Beauty is as beauty sells

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TED TALK: Richard Seymour on product beauty

“BEAUTY is in the eye of the beholder”, they say. To someone more cynical about love: beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. To the advertiser and product designer, beauty is in the limbic system of the beholder.

Beauty is intrinsically tied in with advertising and new technology. I was intrigued to recently discover that the marketing of motor vehicles is not so much about shapes but reflective surfaces. The recent motor show illustrated this well, with each car shimmering more than the next in the strategically placed lighting. This has the effect of making stationary objects come to life.

Consider Steve Jobs’ claim to fame. The flood of articles that have emerged since his death remind us that Jobs was not the genius behind Apple software but rather the chief designer and marketer. His work revolved around beauty and involved appealing to the emotional beings that we are.

Designers and advertisers are responsible for shaping our ever-evolving ideas of beauty year after year. This year some of the criteria that signify beauty in technology are flat, touchable surfaces, thin and light-weight with rounded corners. The beautiful colours are black, white and silver – much like the colour scheme of what we might imagine a modern-looking kitchen to embody.

A lot of funding for the marketing of new technologies goes towards understanding how people’s brains respond to images. Debates have revolved around whether we “think beauty” or “feel beauty”. What we do know is that it takes a good few seconds for stimuli to enter into the cognitive portion of the brain, where we get a chance to really think about what we have just seen or felt.

Television adverts take this fast-paced form of advertising to the extreme – quickly throwing imagery at our eyes coupled with strange statistics and tidbits of information. They attempt to embed these into our subconscious and supply us with answers before we get a change to think about what just happened. When we happen upon the product later on we suddenly feel a strange sense of familiarity with it.

Then there is the other extreme. There is roughly a six second period whereby stimuli and information reach the cognitive part of our brains – six seconds which is crucial to advertisers and product designers. The lights dimming before a movie starts in the cinema, for example, takes roughly six seconds. The intended effect is to create feelings of anticipation and excitement. BMW copied this technique with their slow dimming lights.

Richard Seymour: How beauty feels

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Richard Seymour is a product designer who revealed some of these secrets during a TED talk at www.ted.com In his talk he explores our response to beauty and illustrates the surprising power that objects which exhibit beauty can have over us. Seymour explains that the goal of advertisers and designers is to form emotional bonds between us and products. What we see, he argues, “is an electro-chemical party trick that happens before we even get a chance to think about it.”

“We are slaves to the first flash”, says Seymour, and “we see and understand things not as they are, but as we are”, to quote the philosopher Anais Nin. Seymour also shed light on how the beauty and our perception of something can change according to the information we are provided either before or afterwards. Consider ballet, for example. One who doesn’t understand the pain and discipline that ballet dancers endure would find it far less beautiful than someone who truly understood and appreciated the art.

It makes one wonder if the small and curvy Blackberry is suddenly less beautiful now than it was before.

Inspirational quotations for life

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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTATIONS: A few lessons for life

WORDS have the power to make us heal and grow. They also have the power to start wars and make little Susie cry in the corner. But good, inspirational quotations for the better part help to shape our world and can move us deep down in our dark, squishy centers. In this rat race of life, sometimes we need to slow down and smell the roses. Life is a bloody brief candle, and if we can’t think of anything to inspire us, we can always turn to the inspirational words of others.

Inspirational quotations – Food for thought

“When you have to make a hard decision, flip a coin. Why? Because when the coin is in the air, you suddenly know what you are hoping for”

“There is something that can be found in one place. It is a great treasure which may be called the fulfillment of existence. The place where this treasure can be found is the place where one stands” – Martin Buber

Related Inspirational Articles:

• Blessings
• Desiderata
• Inspiration
• The Awakening
• Feel Good Photos

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• 55 Inspiring Quotations That Will Change The Way You Think | inspirationfeed.com
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Human Morality and the Moral Molecule

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CHEMICAL CORRECTNESS: How much HUMAN MORALITY lies in our genes?

I’VE recently been immersed in an era where mechanical augmentations are used to replace body parts; where humankind starts to become more machine than biological squishyness. This is not reality – not yet, at least – but is a video game called Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which depicts a portrayal of what the world might be like in 20 years time.

The biggest appeal of this popular title is that it raises significant questions concerning human morality. What makes us human? What makes people good or evil? These questions have been a part of philosophy and the human imagination for millennia and have now entered the realm of crime and punishment, with a new field of investigation called Neurolaw. In a nutshell, those accused of capital crimes can now appeal to have their mental states assessed by a neurologist during trial.

