“The Key to Reducing Suicide Rates”

Posted on by motionblur

Article in the LA Times:

Op-Ed: The key to reducing suicide rates? It’s definitely not lowering taxes

Some takeaways:

  • States with higher taxation were also noted to have lower suicide rates than states with lower taxation
  • This turned out to be related to the finding that states with higher taxation also had lower rates of gun ownership, and vice versa
  • Suicide rates are significantly higher in states with higher gun ownership, and this is even more so for teen suicides
  • Some might argue that if guns are not available, other non-firearm methods would be used instead by the suicidal. However, rates of non-firearm suicide were not found to be higher in states with lower gun ownership.
  • “When a gun is more readily available, there is a greater likelihood that it will be used to commit suicide. Other studies have shown that many suicide attempts are impulsive acts. That, in turn, suggests that if a gun is more accessible, it will be easier to act on impulse.”

Unfortunately, when it comes to firearms, legislation is necessary to (attempt to) address rates of suicide by firearm, through lowering rates of gun ownership—i.e., it seems unlikely that self-motivated methods of firearm safety or limitation will be effective.

What I mean is that most people who own firearms likely feel that it’s others who are at risk for suicide by firearm, not themselves. But, the very fact of firearm ownership puts them at risk when personal or situational crises and hardships occur—and these occur in all of our lives, and we are often at the mercy of our own (often ineffective) coping skills.

The cruicial factor for a person who is suicidal possibly becoming a person who is non-suicidal is time—time for crises to be processed, for help to be found, for treatments to work, for the moment to pass, for hope to seep in.

And while time and adequate support may allow us to make it through difficult passages in our lives, death by suicide, of course, puts an end to all.

I’m not sure there’s a realistic way to reduce firearm ownership in a way that will make an actual difference, in our current political climate—but that’s a rant for another day.

No One Is Black, and No One Is White—So Why Do We Call Them That?!

Posted on by motionblur

Maybe this is one of those indelicate subjects that needs to be tiptoed around, but … why the F do we call black people, “black people”??

They’re not fucking black … I mean it can’t just be me that thinks this right? that if society calls them that—and I get that they call themselves that as well, but … doesn’t that just make things worse?

What could be more polarizing than … I mean ok maybe you have to call people SOMETHING? maybe?

But I almost feel like this is some inside joke or practical joke played on darker-skinned people, by, let’s say, ‘European ancestry’ people.

“Whites” and “Blacks”? If we start the conversation about race with those being the starting categories, what do we really expect is gonna happen?!!

They’re not white and they’re not black for fuck’s sake, so how is this supposed to work?

I mean why aren’t we calling Asian people “Yellows”?

It’s like, hey let’s call them Yellows, and then watch ’em start calling themselves yellows, and then we can have all these different colors all irreconcilably divided and start from there!

But no, it’s “Asians,” which is somehow respectable I guess, cause “Orientals” is too divisive somehow, what?!

Okay, I get that “Orientals” has some seriously negative historical connotations, but it’s a lot less intrinsically divisive than “White” and “Black,” no?? But “White” and “Black” is where the conversation STARTS!

It’s like, they made O.J. blacker for his Time magazine cover, OH SHIT THEY DID THAT TO MAKE HIM LOOK WORSE CAUSE BLACK EQUALS BAD SO THAT’S WRONG THAT’S TOO BLACK

I mean it was fucked up that they photoshopped him to look blacker [note, this is by no means a defense of O.J., who is detestable in every way], but then again he’s categorized as a “black person” despite not really being “black,” so isn’t calling him “black” in the first place a fucked up thing to do??

You know what I mean? “You made him look blacker! That’s soooo fucked up because you know the color black has negative implications and you took advantage of that to psychologically manipulate people!!”

“But, it’s totally cool to call an entire segment of humanity ‘Black’ even though they’re NOT AT ALL BLACK!!”

I mean, I get that the term “Colored people” has a horribly pejorative connotation, but why is that worse than “Black”??

Okay so I’m not really sure why this all bothers me so much, but it has real-world implications—like, when patients are being discussed I cringe when I hear the term “Black” patient … I can’t get myself to say it, or chart it. I just leave it out. “This is a 52 year old male.” Or, I’ll do the “African-American” cop-out, which is admittedly pretty lame, cause how the hell do I know what their ancestry is?

