Getting Mental Highs off of a Near Miss

I’m reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and among many interesting things, one in particular struck me. There is a section about gambling, and Duhigg writes about Near Misses — when your slot machines ALMOST hits the jackpot, when that ’7′ is just one line too low. And, of course, this is all bullshit because there is no such thing as ‘almost’ with slot machines. The outcome is pre-programmed. It may look to the player as if they were close to the jackpot, but in reality they were no closer than if they hadn’t put money in and pulled the lever (pushed the button these days). Duhigg writes that pathological gamblers basically get high off of near misses. Neurologically speaking their brains light up when it appears they have come close to that elusive jackpot…What’s interesting, as a strategist, is understanding how and why people get ‘mental highs’ from almost getting/achieving something. Near misses trigger habits — and much of what we study in this industry are habits.  So, what is the moral of this story? If you lose playing slots, then keep playing until you win or your money is gone. Or read this book.

 

Living Vicariously Digital: Why do we Like to Watch People watch People?

Perhaps one of the most puzzling memes online today is our obsession with Reaction Videos. Especially, given this time of year when we have tons of videos of people opening packages and kids unwrapping gifts. Not to mention the recent Star Wars reveal video that is going around. But what is it about these that excites us? What do we care what strangers think about getting a iPad2 or watching “Scarlet Takes a Tumble” ? Well, it’s like looking in the mirror. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression and — you only get one chance to experience something for the first time. So in some ways it’s consumers trying to relive the moment they first saw/witnessed something. Trying to grab that fleeting moment and enjoy it once again. Living vicariously digital…(just imagine if you could film someone reading this post you just read, so you could can enjoy it again like the first time — over and over again) …

 

Forgetting the Digital Age, but will the Digital Age Forget You?

It’s been said that “social media is a great way to enhance just how big of a jerk you are, only with Google to remember it.” Well, in his recent book, “Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age,” the cyberscholar Viktor Mayer-Schönberger claims “societal forgetting” is potentially a thing of the past, given the prevalence of our digital selves.  By “erasing external memories,” he says in the book, “our society accepts that human beings evolve over time, that we have the capacity to learn from past experiences and adjust our behavior.” In traditional societies, where missteps are observed but not necessarily recorded, the limits of human memory ensure that people’s sins are eventually forgotten. By contrast, Mayer-Schönberger notes, a society in which everything is recorded “will forever tether us to all our past actions, making it impossible, in practice, to escape them.” He concludes that “without some form of forgetting, forgiving becomes a difficult undertaking.” In other words, you’re fucked…

Read this...Don't say I didn't warn you...

Digital Collectivism. Are you In?

Seems we all want to share in something – especially if it helps us save money these days. Enter Digital Collectivism. Who said digital is tearing us apart and making us less social? It’s quite the opposite in this case, as online interactions and connections are inspiring in-person interactions. This is a hybrid of pragmatism and altruism. Regardless of whether it’s cabs, clothes, pork or child care – people are out there searching…

Knitting, anyone?

Forget HAL 9000. Beware: Paro

HAL will soon have his way, as it seems the robots are taking over slowly but surely. In a cool example of how we humans are getting better at enabling robots to emote and display empathy, Paro, a $6,000 baby seal, is one of many robots being used to help soothe the elderly. In fact, it’s very cool to see how we try to program robots to think and feel like we do. It’s not an easy task. Yes, robots can play chess — and beat humans, but seems they can now even win at Jeopardy!, a game requiring much verbal logic…Although he may lead the revolution in taking over the world one day, this seal is damn cute…

An App to Replace Drs? It Could be…

MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a mobile-phone application that, coupled with a small plastic device held over the screen, can determine users’ eyeglass prescriptions. Now, that’s a useful app. Seems we are moving away from the world of pointless but fun apps to a utilitarian approach. Called NETRA or near-eye tool for refractive assessment, the system asks users to align lines on the phone’s screen while looking through a small plastic cube. Now only if insurance would cover this…

Does insurance cover this?

I Want to Climb Inside my Data…Do you?

Ever since I saw Professor  JoAnn Kuchera-Morin speak at the CAT Conference in NY last year, I have been obsessed with her AlloSphere — and have even emailed her about potentially visiting when I am next in the area. The AlloSphere is a three-story-tall aluminum sphere with a catwalk running through the center with six hi-def 3-D video projectors that spray 360-degree images onto a spherical screen.  It resembles the famous catwalk fight seen in the Death Star, but it’s actually located at UC Santa Barbara and what it essentially does is, it allows researchers to literally get inside their data and information. Projects so far include examinations of how hydrogen atoms bond together and a giant model of the brain derived from fMRI scans. Up to 30 people can fit on the catwalk, and they get glasses and wireless joysticks to mess around with the streaming imagery. Dozens of speakers play sound into the echo-free chamber. The result is psychedelia with research applications….How could you not want to experience this? Every time I look at data, I envision what it would look like in the AlloSphere…

Get in there...

What do you Want to do Before you Die?

I love this amazing art-meets-anthropology project Before I Die I Want to… – just amazing. It uses Polaroid photos to capture people’s responses to the question. It is fascinating, but also is a curious study of mortality, values and motivation. The hospice polaroids are quite memorable…

What do you want to do?

Now Google is Saving Lives?

Seems they have all the right answers at Google. Last week, Google began offering suicide prevention hotline information to people who were searching suicide-related terms. ’Ways to commit suicide’ and ‘suicidal thoughts’ trigger this response, however, a query like ‘I want to end my life’ fails to elicit the suicide hotline information. Semantics can kill. This feature aligns quite nicely with their brand identity…

Thats no paid ad...

Beware the Socialnistas – Community Vs Audience – Consumers as Judas

The difference between a community and audience is what direction you face your soapbox. There’s a huge difference, one will fall on their swords for you; others will watch you fall. And this week the Socialnistas have been watching Nestle fall — and fall hard. Brands have to be careful these days playing in the social sphere. A small issue can quickly become a brand-altering disaster for years to come. Guerilla social media attacks –  social media users looking for a way to “make a difference” – are on the rise. Nestle hit a social media landmine this week with its association with a company that supplies palm oil to the Swiss chocolate giant. Protesters have posted a negative video on YouTube, deluged Nestlé’s Facebook page and peppered Twitter with claims that Nestlé is contributing to destruction of Indonesia’s rain forest. Brands Beware. Judas is behind you…

Kit Kats Kill...I guess?