Simp

'Kahneman tried to explain the hedonic treadmill via with his own aspiration treadmill. He claims that he not only failed, but the data were opposite to his hypothesis.'

https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10056

Uh... what that Edge article you are linking shows is that 'experienced happiness' which he thought would be a better measurement of happiness than life satisfaction is even more immune to your life circumstances:

"This was the first of many such findings: income, marital status and education all influence experienced happiness less than satisfaction, and we could show that the difference is not a statistical artifact. "

This only strengthens the OP's opinion...

He does tell us at the end of the article that GDP correlates with the happiness levels of countries. But that doesn't really detract from the OP's reasoning. (Who knows if that's even causative, instability & war could cause both GDP & happiness to drop.)

Even the study you are linking suggests revisions, and is far from 'disproving' the hedonic treadmill theory.

The voice might be computer generated, if it is, it's really well done.

When I was visiting with community college students in Arizona, one young man said to me, “I’m one of the people who’s not good at math.” It kills me when I hear that kind of thing. I think about how different things might have been if he had been told consistently “you’re very capable of learning this stuff.”

Couldn't agree more with this specific example. But you shouldn't ignore reality either. A man with no legs is not going to win the 100 meters at the Olympics. Understanding where your potential lies is important for deciding where to invest your effort. That doesn't mean he can't improve at all though.

Especially in things like math, there is a popular belief that you need some kind of 'math gene' to be decent at it. There is little evidence that there are math specific genes beyond general learning ability.

[Same genes 'drive maths and reading ability'] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-28211676

Sadly, in a lot of cases this will lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy where you will stop trying to improve your math skills because you weren't "made for it".

But that's really more a problem of a false belief that these things are set from birth. A blind belief in 'I can do anything i want despite the situation or environment i am in!' isn't going to help anyone. I would advise the runner with no legs to invest his precious time and resources in something other than trying to win the 100 meters at the Olympics.

A 2013 paper by two Oxford researchers projected that nearly half of U.S. jobs would be vulnerable to automation within 20 years.

Who says "social skills" can't be automated?

But “computers aren’t good at simulating human interaction,”

Not yet you mean.

While I think it would be difficult to abolish forced labor right now, I do believe he makes some very good points. It would be a start if we could get some consensus that forced labor is something we should try to get rid off, if it was possible, because it is used to control people and it makes people stupid due to lack of time for gaining knowledge/thinking/discussing. And i think this article is great for that purpose.

As [Adam] Smith observed: The understandings of the greater part of men are necessarily formed by their ordinary employments. The man whose life is spent in performing a few simple operations… has no occasion to exert his understanding… He generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become.”

If we agree that abolishing forced labor should be our goal, we can start working towards making that possible. I see automation and basic income playing a big role in this for example.

(such as Finland, Norway, Sweden etc.)

Norway has an unemployment rate of 3.9%... that's lower than the US (much lower if you use U6 as a metric) or UK. In fact, it's one of the lowest in the world.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployme...

3 years later and computers now outperform humans on Imagenet. While we still have a lot of work ahead, it shows how fast things can change in the exponential world of computers.

Seems like it has already been done:

In 2002, other head transplants were also conducted in Japan in rats. Unlike the head transplants performed by Dr. White, however, these head transplants involved grafting one rat's head onto the body of another rat that kept its head. Thus, the rat ended up with two heads.[10]

On Wikipedia i find 'It is argued that several up to now hopeless medical conditions might benefit from such procedure.[9][15]'.

Many people's initial reaction is disgust. Which i don't blame them for. But what if we can move past this? It might be a great medical advancement.

Don't go West young man. (Advice to Columbus.) I. A Voyage to Asia would require three years. II. The western Ocean is infinite and perhaps unnavigable. III. If he reached the Antipodes he could not get back. IV There are no Antipodes because the greater part of the globe is covered with water, and because St. Augustine said so. V. Of the five zones, only three are habitable. VI. So many centuries after the Creation, it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value. - Report of the committee organized in 1486 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to study Columbus' plans to find a shorter route to India.

Makes you wonder about widely derided projects such as Mars One.

The entire point of the "Future and Emerging Technologies" FET Flagship program (where the HBP got it's money) was to fund risky, daring and ambitious technology projects.

Here's an article about the Human Genome Project from 1990: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/05/science/great-15-year-proj...

"The critics argue that the human genome project has been sold on hype and glitter, rather than its scientific merits, and that it will drain talent, money and life from smaller, worthier biomedical efforts."

"They also doubt that the project can be completed in anything close to its original deadline and budget."

