Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Thursday, November 17, 2016
2016 Election Aftermath
I have made a conscious choice with this blog to be non-partisan. I want to address universal philosophies here, not specific people or groups, and I only bring up current events to illustrate deeper messages and their relevance.
In that spirit, I am only going to say this about the 2016 United States presidential election:
No matter what happens, we must care about all people. We are all human, we are all in this together, no matter how different our beliefs on how to approach problems may be. Respect others' lives, choices, and emotions, even if you disagree with them. Remember that no demographic of people is truly homogeneous and being part of one does not reveal an individual's entire character. Voice your beliefs, voice them clearly, but do not let yourself become tainted by hate or fear. They make you unhappy and easily misled, by both others and yourself.
If you want to do good, take action. I thoroughly encourage it. But know why you are doing it and ensure you are being productive. If you seek to change established minds, you will not do so by being antagonistic. If you present yourself as an enemy, you will be treated that way. They will shut you out and with you, your message.
If you're unsure how to fight without anger, how to foster acceptance without condemnation, I recommend reading this article:
http://sabotagetimes.com/life/daryl-davis-meet-the-black-man-who-befriended-the-ku-klux-klan
and watching these videos
In that spirit, I am only going to say this about the 2016 United States presidential election:
No matter what happens, we must care about all people. We are all human, we are all in this together, no matter how different our beliefs on how to approach problems may be. Respect others' lives, choices, and emotions, even if you disagree with them. Remember that no demographic of people is truly homogeneous and being part of one does not reveal an individual's entire character. Voice your beliefs, voice them clearly, but do not let yourself become tainted by hate or fear. They make you unhappy and easily misled, by both others and yourself.
If you want to do good, take action. I thoroughly encourage it. But know why you are doing it and ensure you are being productive. If you seek to change established minds, you will not do so by being antagonistic. If you present yourself as an enemy, you will be treated that way. They will shut you out and with you, your message.
If you're unsure how to fight without anger, how to foster acceptance without condemnation, I recommend reading this article:
http://sabotagetimes.com/life/daryl-davis-meet-the-black-man-who-befriended-the-ku-klux-klan
and watching these videos
Monday, September 12, 2016
The Neural River
Think about how valleys are formed, a flow of water gradually forming its path. But it doesn't happen overnight - one bucket tossed will not a valley make. But a thousand buckets, continuously, over time - that will. Once a river forms a valley it will want to follow it. And that valley will get deeper, and deeper.
Many people become frustrated with psychotherapy. The advice they are given is not producing noticeable results. Our thoughts and neural pathways work like these rivers and valleys.
The brain is a complex network of neural connections. Think of our these as the valleys and our thoughts as the water. The flow of our thoughts creates new pathways, though deep routes do not happen immediately. This is especially true when trying to change a way of thinking that already exists. Trying to redirect a river out of a valley is not a small feat and not one that can be accomplished with a single tossed bucket.
Our brains will try to justify their current state. They will rationalize why this state of being is appropriate, or inevitable. This is natural.
It is the natural order of the universe, of everything, to follow the path of least resistance. Our brain circuitry is no different. The path of least resistance is the one that already exists.
To change something that is on a undesirable path, including our thinking, we have to go against that order. We have to do it by redirecting the river where we want it to go. At first, this will difficult. The water wants to follow its old path and does not yet have a new one. But with continual small changes, it will form over time, through single gallons that individually may seem to do nothing.
Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interlinked. By slowly changing the course of that neural river, our thoughts, we can change ourselves as a whole.
This is how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works.
Many people become frustrated with psychotherapy. The advice they are given is not producing noticeable results. Our thoughts and neural pathways work like these rivers and valleys.
The brain is a complex network of neural connections. Think of our these as the valleys and our thoughts as the water. The flow of our thoughts creates new pathways, though deep routes do not happen immediately. This is especially true when trying to change a way of thinking that already exists. Trying to redirect a river out of a valley is not a small feat and not one that can be accomplished with a single tossed bucket.
Our brains will try to justify their current state. They will rationalize why this state of being is appropriate, or inevitable. This is natural.
It is the natural order of the universe, of everything, to follow the path of least resistance. Our brain circuitry is no different. The path of least resistance is the one that already exists.
To change something that is on a undesirable path, including our thinking, we have to go against that order. We have to do it by redirecting the river where we want it to go. At first, this will difficult. The water wants to follow its old path and does not yet have a new one. But with continual small changes, it will form over time, through single gallons that individually may seem to do nothing.
Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interlinked. By slowly changing the course of that neural river, our thoughts, we can change ourselves as a whole.
