Re: Disappointment

1

Were you one of those kids who learned about Santa in the 5th grade?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:01 AM
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2

I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU BEHAVIORISM WAS BULLSHIT IN 1959


Posted by: OPINIONATED NOAM CHOMSKY | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:29 AM
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3

So ... pigeons have to use their wings to play pingpong? Speciesist.


Posted by: Flippanter | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:40 AM
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4

I'd actually reasoned* it out: "Ping pong? They can really balance on one foot and hold a paddle in the other foot? No, that's silly, they must just be batting the ball with their wings. Still amazing."

* Reason, here, is used loosely.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:43 AM
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5

||
To assuage your disappointment in that, here is a knitting pattern that was reverse engineered from the one the dude wore in The Big Lebowski. The original was apparently based on a Pendleton* made in the '60s and '70s by the now-closed Winona Knitting Mills. Be warned it looks complicated, my wife is thinking of first making a "practice" one with acrylic in anticipation of screw-ups.

*This article on an auction of the original one that Bridges wore, Pendleton is making a tribute version of the sweater that sells for $188, shipping this fall. Ah, and here it is, but rather different in detail.
|>


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 9:15 AM
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6

I'm in the middle of fighting with a lace baby-blanket right now, and I've got a bunch of other projects lined up behind it. But that is cool -- I'm always amazed by people who make patterns.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 11:02 AM
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7

It's too bad he died before he finished teaching them Jai-Alai. That'd be something, boy.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:14 PM
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8

There are a surprising number of jai-alai t-shirts available on the internet.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:16 PM
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9

I'm in the middle of fighting with a lace baby-blanket right now....

Sweep the leg?


Posted by: Flippanter | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:22 PM
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10

7: What are you and your colleagues wasting your time with? What could possibly be more important than jai-alai pigeons?


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:32 PM
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11

I would have thought the pigeons were pretty entertaining if LB hadn't primed me to find them disappointing. I'm sure BF Skinner could explain that effect. As my high school psych teacher liked to point out over and over again, BF Skinner had a really large head.

I've been feeling guilty all day for not getting more work done this weekend; then I thought about it and realized I've spent seven or eight hours working this weekend, just not on the particular task I was feeling guilty about. Academia messes with your head sometimes.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:49 PM
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12

Academia messes with your head sometimes.

Is that what happened to Skinner?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:53 PM
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13

One assumes.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 4:58 PM
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14

12: Ask Superintendent Chalmers.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 5:25 PM
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15

Isn't it generally agreed that Skinner was one sick puppy?


Posted by: grackle | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 6:53 PM
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16

9 is a surprisingly useful solution to many of life's dilemmas.


Posted by: Lord Castock | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 6:56 PM
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17

My leg was covered in dust. I didn't know what to do until I read 9.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 6:59 PM
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18

Perhaps professional Psychologists are an exception, but in general next to nobody uses the term "negative reinforcement" correctly, which I'm sure would annoy true Behaviorists no end, had they any capacity for such internal states to begin with.


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:00 PM
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19

18: Sometimes I really love wikipedia.

"For example, happy face stickers may be effective reinforcers for some children. Other children may find them silly."


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:05 PM
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20

17: Me too!

Also, there was a lineup at Starbuck's this morning. I didn't know what to do at the time, but now? Now...


Posted by: Lord Castock | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:09 PM
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21

19: Sweeping the leg is a negative reinforcement that all kids get.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:13 PM
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22

21: If you only do it a set number of times, of course.


Posted by: Lord Castock | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:15 PM
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23

It will soon appear in the repertoire of pick-up artists.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:16 PM
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24

The kids in wheel chairs, they'll be the only winners.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:17 PM
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25

19.2: [citation needed]


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 7:29 PM
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26

25- I'll give you a dollar if you add that.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:03 PM
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27

I'll do it for $.32.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:26 PM
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28

26: Done. Can it be a shiny dollar?


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:32 PM
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29

Nice work.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:33 PM
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30

It'll be whatever kind of dollar I have next time I see you. Shiny if you're lucky.


Posted by: E. Messily | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:35 PM
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31

I'll give you $1.25 if you create a page on 'pantslessness' with at least 15 citations, 1,000 words, and a picture taken in a Chili's restroom with a sanitizer dispenser plus the page stays up for at least a year.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:41 PM
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32

I think that's below minimum wage, Moby. People have to put food on their families, you know.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:50 PM
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33

Only if it takes you more than 10 minutes to do it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:53 PM
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34

It's only below minimum wage if you write slowly and don't live right next to a Chili's.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:53 PM
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35

Teo is a good middle manager.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:56 PM
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36

It's my goal in life.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:57 PM
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37

People have to put food on their families, you know.

What kind of weird fetish is that?


Posted by: Von Wafer | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:58 PM
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38

Is anybody else picturing Ann Margaret just now?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 8:59 PM
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39

The proper way to set it up is as a contest with a $1.25 prize.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 9:02 PM
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40

39 to everything.


Posted by: fake accent | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 9:02 PM
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41

I didn't misspell the last name. I google-proofed it.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 9:09 PM
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42

They're not playing ping pong; they're playing pong, and they're not half bad.


Posted by: Katherine | Link to this comment | 11- 6-11 10:50 PM
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43

Curses. My reaction to the video was Katherine's, almost word for word!


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 11- 7-11 12:04 AM
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44

Perhaps Pong was even inspired by the designers' having seen this video!


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 11- 7-11 12:05 AM
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45

6: I'm in the middle of fighting with a lace baby-blanket right now and I've got a bunch of other projects lined up behind it

Sure, did not think you would run out and make it right off. However, it has seemed to inspire my wife who had not been doing much knitting recently to give it a go. She practiced some of the more intricate design parts on scrap yarn yesterday, and has decided it is not so hard and I think she is going make one straight off with wool. It'll be for one of the kids instead of me, however.



Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 11- 7-11 9:08 AM
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46

Sure, did not think you would run out and make it right off

I read as

"Sure, you did not think it would run out and make right off."


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 11- 7-11 9:22 AM
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