Like, you can say “Asian patient” and it’ll generally be correct ethnically … but “Black” or “African-American” could be anything, and realistically means nothing except that someone concluded the patient was “not obviously Caucasian, light-skinned Latino, or Asian.”

I mean I get that we can’t just call everyone “People” or “Humans” for various reasons, not the least of which is that humans are by nature evolved to perceive differences and you can’t change that, and/or that people innately perceive that there’s their “own” group and then there’s “other” groups.

But the truth is you cannot get MORE divisive than the terms “White” and “Black”—literally as far apart on any spectrum as two things can possibly be—and there simply can’t possibly ever be a way to fully reconcile them, especially when the groups involved aren’t actually “White” or “Black” in any actual way, AND one label has an obviously and verifiably positive psychological connotation, and the other an obviously and verifiably negative one.

In discussing this with others, at one point it was pointed out to me that “black and white are the official race selections you see when filling out forms though … probably because it just happens to possibly match the color of their skin.“

Which is exactly what I’m talking about—it’s so ingrained into society at the deepest levels now, that we almost think it makes sense to call people that … but come on! Nobody’s freaking skin color is black, nor is anyone’s skin color white!

If you give a person just a black crayon and ask them to draw a human being, they will not produce anything resembling a black person!

“What are they, then??”

Actual skin color-wise? or Political category-wise?

Political category: BLACK
Skin color: brown, light brown, darker yellowish, some reddish tone

Political category: WHITE
Skin color: Light pink … some yellow … bit of reddish tone

“What race are they though?”

Genetically? Politically? “Race” is a made-up category.

Political: BLACK
Genetic: African (with divisions), Hispanic/Latino (with divisions), etc.

Political: WHITE
Genetic: European/Eurasian, Western Asian/Cyrillic, etc …

As far as “forms” and “checkboxes” are concerned, the point is more that black people are “Black” simply because that happens to be the current custom … at one point in time it was “acceptable” to call certain people “Colored.” Now, that’s an abomination, and for good reason, but “Black,” in my opinion, is even less appropriate than “Colored;” it just happens to be the current convention.

Look, I understand we’ve got some sort of inherent need to label other people SOMETHING if they don’t look like ourselves. And consequently we find we need to label ourselves something as a result. I really don’t have anything better than “Black” and “White” necessarily but I do think it’s mind-boggling that this state of affairs is acceptable to everyone, when there’s no conceivable way in hell it’s helping bring people together, and is almost unquestionably making things worse.

Believe In Yourself! [But Not Too Much]

Posted on by motionblur

I think part of the problem in America [and in Western cultures in general] is this idea of “The Maverick”—we romanticize those who follow some “inner voice” and shrug off all the dissenters and naysayers and those who say they’re wrong, and that it can’t be done … “Mavericks” don’t care what anyone thinks; they drop out of college or otherwise bypass the rat race, take huge risks in order to forge their own paths through life, and subsequently reach some pinnacle of success and/or wealth that commands respect and admiration.

Obvious examples would be Bill Gates … Steve Jobs … Mark Zuckerberg … Elon Musk … that sorta thing; but I would also include celebrity culture in general—how, in a sense, being popular entails being noticeably different than everyone else, and confident in that difference somehow, in order to be seen as more than just another one of the teeming masses.

What’s problematic is that all the while we’re being told that being confident in ourselves is what matters—”believe in who you are, no matter what they say,” “don’t let anyone tell you’re wrong when you know inside that you’re right”—we’re also being given the message that if we believe in things that others would take offense to, or would disagree with, that shouldn’t change how strongly we believe in those things anyway.

In other words, the very people who believe in themselves SO MUCH that they can somehow reach some measure of success/wealth despite all those who would tell them they can’t or won’t, are going to be those who are able to hold on strongly to their views on all sorts of topics, even if those things happen to be “inappropriate” or politically incorrect” or even “illegal.”

The obvious example would be current dipshit-in-chief Donald Trump, who somehow garners millions of votes from actual human beings simply because he seems to believe so intensely in viewpoints that are (or would have been thought of, once upon a time) unconventional and/or downright offensive.

Another way of putting it would be to say that, many of the people who are unique or individualistic enough to be raised above the general consciousness somehow and thereby admired and esteemed, are those who also happen to have rather reprehensible views on various things that we also accept by default, even while we rail against that very sort of behavior and attempt to promote kindness and goodness to all.