What we can be sure of is that it is not in our nature to take the life of another. We all share a moral instinct to protect life – specifically the lives of those we care about. When this moral instinct is suppressed, and people are forced to kill others, they can lose all respect for life and be filled with hatred, fear and confusion. This accounts for the high number of suicides during and after the war in Vietnam.

This is of course, unless one is psychotic. The majority of serial killers throughout history – the Ted Bundys and Jack the Rippers – were found to be psychotic. They lacked the human emotion that the rest of us share – specifically empathy, which made their killing sprees seem as regular as watering the roses.

The Moral Molecule and Warrior Gene

Neuroscientists have determined that psychopathy is mostly genetic, but also depends on brain structure and a chemical called oxytocin, which has become known as the “moral molecule.” Neuroscience has also isolated a gene which has become known as the “warrior gene.” Whether this nasty gene is triggered or not depends on upbringing and environment. An abusive childhood is the most common trigger to unleash the warrior within.

If a psychopath has a pleasant childhood on the other hand, the outcome can be vastly different. It has been discovered that the “successful psychopaths” are largely to be found in big business or powerful positions in society – almost four times as many as in the general population in the U.S. Psychologists suggest that corporate culture is the ideal environment for someone with such a disposition, where the lust for thrill-seeking can be sated.

Characteristics of the Psychopath

The correct brain structure and a lack of the moral chemical, oxytocin, can make for the most charismatic leaders. Although lacking profoundly in empathy and being supremely egotistical and shallow, psychopaths have at their disposal a large repertoire of human behaviors and emotions which can be easily mimicked. Psychopaths can put themselves in the skin of others intellectually, read their body language and use this to charm, intimidate or manipulate others.

Morality Test

So how can we tell whether or not someone might be a psychopath at an early age? One ‘morality test’ that has been done with babies is to put on a puppet show to do with sharing. A central doll plays with a ball before passing it to another doll to play with, which soon passes it back. The ball is then passed to a third doll which promptly runs off with the ball. The baby subjects are then encouraged to choose between the ‘good’ puppet and the ‘bad’ puppet. Experimenting with hundreds of babies revealed that 70% of them choose the ‘morally good’ doll and indicates that from an early age we are drawn towards kindness. In such experiments it is hoped that the remaining 30% perhaps fell asleep during the show.

So if you have any little ones in your life, go now and shower them with hugs and kisses and tell them how much they are loved, no matter how much they might protest.

• This information was largely derived from a BBC Horizon documentary called Are You Good or Evil?

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** More Quite Interesting Posts **

The lives of people on the Internet

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THE INTERNET: Feel free to be a jerk

Guest post by Tharuna Devchand

SO a little while ago the Mail & Guardian suspended a journalist intern for an anti-Semitic comment on Facebook that amounted to hate speech and was therefore in conflict with the South African Constitution. Without a warning, the kid’s career was ruined because of a social networking site where groups like “My name is Khan” (a group that disrespects Hinduism) and “F*** Islam” exist with thousands of followers who spread the hatred.

I’m not justifying what Ngoako Matsha said, nor am I implying that M&G was wrong in suspending him, but consider the medium in which he said it — cyberspace.

In cyberspace, every person should be seen as a figment of their own imagination­. Nothing is real. Nothing we say is a true reflection of who we are. On the Internet, we are all Tyler Durdens. There are no boundaries, no policies and rules to keep us neatly between the lines, no reputations to uphold or cultural conventions to keep us in place.

The Internet is like a global Fight Club. It’s where we can guiltlessly des­troy something beautiful and return to our lives feeling better about ourselves. It’s cathartic and, since we all can’t be Jackson Pollocks, it may sometimes be our only outlet.

I constantly hear people complaining about how perfect their Facebook friends’ lives are or what interesting lives other people on Twitter have. It’s not true. It’s just what people choose to show you on the website that makes it all seem perfect.

Social networking sites house a giant­ community of people all suffering from small-penis syndrome. There is a constant war to keep up with the cyber Joneses. Saying that people exaggerate on the Internet about their lives, their feelings, their opinions and how great their lovers are is an understatement. If peer pressure in real life can drive one to do things one normally wouldn’t do, the pressure to be infamous on the Inter­net can land one in a mental institution. Gosh knows what Anthony Weiner was thinking when he tweeted a photo of his, um … weiner­.