This is how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Thursday, November 20, 2014
League of Legends Preseason 5: Zyra Jungle
Let's talk about what happens when you put a plant in the jungle.
Zyra jungle has always been interesting. Her plants take damage differently from any other pet, based on number and nature of hits rather than having actual health. Because of this, jungle Zyra actually works best if you focus the little minions first, contrary to how some other junglers work.
Zyra wasn't a major jungle pick in season 4, but one of the changes for season 5 is making the jungle much tougher. Because of the unique way her plants work, I predicted that Zyra might not be hit so hard by these changes, and preliminary testing suggests that to be true. She still operates largely as well as she did in season 4. When everyone else is taking a hit and she isn't, jungle Zyra may become a thing.
One of the biggest changes of the preseason is that dragon a much bigger deal. He also has a new attack which is somewhat abusable. Certain champs, like Nidalee, Pantheon, and Fiora, can use either movement abilities or autoattack blocks to take down dragon solo at very low levels. Explaining my Zyra tactics to a friend, he asked if Zyra could take dragon at level 2. Lo,
I'll be giving her a shot this preseason. Let me know if you find any other interesting picks for this new, untamed world!
Zyra jungle has always been interesting. Her plants take damage differently from any other pet, based on number and nature of hits rather than having actual health. Because of this, jungle Zyra actually works best if you focus the little minions first, contrary to how some other junglers work.
Zyra wasn't a major jungle pick in season 4, but one of the changes for season 5 is making the jungle much tougher. Because of the unique way her plants work, I predicted that Zyra might not be hit so hard by these changes, and preliminary testing suggests that to be true. She still operates largely as well as she did in season 4. When everyone else is taking a hit and she isn't, jungle Zyra may become a thing.
One of the biggest changes of the preseason is that dragon a much bigger deal. He also has a new attack which is somewhat abusable. Certain champs, like Nidalee, Pantheon, and Fiora, can use either movement abilities or autoattack blocks to take down dragon solo at very low levels. Explaining my Zyra tactics to a friend, he asked if Zyra could take dragon at level 2. Lo,
 |
| (burning Flash isn't really necessary, but can be used to avoid river wards) |
I'll be giving her a shot this preseason. Let me know if you find any other interesting picks for this new, untamed world!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Statistics and Reality: How They Interact is Weird
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Paragons of Game Design 1: Dark Souls
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Commence a new series of blog entries: Paragons of Game Design.
In these posts, I'll be highlighting games that are examples of outstanding design and highlighting just why they are. First up on our list is one I've hinted before:
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Sunday, August 24, 2014
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Modeling the Mind
In psychological science, there are different approaches, or perspectives, different people bring to the field. As a science, psychology is descriptive. A true scientist doesn't actually 'prove' anything, they use methodological rigor to seek a consistent result under a particular set of circumstances.
Truth is consistency.
These results then serve as evidence to theories. These theories are what most people think of when describing findings. 'Study shows that sleep is important to memorization.' Well, yes and no. The study showed that people scored higher on a test if they slept beforehand. We extrapolate from that that sleep is important to memorization. (Alternative extrapolations could include: sleep reduces stress, sleep deprivation impairs general functioning, etc. These possibilities are narrowed down by repeating testing the same hypothesis with different methods that control for alternative explanations.)
But then comes the question of how. And in attempts to explain multiple findings and multiple theories, psychologists develop models. Although few scientists will disagree with the raw data of a well-designed study, they may disagree on which model best accounts for results in the larger scheme. Models are statistically tested for goodness of fit, which helps lend some objective credence to them, but ultimately they are based on incomplete information. Most of these models are focused on a concept, and highly abstracted, such as the various models of memory. They look kinda like this. Here's a more detailed explanation of one you may be familiar with.
Truth is consistency.
These results then serve as evidence to theories. These theories are what most people think of when describing findings. 'Study shows that sleep is important to memorization.' Well, yes and no. The study showed that people scored higher on a test if they slept beforehand. We extrapolate from that that sleep is important to memorization. (Alternative extrapolations could include: sleep reduces stress, sleep deprivation impairs general functioning, etc. These possibilities are narrowed down by repeating testing the same hypothesis with different methods that control for alternative explanations.)
But then comes the question of how. And in attempts to explain multiple findings and multiple theories, psychologists develop models. Although few scientists will disagree with the raw data of a well-designed study, they may disagree on which model best accounts for results in the larger scheme. Models are statistically tested for goodness of fit, which helps lend some objective credence to them, but ultimately they are based on incomplete information. Most of these models are focused on a concept, and highly abstracted, such as the various models of memory. They look kinda like this. Here's a more detailed explanation of one you may be familiar with.
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