Other than Trump, examples might include Kanye, the entire GOP and its platform, “gangsta rap culture,” Elizabeth Holmes, etc.

I guess my point is that, if we’re going to celebrate “going with our guts,” believing in ourselves, making it despite the odds, and never letting anyone doubt us, it’s gonna be hard to also at the same time be like, well actually, there IS a limit to believing in yourself—cause if you believe certain things, you ARE wrong, and you SHOULD stop. Just stop THAT part though … keep believing in the parts that OTHER people might say you’re wrong about.

You know what I mean?

We live in a broken country

Posted on by motionblur

Kind of a fascinating and also appalling moment in American History when the U.S. President can directly and publicly insult four female members of Congress by mocking their dignity in an obviously taunting, racist, and contemptuous manner, AND have *187* other douchebags in Congress go on record supporting that behavior …

He does this shit every day with impunity—I mean, so they ‘voted to condemn’ that one specific abomination … there’s dozens of other examples of just-as-insane-as-shit garbage he spews on the daily and not only does it not turn him into a complete fucking pariah, it actually increases his popularity with the stupid AF rednecks and gun lunatics and white supremacists that the GOP needs to keep as their voting base, so that they can keep extracting every cent they can from these ignorant motherfuckers and from every other constituency in the country and funnel that straight to the wealthiest corporations and the most affluent 0.1%

This sort of mean-spirited hypocrisy and exploitation—and really, all this bitter & virulent partisan hostiilty—filters straight down from the top into every inch of this whole land and thoroughly debases it … the country looks to be irreparably broken and it’s incredibly sad

“Inside the Mind of a Thief” Video

Posted on by motionblur

Super long vid (like 45 min!) … but some useful info. He talked about a lotta things but several seemed particularly important cause he emphasized them multiple times—for example here are some things he said almost always deterred him from trying to burglarize a house:

  • Presence of neighborhood watch / strong sense of community … people visibly being on the lookout for their neighbors
  • WIRELESS alarm system, and/or a sign saying you have one, whether you actually have one or not—the wired ones are pretty easy to circumvent but wireless/cellular almost impossible (in the amount of time needed)
  • Vidcam that’s visible from outside door, that’s obviously recording whoever’s there
  • To a somewhat lesser degree, but also timers for lights and stuff, BUT avoid doing this for rooms visible from front/back windows or doors—obvious no one’s in those rooms

He emphasized repeatedly that if he saw any of the first three things above, he would pretty much leave immediately

Also:

  • average time in a house: 5-7 min, enough to go straight to master bedroom where jewelry’s usually just laying out or easily located in closet. Safes usually in master closet too.
  • Cliche but still true: he would case neighborhoods by jogging through and noticing if mail wasn’t picked up, trash bins left out by curb for days, newspapers etc.

Bunch of other things too, worth a watch!

What does this say about meeeeeee

Posted on by motionblur

Here’s an article suggesting that cats ultimately start behaving like their owners, although I guess it’s possible some people choose their pets (if there was a choice) after sensing some perceived shared traits to begin with … either way, my cat is pretty needy and occasionally whiny, and if he’s pushed away for whatever reason, he’ll just wait a couple minutes and try again like that’s his new goal in life, to obtain even a tiny bit of token affection

Hmmm 🤔😳

Study Finds Cat Behaviors May Reflect Their Owners’ Personality Traits

40 Ideas for Lists of 40 Things

Posted on by motionblur

For her birthday fesitivity, my friend Vicki asked partygoers to bring a list of any 40 things, such as 40 favorite movies, 40 meaningful books, 40 songs etc. I was trying to think of ideas for my list and just wound up just making this list of 40 possible ideas for 40 Things lists …

