This is the best one of yours I’ve read so far! Well thought out, funny and thought provoking, and don’t think I didn’t catch the They Live reference!!
Great to be with you on your new site. Exciting to see the evolution of your work over the past 20 years – can you believe that! As thought provoking and informative as ever. We await the next. Warm wishes.
This installment of You Are Not So Smart (http://youarenotsosmart.com/2012/04/17/ego-depletion/) is extremely relevant to the issue of primal stimuli and the reserves of willpower we need to resist them. I encourage you to take a look at it.
After having read your research section, I had to add that I loved the solution to this problem of supernormal stimuli, which is ‘Get of the plaster egg’ !!
*Loved* this one. Brilliant! But oh-so-many philosophical and scientific issues it brings up… for example, is it realistic to argue that we can over-ride our instincts and attraction for the supernormal stimuli when the planet is groaning under the weight of the west’s obesity, and porn makes up an absurdly high % of web traffic? All signs point to ‘no’ I think …but then again a small percentage of people do seem to be able to ignore the fast food and porn… and yet… one of the defining characteristics of Homo sapiens is our curiosity and thirst for knowledge… who’s to say that the internet, and libraries before that, are not to be considered ‘supernormal stimuli’ -i.e. the web as information-porn…. I’m certainly guilty of that ‘abusing’ that instinct!
The other issue is the rigidity of our brains… I’m not arguing against this attraction to supernormal instinct, but I did read a book recently called The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, and it argues that our brains are far more ‘plastic’ than medicine or science previously thought… and that we’re far less ‘hardwired’ than we ever thought. Which is good and bad news perhaps, in hat if those supernormal attractions do manage to reel us in, they really could shape our brains to be far more ‘maladjusted’ (I would argue), than if we *were* more hardwired…. if that makes sense. Anyway, I really enjoyed this, and keep up the good work!
This is the best one of yours I’ve read so far! Well thought out, funny and thought provoking, and don’t think I didn’t catch the They Live reference!!
As many others have posted…
Thank you, thank you, thank you Stuart!
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A very good read. Bookmarked.
GOOD STUFF!!!
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Thank you, Stuart. Thank you. You made me think!
Well done Stu! Loved it.
oooh shiny colorful icons… must… buy… pdf…
we sleep – THEY LIVE
Great to be with you on your new site. Exciting to see the evolution of your work over the past 20 years – can you believe that! As thought provoking and informative as ever. We await the next. Warm wishes.
Excellent work, Stuart. Quite thought-provoking
Absolutely amazing! Great artwork and story! Very impressed!
Unbelieveable! This is fantastic!
excellent as per usual Stubart. I await the next.
Great work. Best yet. Cheers J
Great work Stu, I loved it. You are truly gifted.
Its exciting to see some new work from you. Great as always. I like the new site too.
This installment of You Are Not So Smart (http://youarenotsosmart.com/2012/04/17/ego-depletion/) is extremely relevant to the issue of primal stimuli and the reserves of willpower we need to resist them. I encourage you to take a look at it.
After having read your research section, I had to add that I loved the solution to this problem of supernormal stimuli, which is ‘Get of the plaster egg’ !!
Well said.
*Loved* this one. Brilliant! But oh-so-many philosophical and scientific issues it brings up… for example, is it realistic to argue that we can over-ride our instincts and attraction for the supernormal stimuli when the planet is groaning under the weight of the west’s obesity, and porn makes up an absurdly high % of web traffic? All signs point to ‘no’ I think
…but then again a small percentage of people do seem to be able to ignore the fast food and porn… and yet… one of the defining characteristics of Homo sapiens is our curiosity and thirst for knowledge… who’s to say that the internet, and libraries before that, are not to be considered ‘supernormal stimuli’ -i.e. the web as information-porn…. I’m certainly guilty of that ‘abusing’ that instinct!
The other issue is the rigidity of our brains… I’m not arguing against this attraction to supernormal instinct, but I did read a book recently called The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, and it argues that our brains are far more ‘plastic’ than medicine or science previously thought… and that we’re far less ‘hardwired’ than we ever thought. Which is good and bad news perhaps, in hat if those supernormal attractions do manage to reel us in, they really could shape our brains to be far more ‘maladjusted’ (I would argue), than if we *were* more hardwired…. if that makes sense. Anyway, I really enjoyed this, and keep up the good work!
Nice one!!!
I love this. Real life makes for good comics!
I like the way you philosophically present facts without forcing an agenda down anyone’s throat. It’s lovely food for thought