omokawa on 21 Sep 11
       
      I agree with this statement as well. However, its for different reasons. While we can argue philosophical ideas of living, there have been studies done that show having a purpose in life or having a connection to a social culture actually benefits their health. This is especially prominent in elderly people. They tend to live longer when they have been purposed to do something or their family or friends socialize with them.
    • Ryan Brown
      Ryan Brown on 21 Sep 11
       
      I think this is one of the best articles ever. I have thought a gazillion times about whether a study like this had ever been done and recorded. It is amazing. I am in awe with all the details and the paths that were taken and the application and the nerve of these scientists to employ a study of the sort. It is just amazing what we need and what " a purpose" can do to someones life.
    • Kiera Murphy
      Kiera Murphy on 21 Sep 11
       
      I definitely agree that to actually live you need to have warm relationships. What you "need" is just the basics of survival but to be able to succeed and live a happy life you "need" to be able to establish happiness through relationships.
  • That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.”
  • were more than twice as likely to eventually get sober
    • Sarah McKee
      Sarah McKee on 20 Sep 11
       
      I think that's because they've always been doers. They joined clubs, and worked and they just are always doing, and working so they're more equipped to work at becoming sober and staying committed to not drinking.
    • Felecia Russell
      Felecia Russell on 20 Sep 11
       
      Warm connections are necessary. Relationships is the drive for happiness. Similar to the facebook situation, because our friends are online, we want to be online, so we can keep our connection going. Also, developing new connections is what keeps us happy. Our basic needs does not justify that we are living the life we should be living. Connection is in the formula for happiness even though some people believe there is no formula. "Life is for living, not liiving uptight."
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • The authority of these findings stems in large part from the rarity of the source. Few longitudinal studies survive in good health for whole lifetimes, because funding runs dry and the participants drift away.
    • Tavish Dunn
      Tavish Dunn on 20 Sep 11
       
      The length of this study allows the study of the cases to be conclusive. Without seeing the people in their advanced years, the researchers can only guess what factors are related to successful aging.
    • Mike Frieda
      Mike Frieda on 20 Sep 11
       
      It is hard for me to refer to this study as authoritative. Though it does have a large sample size, all of the sample is from men who attended Harvard undergraduate in 1937. It would be very unlikely that this sample would feature much diversity, especially since it is limited to only men, and therefore the results cannot be concluded to being universal among all people. 
  • How is it that children are often found to be a source of “negative affect” (sadness, anger)—yet people identify children as their greatest source of pleasure?
    • Sarah McKee
      Sarah McKee on 20 Sep 11
       
      Well, children are a lot of work. Feeding them, clothing them, taking them to school, and a million other things. But we also are programmed to reproduce, we're proud of our children, children bring joy even if they also bring lots of strife and problems as well.
    • Jonathan Omokawa
      Jonathan Omokawa on 21 Sep 11
       
      I agree. The postpartum depression often found in new mothers is an example of overwhelming emotions as well as chemical imbalances in the brain that feeds the negative feelings.
  • Harvard Study of Adult Development consists of two cohorts, the “Grant men” and the “Glueck men.”
  • “It does have to do with hitting bottom. Someone sleeping under the elevated-train tracks can at some point recognize that he’s an alcoholic, but the guy getting stewed every night at a private club may not.”
    • Gaby Ramirez Castorena
      Gaby Ramirez Castorena on 21 Sep 11
       
      i think this sums up the theory of what exactly creates happiness
  • “You can say a lot of general things from these data that you could never say before,” Diener says. “But many of them are relatively shallow. People who go to church report more joy. But if you ask why, we don’t know. George has these small samples—and they’re Harvard men, my goodness, not so generalizable. Yet he has deep data, and he brings so many things together at once.”
    • John Buchanan
      John Buchanan on 21 Sep 11
       
      I think this goes to show how little we actually know about psychology and social science.  With such a vast wealth of numbers and quantitative data, the real intricacies of the answers to questions such as these continue to allude us.
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