40 Ideas for Lists of 40 Things

  1. 40 foods which, when eaten in sufficient quantities, will result in weight gain
  2. 40 breeds of dogs that are unable to perform even simple tricks, such as guessing the card you picked
  3. 40 things you should never name your child if want your child to have the same name as you
  4. 40 temperatures colder than 0° Kelvin which are attainable in the heart of a person who once said they cared
  5. 40 letters that were almost included in the English alphabet but were voted out of the final version
  6. 40 games from around the world where there are two opposing teams, a ball of some sort, a playing field, extensive discrimination based on race, creed, or sexual orientation, and a referee
  7. 40 movies that alien civilizations will probably hate due to uninspired acting and third-rate dialogue
  8. 40 books written in German that you need to know how to read German in order to read
  9. 40 ways the world would be different now if the internet had existed during the Middle Ages
  10. 40 reasons travelers should avoid visiting Yugoslavia, the majority of which relate to Yugoslavia no longer existing as a country or place
  11. 40 species of insects that are kinda just keeping to themselves harming no one, but that people would still like to eradicate for some reason
  12. 40 historical figures you probably thought were fully human
  13. 40 words that all mean the same thing: should have taken vocabulary more seriously growing up 
  14. 40 short stories written by Edgar Allen Poe that suggest the man may have suffered from mild to moderate paranoid schizophrenia
  15. 40 technology careers which will be obsolete in a few years due to massive flooding in major cities around the world as a result of climate change
  16. 40 wishes which would have some pretty hilarious unintended consequences if they actually came true, and also some which would be a bit less hilarious, such as the sudden annihilation of space-time and the abrupt disappearance of the universe and all matter and energy contained therein
  17. 40 things visible with an electron microscope that you will wish you didn’t realize were living on your eyeballs right this moment 
  18. 40 times people’s lives could have been completely and wonderfully different had they only checked their spam folder that one time
  19. 40 things you will probably never accomplish in life solely because a camel is required to do those things
  20. 40 classic films made in the 1940’s and 1950’s you probably didn’t know were almost all CGI
  21. 40 underwater adventures achievable only through the miracle of Splenda™️
  22. 40 metals that are delicious beverages at room temperature
  23. 40 javascript arrays that return array iteration objects containing the keys of the original arrays when accessed
  24. Top 40 songs of the year 2019 as predicted in 1962 and performed by the student orchestra at Timberline High School in Boise, Idaho
  25. 40 irrational numbers that could lead much more productive lives if they would only listen
  26. 40 jeans sizes listed in order of volume rather than waist circumference
  27. 40 educational children’s toys that teach the value of teamwork and sharing, and also contain human growth hormone for the development of strong bones
  28. 40 common kitchen tools and utensils made of metal and/or plastic that can be melted down together and reshaped into one large bowl made of metal and/or plastic
  29. 40 local AM radio stations which are actually being broadcast from the exoplanet Proxima Centauri b, approximately 4.22 light-years from Earth
  30. 40 one dollar bills you can exchange for a $40 bill at any bank in the U.S. 
  31. 40 fruits and vegetables which technically belong to the animal kingdom based on DNA genome analysis
  32. 40 questions to ask friends and family to find out what they really think of your habit of constantly asking irrelevant questions
  33. 40 world religions based on the idea that there exists one supreme being who is omnipotent, and another somewhat less supreme being who’s pretty much constantly bitter about the whole thing
  34. 40 things people would do if they thought they were invisible which offer rather disheartening insights into the dark depravity of the human condition
  35. 40 countries that border at least two oceans at the same time, which is really not that uncommon given how many countries and oceans there are
  36. 40 TED talks which are 40 minutes long or more, but which could have been summarized in a short paragraph or two for those who prefer not wasting 40 or more minutes watching a TED talk 
  37. 40 problematic behaviors of bonobo apes which are a direct result of increasing social media use and FOMO
  38. 40 stress management techniques which do not require reducing or otherwise moderating one’s alcohol intake
  39. 40 musical instruments that are really just devices to create percussive noises, which is hardly music if we’re being real here
  40. 40 top bluetooth headsets with integrated circuitry to specifically block the aggravating and obnoxious noise produced by leafblowers

Article: The Psychology of Money

Posted on by motionblur

http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-psychology-of-money/

This is a fascinating article which isn’t so much about the psychology of money per se, as it is about about the psychology of *investing* and how you can better apply that in your own efforts at such.

The premise is that a person who – on the basis of education, degrees, awards, etc in the field of finance – might be expected to know a LOT about investing, can and often will end up *significantly* worse financially than someone who has no such background, but who quietly invests modest amounts slowly but consistently over many years.

And the bottom line is that long-term success in investing is more a result of favorable psychology and behavior than it is about having an in-depth understanding of things like finances, financial markets, economics, and such – successful investing is mostly about how people behave with money, which is more complex and nuanced than can be reduced to algorithms, calculations, and formulas.

The takeaway isn’t necessarily a new idea: essentially, as early as you can, realize and trust the power of compounding. [So listen up, me from the early 2000’s! Oh wait, that’s not how time works.😭] But it tries to explain why this is so hard to do, especially in today’s world of finances as entertainment.

