masterwordsmith-unplugged

How the Media Misleads
An Uncertain Fixed Deposit?
Deceiving Ourselves via Selective Attention?
That I A Better Person May Be

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 08:38 AM PDT

This morning, I came across a fantastic blog callled RYviewpoint run by a Canadian retiree who describes himself as 'an over-the-hill but under-the-cover guy waiting by the highway of life to see what random deliveries fate has for me..."

Sadly, he decided to stop blogging at that site on the February 1st, 2012 and he eloquently explains the reasons for that decision in THIS POST. Honestly, I really hope he will resume blogging again for otherwise, cyberspace would truly lose an insightful and classy writer like him who not only shows a high level of integrity but writes with such sincerity, style and flair.

I have made a personal commitment to read his past posts everyday for it is rare to come across someone like RYviewpoint who can write brief but hard-hitting posts. His blog has over 5000 blog posts and I will definitely try to read every single one.

One of his posts How Media Misleads is really worth a read and you can access it HERE.

Excerpt from that post:

If the media lies, then a representative government is impossible. And that makes the constitutional requirement for a free press a waste of effort. At least a significant majority of the press must be honest enough to tell the truth. A free press can be honest or sold out. MORE HERE.

An Uncertain Fixed Deposit?

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 03:45 AM PDT

The following article by Adila Razak of Malaysia was first posted here.

'BN could lose more than half of Sabah seats' by Adila Razak

The BN stands to lose more than 60 percent of its parliamentary seats in Sabah in the next general election, said a Sabah-based political scientist.

UiTM Sabah lecturer Arnold Puyok said that, based on his research, BN could lose up to 14 of the 22 seats now held by BN in the state.

Seats like Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Pensiangan are being considered "easy wins" for the opposition.

"I don't think the 'fixed deposit' will remain," he said, referring to the popular term for Sabah and Sarawak, which have been traditional BN strongholds.

He was speaking at a roundtable discussion on the next general election, organised by the politics, security and international relations cluster of the National Professors' Council.

Puyok said the BN will have difficulty in retaining not only Chinese seats in Sabah, but also areas where the Kadazan-Dusun make up the majority of voters.

"BN could lose up to 10 marginal areas (where the) Kadazan-Dusun (make up the) majority (of) voters," he said, noting that the toughest battles will be seen in areas which are more urban and densely populated.

He predicted a "tripartite" battle in Sabah between the BN, the United Borneo Front led by veteran Sabah politician Jeffrey Kitingan and an alliance between Pakatan Rakyat and a local movement.

The local movement he said, is likely to be Angkatan Perubahan Sabah, led by local politicians like Beaufort and Tuaran MPs Lajim Ukin and Wilfred Bumburing, who are rumoured to be leaving the BN.

However, he posited that Lajim and Bumburing, both political strongmen in the 1970s and 1980s, have little traction outside their areas today.

"People still look at (Joseph) Pairin (Kitingan, left) as a source to unite the Kadazan-Dusun, and I don't see (Bumburing shifting) support from BN to the opposition," he said.

Universiti Malaysia Sarawak political scientist Jeneri Amir said that, while Sarawak BN anchor party PBB is likely to win all 14 of its seats, the same cannot be said for its partners.

"PRS has six seats, but the Sarawak Workers Party is planning to contest four of these and is likely to win two... ," he said.

"SUPP is in bigger trouble, and is likely to lose five of its seven of its seats as the perception among the Chinese is that a vote for SUPP is a vote for (Sarawak Chief Minister) Abdul Taib Mahmud."

SPDP, he said, is also in trouble due to recent defections.

The 2011 Sarawak election has shown popular vote for BN dropping by close to 10 percent compared to the 2006 state polls, he added.

'Sabah, Sarawak kept Umno afloat'

UKM lecturer Jayum Jawan said the question is no longer whether the Borneo states are fixed deposits, but rather a "floatation device (pelampung) to keep Umno and Malays from sinking".

"In 1963, when Singapore left Malaysia, in 1969 when the ruling coalition lost its two-third majority and were fearful even though in other countries people could rule with much less than that...and again in 2008," he said, listing the instances when the two states had provided support.

"In 2013, when the parliamentary term is over, I don't know if Sabah and Sarawak will be a floatation device for any battle ship."

Jawan (left) added that, in Sabah and Sarawak, the church is the "third force" with its strong network throughout the states.

"Christians are voters too and have their interests...The church was previously only concerned in the hereafter but now they are concerned in the 'herenow'.

"Whether this will affect the next general election we will see, but it will definitely be a strong factor in Sarawak politics henceforth."

He said the people of Sarawak are feeling that they are not in the mainstream of development and when someone comes along promising change, it is very appealing.

"This cannot be taken lightly. The opposition can offer the moon and the stars, that is their job, and the job of the government (of the day) is to deliver on its promises," he added.

Deceiving Ourselves via Selective Attention?

