After all I’ve written about cognitive dissonance, M. Keith Chen, an economist from Yale, has come along to say that it doesn’t exist. John Tierney summarizes his argument in the New York Times. And I’ll summarize the summary here: a number of past experiments into cognitive dissonance have been plagued by hithertofore unnoticed sample bias and simple ass-backwards statistical mistakes.
I’m not quite ready to write off cognitive dissonance yet. Most psychologists and behavioral economists are saying, “Sure, the experiments were flawed, but that doesn’t mean cognitive dissonance doesn’t exist,” and as silly as it seems, I’m in their camp. For now. I’m interested to see the results of the statistically unflawed cognitive dissonance research that I’m sure will be coming in the near future.
What a clusterfuck. I became one of three alternates chosen to represent my precinct at the legislative district caucus. The delegates elected back in early February were granted the responsibility of showing up two months later at another caucus and signing their name at the check in table. If the delegate doesn’t show up to sign their name, the votes cast at the precinct level don’t count, which is why it’s so important that the alternates show up.
So the procedure at the legislative district caucus consists of several hundred people checking in and signing their names. The lists are then tallied and checked for people who don’t show up. This process takes about three hours, at which point alternates are called individually for every delegate who didn’t show up. There were about 150 alternates called at my caucus.
Following all the alternates signing in, the lists are again retallied, and if any alternates didn’t show, second alternates are called. This process is repeated until all either all the delegate spots are filled or there are no alternates left.
I signed in about three hours into the process, at which point my civic duty was fulfilled and I skipped out.
This ass-backwards process will be repeated again at the county conventions, the congressional district caucuses, and finally at the state convention. So, to recap: assuming you knew that your vote in the Washington state primaries didn’t count, you went to your precinct caucus, where you voted for someone to sign their name on a form two months later, at which point someone else is chosen to sign their name on a different form another month later, at which point your vote actually counts. Assuming none of the delegates decided to change their mind along the way.
Democracy, gotta love it.
Since going on a smoothie kick and discovering that I can drink an entire bag of spinach in one fruity cup, I’ve been eating much healthier. The interesting thing is that the healthier living is mainly confined to those times when I’m actually drinking a smoothie. My other meals aren’t more nutritious, I don’t eat more salads, and I don’t eat less junk food.
But I still brainstorm how to get more nutrition into a single smoothie, whether it’s increasing the vegetable-to-fruit ratio, or adding protein or wheat germ, or blending a variety of different vegetables. I also remember to take my vitamins most often when I’m drinking a smoothie. I hear the same thing from my friends, who are actually blending their vitamins and fish oil capsules into theirs.
So I wonder, what is it about the smoothie that makes us so intent on maximizing nutrition during that 15-minute blending and drinking timeframe? There’s some cognitive dissonance at play here. You may be familiar with the study in which having signed a petition three weeks beforehand made people three times more likely to agree to have a huge and poorly lettered “safe driving” sign installed in their yard. Apparently signing the petition caused people to think of themselves as more civic-minded and they changed their actions to agree with this self-image.
Perhaps the action of making a vegetable smoothie causes people to think of themselves as healthier, and hence they look for more vegetables and vitamins to consume. Or maybe we’re all maximizers in a never-ending quest for the “optimal smoothie”. Or maybe it’s just easier to be healthy once I’ve already “context-switched” out of my normal routine. I do find smoothies particularly satisfying right after I exercise.
Odd job for today: I’m participating in a usability study at Microsoft for blogging software. It’s fairly straightforward, and I get free software! On the other hand, it’s the longest commute I’ve had in a long time. It’s a neat experience, with cameras and microphones to see whether I can figure out new software. One day I hope to have a company with enough money to actually do my own market research…
I was invited to a press teleconference (don’t ask me why) for Ben Stein’s creationist abomination of a movie, Expelled. Most of it was the usual lies and logical fallacies, the only high point being when noted atheist P.Z. Myers crashed the call for a couple minutes. Drama-rama! Although, sitting in front of my computer with my Skype phone on mute, there’s no interactivity, I may as well be listening to a recording, and somehow the excitement of the moment was lost.
My friend Fil is moving to New York. I’ll miss him, but I’m grateful I got to know him a lot better during one final week of adventure. And the 50-person farewell potluck was epically epic. Speaking of gratitude, after nearly a month I’m ending my experiment of writing down five things I’m grateful for every evening. I’m pretty optimistic already, and though I did feel particularly grateful during the thirty seconds it took me to write each night, I wasn’t seeing any repercussions during the rest of my day.
I’ve started salsa lessons. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for months and I finally got up the motivation to make it happen. Rather than memorize a hundred moves, I’m hoping to just get a better sense of my body and the way it moves. Check back with me in six months, I’ll let you know.
April Fool’s Day went off well at the House on the Hill. I wasn’t planning to do anything, but after Craig greased the toilet seat, I figured it was only fair for me to roll down his car window and spread broken glass all around. I’m somewhat worried about how far this will escalate next year.
I have two business ideas that I’m really excited about. After months and months of tossing ideas around, each a bit better than the last, I finally have two ideas that I strongly believe would make money. The question is, do I pull the trigger on these or hold out for something even better? I’m planning to outsource the market research and as much of the process as possible, we’ll see how that works out…
And, even more exciting, within days I may have an actual job that I’m really excited about. Outsourceable business ideas, a job that challenges me while using both my technical background and my sales experience… things are looking rosy!