The article goes on to list TWENTY “flaws, biases, and causes of bad behavior [that] pop up often when people deal with money” … it’s a super long read (set aside half an hour!) but you could probably skim the 20 things and get the gist of it, which essentially is: “don’t just do something, stand there!” (and also: compounding).

A few thoughts from the article that resonated with me:

– “The finance industry talks too much about what to do, and not enough about what happens in your head when you try to do it … The true cost of investing is rarely the financial fee that is easy to see and measure. It’s the emotional and physical price demanded by markets that are pretty efficient.”

– “The point isn’t to abandon the pursuit of wealth … it’s recognizing that people generally aspire to be respected by others, and humility, graciousness, intelligence, and empathy tend to generate more respect than fast cars.”

– “A hard reality is that what often matters most in finance will never win a Nobel Prize: Humility and room for error.”

– “We tend to judge wealth by what we see. We can’t see people’s bank accounts or brokerage statements. So we rely on outward appearances to gauge financial success. Cars. Homes. Vacations. Instagram photos. But wealth, in fact, is what you don’t see. It’s the cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The renovations postponed, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined. It’s assets in the bank that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see … but they come at the direct expense of showing people how much wealth you have with material stuff.”

– “Personal finance is deeply personal, and one of the hardest parts is learning from others while realizing that their goals and actions might be miles removed from what’s relevant to your own life.”

– “If there’s a common denominator in these, it’s a preference for humility, adaptability, long time horizons, and skepticism of popularity around anything involving money. Which can be summed up as: Be prepared to roll with the punches.”

http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/the-psychology-of-money/

The Big Island – A Peculiar Interlude

Posted on by motionblur

As I stepped off the plane, it was suddenly obvious – “THAT’s the reason they call it the Big Island!” I exclaimed to myself. Now, to be sure, I’d always had an inkling that part of the reason for the nickname had to do with the island’s purported superiority over its neighbors, in terms of square miles; a brief glance at any globe or world map would confirm that fact most conveniently. But there had to be more than that, I’d always thought – maybe the island natives themselves are physically larger than their Oahuan or Mauian counterparts? Their waistlines certainly were. Or maybe it was their hearts, or their wallets … and what if a few days in paradise revealed these to be one and the same? It was easy to guess, harder to investigate; but that’s exactly what I’d come to do.

I stepped onto the temporary stairway that had been wheeled up to the plane by airport personnel. It was sturdy and stayed put, but never quite offered the sweet sanctuary that solid ground always provides. The slightest wobble in its axis turned even the stoutest of confidences into a barely questioning remark, but a questioning all the same.

The metallic clang of each rung as it was commissioned into service by my steel heels echoed through the humid air. The captain had said there would be a 10% chance of precipitation; my senses told me it was more like 80%. Step by step I hoisted my rolling suitcase and then my backpack down to ground level. Two or three smiling workers in orange reflective vests were greeting each passenger as we passed by. My head was pounding from the roar of the jet engines and the dull depersonalization of the flying experience. We weren’t passengers – we were livestock, being herded from one pasture to another. Graze! Graze! And when you return to your own pasture, you can graze some more. Who are the people making changes? Who chooses the pastures and makes them beautiful, plows them and sows, grows the sustenance that the sheep chew on? That’s who I wanted to be. I wanted to be part of that process, the process by which land is regenerated, and beauty is restored. I didn’t want to be part of the flock any longer; I wanted to be standing on the hill, directing the growth of the lilies and the lily pads.

Passing through baggage claim, I made a mental note about the airport. Clearly, this was not the reason the island was referred to as “big”. This airport was even smaller than Burbank’s, which is saying a lot when you consider that it’s the ONLY airport in the vicinity, and services thousands of tourists a MONTH. How they could accomodate that many even in a YEAR was beyond my comprehension. But accomodate they did, and I learned eventually to appreciate and admire it, for my own attempt at creating an airport never led to even one tenth of what the Kailua-Kona airport represented to this island nation.

“Big”? There was more to it than that. The roads were big, and the large black chunk of cooled-down lava were big, bigger than you imagine them to be. No. There’s more. The meal portions. Fair mediocre. Espeically at chains; could not have expected much more there.

So why then? Why “BIG”? It was simple. “BIG” was their word for “LOVE.” The “LOVE ISLAND.” Much more satisfying.