While it is never easy to work out the true nature of a person in real life, it is 1 000x harder in cyberspace. On the Net, you can be anything and anyone you want to be.

Those who aren’t that popular or who lack friends may upload albums of them being cool with photos of them sloshed with their heads in a toilet just to show that they can party with the best of them. People who are going through tough times may exaggerate all the positive things in their lives and leave out the hardships. And people who are quite restricted or oppressed in their real lives, may go cyber crazy, voicing outrageous opinions and desires on the Net — probably under a pseudonym. It’s a safe outlet that we believe has no consequences — until we lose our jobs for letting loose.

The problem is that there is no line that determines how far is too far until we cross it. We constantly push the boundaries of what is right and wrong just to see how far we can go, whether it’s driving at 129 km/h in a 120 km/h zone or voicing mad love for Adolf Hitler and his beliefs.

Contemporary society has become mostly unaffected by things that are shocking or at least used to be shocking a decade ago, and to deal with this, people try to raise the bar. Cartoonists, comedians and teachers are continually trying to shock people into thinking about things on a different level. Look at how far advertisements have gone to prevent people from drinking and smoking excessively, and to encourage people to abstain from sex, and you’ll see just how just how numb our society is.

Is it okay for me to call my black friend a k***** on her Facebook wall knowing that she won’t be offended? Is it okay to tweet angrily about how upset I am about something the DA said and in turn label it as racist, not because I think that they are racist, but because I just feel the need to put the party down? No, but it feels good.

The South African Constitution currently doesn’t apply to the Internet. Maybe it should, but I doubt that will stop people from saying things, uploading videos and creating images that are shocking. Every day there are more stories of people being judged by their online images. Employers hire people based on their tweets, courts implicate people because of Facebook profile photos, people are fired because of some YouTube video that shows them spray painting expletives on a wall. But it’s those things that make us cool on the Net, that get us hits, that make us believe that this could one day make us famous.

• Tharuna Devchand is a features writer for The Witness newspaper in Pietermaritzburg. Read her blog Blotching Dali with Tharuna-isms

Freshwater Tropical Fish Profiles: Cichlids

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SOMETHING FISHY: Freshwater Tropical Fish Profiles: Cichlids

CICHLIDS are a fish species that belong to the family Cichlidae. Some of the most well-known cichlid species are Angelfish, Gouramis, Oscars, and Discus fish. Cichlids are part of an extremely diverse family and inhabit a multitude of different environments. They can also vary significantly when it comes to size, temperament, feeding habits, preferred water quality, etc.

Cichlids live in fresh, brackish waters (mostly in large lakes) and can be divided into three main groups: African cichlids, Central and North American cichlids, and South American cichlids. Cichlids are efficient feeders that capture and process a very wide variety of foods, which is thought to be one of the reasons why they are so diverse. There are now more than 2000 described cichlid species and this number is on the rise.

Even though different cichlid species look and act very differently, they all share some common characteristics. Cichlids have a single nostril on each side of the forehead (instead of two) and have teeth in both the upper and the lower jaw – and in the throat! Here are a few popular cichlids.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Dwarf Gourami

• Size: 8cm (3 inches)
• Life span: 3 – 4 years
• Temperature: 25°C – 28°C
• Tank Region: Middle to top
• Origin/Habitat: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
• Breeding: Can be difficult. They build bubble nests for their eggs.
• Temperament: Mostly peaceful and hardy. Good fish for beginners.
• Diet: Will eat flakes, freeze dried and live foods. Best to vary their diet.
• Gender: Easy to determine. The male is more colorful while females are usually more gray in colour.

Originating in the warm waters of India, the Dwarf Gourami is not only beautiful but can be particularly hardy as well. They are generally peaceful creatures and make a great addition to a fully cycled community tank and are easy to care for.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Paradise Fish

• Size: up to 10cm (4 inches)
• Temperature: 16°C – 26°C
• Tank Region: Top and middle
• Origin/Habitat: Korea, China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
• Diet: Prefer live foods but will eat flakes, frozen foods and brine shrimp.
• Temperament: Fairly peaceful. Males may be aggressive towards one another.
• Gender: Males are vibrantly coloured and easy to identify by their thick swollen lips.
• Breeding: Similar to Siamese Fighting fish. The male will build a bubble nest to house the eggs during spawning.