"it will have generated enormous reams of uninterpretable and often useless data"

"it's hyped science"

"Everybody I talk to thinks this is an incredibly bad idea"

"Some critics have begun aggressive letter-writing campaigns"

The exact same arguments that were used 25 years ago to discredit the HGP are now resurfacing to criticize the HBP. And with genome sequencing now below 1000$, that article has become almost laughable.

In other words, the same reductions as a placebo would give.

The fact that we feel sorry for it as it is kicked is a testament to how dog-like it really is. It reacts to falling over like a real dog would.

The link lifebeyondlife submitted is actually quite a good read:

Set up to fail: How bosses create their own poor performers http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/research/doc.cfm?did=4...

"I like how it describes the negatively reinforcing cycle of closer scrunity which results in worse performance etc. " -lifebeyondlife

More information to satisfy the complaints of my critics regarding the date, definitions, forms of meditation, etc:

A systematic study on the efficacy of various forms of meditation programs (inc mantra, transcendental, and mindfulness meditation), commissioned by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, was published in 2014.[67] After a review of 17,801 citations, the study based its conclusions on 41 randomized controlled trials with an active control, involving 2,993 participants. The assessment found "no effect or insufficient evidence of any effect of meditation programs on positive mood, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep, and weight."

Study: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=18097...

"start meditating"

Research has not shown that meditation beats a placebo

Studies about meditation are usually of poor quality.

Source: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/2013/03/08/r...

> Using this process, he discovered some surprising things—most notably that a company’s team is only about 12 percent predictive of a company’s success. “You need to find a good team that won’t ruin the company, but hiring ‘rock stars’ isn’t that great,” he explains. The market the company is entering is far more important than who’s running the company.

Makes you wonder why we're paying these people so much money.

According to this article (2014), iOS still has a 32.5% market share in the US. I do admit i'm surprised it's still that high in the US. It's not 50/50, but yes, still a contender in the US.

"Android now holds 61.9% of the U.S. market share to Apple’s 32.5%, the lowest percentage iOS has captured since the iPhone 4s launched in 2011."

source: http://bgr.com/2014/07/01/android-market-share-2014/

That's incorrect:

As of the end of Q3 2014, Android was the most popular operating system, with a 84.4% market share, followed by iOS with 11.7%

There was a time a couple of years ago when Android looked like it might gain enough momentum to sweep them away, but it now looks like the iOS market share in developed markets is going to remain fairly solid.

What are you talking about? iOS market share is at an all time low.

It went from 14.4% (2012) to 11.7% (2014).

As of the end of Q3 2014, Android was the most popular operating system, with a 84.4% market share, followed by iOS with 11.7%, Windows Phone with 2.9%, BlackBerry with 0.5% and Others with 0.6%.[90] Source: http://www.idc.com/prodserv/smartphone-os-market-share.jsp

How is that even possible when Android has a 84.4% market share?

Western christianity didn't leave all violence behind, see for example anti-abortion violence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-abortion_violence#United_S...

I saw a post about it, shortly after it happened, and upvoted it, but it was deleted.

Many factors can be the cause of this:

You're not really free to pursue long term projects since you have to be available to work/look for a job. You are also stressed because the future is very uncertain. You do not earn money so you have to do activities that are really cheap. You are looking for a job, but a lot of that is just waiting for replies on resumes you have sent out. There is also some social isolation because of the negative stigma that comes with being unemployed.

An example: It's hard to start a business with no money, that you might have to give up next week because you might have a job then and won't have the time for it. It's not making any money yet and you need to pay the bills! You need to focus on looking for a job. Meeting the right people would help get it started, only you're socially isolated and most people are working during the week. You can't think of all that right now. Your mind is preoccupied with job and money related worries. You watch some TV while you wait for replies from companies, it's free and stops your mind from worrying.

Too bad they still won the battle for the 'saga' trademark.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/01/23/candy-crush-...

If Exxon and Google were both liquidated today

Well, that's exactly it, isn't it? Google has more potential for the future than Exxon.

To be honest, it's a little understandable. Unlike on the iPhone, you can get your software from anywhere you want. You are not obligated to use the Play store to get this app.

That being said, would any store allow you to display your product in their vitrine, yet not get a cut when you they sell it for you? Do you think Steam would allow this?

Accusing someone of being a communist is hardly impartial.

"I do not know--but I believe that Richard Feynman is either a Communist or very strongly pro-Communist--and as such is a very definite security risk. This man is, in my opinion, an extremely complex and dangerous person, and a very dangerous person to have in a position of public trust,"

Page 110

All these references to his atheism. As a European, it's hard to believe that that was/is so important.