Posted: 24 Jul 2012 09:13 PM PDT

According to wiseGEEK:

The issue of why people pay attention, how much they do and to what is often more referred to as selective attention. In any busy scene, be it a classroom or a freeway, it's virtually impossible to note everything at once. What a person pays attention to in these circumstances is what they select to pay attention to, though it may be noted that selection is not necessarily conscious. Selected attention can then be viewed as the process by which people find something upon which to concentrate, and the level of concentration they can continue to exert as distractions arise.

There are many theories as to why people select certain things or why they have varying levels of selective attention. Some believe that the memory or the working attentional state can only hold so much at a time; so people filter out what they deem unnecessary or unimportant, usually without being aware of the filtering process. A number of theories have linked the study of attention to the senses and to the idea of how these arouse focus decisions in humans, and others believe neural function is very much involved. For instance, if two people call someone else at the same time, to whom will that person respond? Possibly, people are already attuned to respond to a more familiar voice, a louder voice, or a voice of a certain pitch, and so they'll automatically select which person gets the response, and they may not even realize another person has also called them.

Degree of selective attention may vary depending on people, and some people have low attentional levels, particularly if they have certain learning disorders. Conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can make it challenging for students to stay appropriately focused and any distractions may make a student lose focus. It's hard for the ADHD child to remain in touch with a single thing, though at times they can also exhibit hyper focus. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

In 1999, two neuroscientists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simmons conducted a simple experiment with students in a psychology course they were teaching at Harvard University. One of the best-known experiments in psychology, it appears in text books and is taught in introductory psychology courses throughout the world. Not only has it been featured in magazines such as Newsweek and The New Yorker, it has also been aired in television programs such as Dateline NBC. The Exploratorium in San Francisco and other museums have also showcased this clip which humourously reveals something about how we see and don't see in our world. They went on to write "The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us" which highlights several critical shortcomings of our brain.

"The Invisible Gorilla" examines six everyday illusions that profoundly influence our lives namely illusions of:

attention
memory
confidence
knowledge
cause and potential.

According to the two neuroscientists, these illusions represent distorted beliefs we hold in our minds that are "not just wrong, but wrong in dangerous ways."

Watch the following clip. Follow the instructions carefully.

The clip illustrates the first illusion : attention. We think we pay attention to much more of the world around us than we actually do. Focused on a specific task (counting the number of bounced passes) just as many don't spot the gorilla that strolls leisurely into the scene, we may miss certain important aspects of life/information.

Often, we think we see more than we actually do (illusion #1). We may even overrate our abilities to recall what we have seen (illusion #2). Also, we constantly overestimate our own qualities and abilities (illusion #3).

These illusions explain a lot of otherwise inexplicable human behavior. For instance, three witnesses of a robbery may very different versions of what happened. We may sometimes even "recall" events that never actually occurred.

Sometimes, we may hold on to distorted beliefs that both wrong and dangerous. Here's an extract from The Invisible Gorilla:

What we intuitively accept and believe is derived from what we collectively assume and understand, and intuition influences our decisions automatically and without reflection. Intuition tells us that we pay attention to more than we do, that our memories are more detailed and robust than they are, that confident people are competent people, that we know more than we really do, that coincidences and correlations demonstrate causation, and that our brains have vast reserves of power that are easy to unlock. But in all of these cases, our intuitions are wrong, and they can cost us our fortunes, our health, and even our lives if we follow them blindly...

"You can make better decisions, and maybe even live a better life, if you do your best to look for the invisible gorillas in the world around you."

There may be important things right in front of you that you are noticing due to the illusion of attention. Now that you know about this illusion, you will be less apt to assume you're seeing everything there is to see. You may think you remember some things much better than you really do, because of the illusion of memory. Now that you understand the solution, you'll trust your own memory, and that of others, a bit less, and you'll try to corroborate your memory in important situations. You'll recognize that the confidence people express often reflect their personalities rather than their knowledge, memory, or abilities. You'll be wary of thinking you know more about a topic than you really do, and you will test your own understanding before mistaking familiarity for knowledge. You won't think you know the cause of something when all you really know is what happened before it or what tended to accompany it. You'll be skeptical of claims that simple tricks can unleash the untapped potential of your mind, but you'll be aware that you can develop phenomenal levels of expertise if you study and practice the right way.

I came across this book when checking out YouTube videos. When I asked my younger boy to watch the video, he laughed and said he saw it many years ago and told me that I am behind time. :-(

How many passes did you count? Did you see the gorilla? Do share your views/experiences and observations. I hope that as the next GE draws nigh, we will really be vigilant and pay attention and remember all important details. Have a nice day!

CLICK HERE to read more of Dan Simons' views on The Invisible Gorilla – The Illusions Of Attention, Memory, Confidence, Knowledge & Potential.

CLICK HERE to read Dr Doug Green's Summary of The Invisible Gorilla.

CLICK HERE to read David A. Shaywitz's excellent review of The Invisible Gorilla that was published in WSJ.

CLICK HERE to go the official site of The Invisible Gorilla.