Paradise fish are a beautiful and territorial species that are popular choices for the home aquarium. They come in a variety of colours but their beauty demands that they be given consideration and their needs are met. A varied diet will help improve their colouring, but this tropical fish looks most impressive when it flares up against other semi-aggressive fish of similar size. Dwarf Gouramis are perfect tank mates for Paradise fish, as both will have beauty contests and show their true colours without harming one another.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Gold Gourami (Three Spot Gourami)

• Size: 15cm (6 inches)
• Life span: 4 – 6 years
• Temperature: 22°C – 29°C
• Tank Region: Middle to top
• Origin/Habitat: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
• Breeding: The Gold Gourami is a bubblenester and easy to breed.
• Diet: Flake food, slow sinking granules, brine shrimp and bloodworms.
• Temperament: Generally peaceful although larger males may be aggressive.
• Gender: Males have longer, pointed dorsal fins, females: shorter, rounded fins.

The Gold Gourami is an impressive looking and hardy fish that does very well in a community aquarium. They are generally peaceful creatures that don’t grow too large or harass other fish if given enough space. They enjoy the company of other Gourami species and like to hide among plants. Like many cichlids, they are interested in their surroundings.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Angelfish

• Lifespan: 8 – 10 years
• Size: Up to 15cm (6 inches)
• Temperature: 23°C – 29°C
• Tank Region: Mostly middle
• Origin/Habitat: Amazon River
• Breeding: Egg layers. Fairly easy to breed
• Gender: No noticeable difference except when breeding
• Temperament/Behavior: Generally peaceful, but can be aggressive eaters and may become territorial while breeding.
• Diet: Usually very good eaters, they will take flakes, pellets, freeze dried (blood worms, brine shrimp) and especially live foods.

The freshwater Angelfish is a very popular tropical fish because of its unique shape and their interesting personalities. Angelfish are aggressive eaters and will go to the top of the tank when they see you approach. Angelfish are curious about their environment but can become very territorial at times.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Blue Ramirez (Blue Ram)

• Lifespan: 4 years
• Size: 5 – 6 cm (2.5 inches)
• Temperature: 25°C – 28°C
• Tank Region: All over the tank
• Origin/Habitat: South American Rivers (Columbia and Venezuela)
• Diet: Omnivorous. Will gladly accept flakes or pellets but supplementing their diet with frozen foods such as blood worms or brine shrimp is recommended.
• Breeding: Breeding Blue Rams is typically easy. Males and females will often pair up, especially when they grow up together in the same tank.
• Gender: Males tend to have a longer, more pointed dorsal fin. Females tend to be smaller in size and have a red or orange hue on their pelvis.
• Temperament/Behavior: Peaceful and a bit on the timid side. Can be safely kept with other Rams or non aggressive community fish such as silver dollars, Plecos, Corys or Tetras.

The Ramirez is both a colourful and characterful little fish. They are typically on full display with all their fins up and can bedazzle one when caught in the sunlight. The bonds that form between male and female Rams is something special if you wish to breed Blue Rams. Provide lots of vegetation for your Rams to feel safe and secure (as they can be quite shy) and you’ll notice them getting braver and embarking on bigger explorations around your tank.

Tropical Fish Profiles: Pearl Gourami

• Size: 13cm (5 inches)
• Temperature: 25°C – 28°C
• Tank Region: Middle and top
• Breeding: Bubble nest builder
• Lifespan: 3 – 4 years and longer
• Origin/Habitat: Asia, Thailand, Indonesia
• Diet: This is not a picky fish. They will eat flakes just as quickly as they’ll eat live and frozen foods.
• Temperament/Behavior: Mostly peaceful but they may scrap with other Gouramis. Males seem to be more aggressive than females.
• Gender: Relatively easy to determine. The male has a longer dorsal fin and will develop a red breast, which becomes more visible at spawning time.

Pearl Gouramis are a very attractive fish with tons of tiny white ‘pearl’ shapes dotting its body and a horizontal black bar that runs down its length. Pearls also have a labyrinth organ that allows them to breath atmospheric oxygen. The labyrinth organ evolved in fish species that frequently found themselves in low oxygenated water. You will frequently see Gouramis come to the surface for gulps of air.

More Tropical Fish Care Posts:

• Simple Guide to Hatching Brine Shrimp
• Freshwater Tropical Fish Profiles — Exotics
• A Beginner’s Guide to Keeping Tropical Fish
• Freshwater Tropical Fish Profiles — Goldfish
• Freshwater Tropical Fish Profiles — Bottom feeders

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