There is a Horse in the Apple Store • Hacker News Board

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#91

Post by TheAmazingIdiot » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 7:41 PM UTC

albertzeyer wrote: post #80

It reminds me on a passage in Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by D.Adams. He basically says that people unconsciously ignore / blind out strange not-explainable things. He also had a funny term for that but I forgot it...

Most interestingly, that is the heart of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis posited in linguistics.

The "strong" intrepretation was proven false by the fact that American Indians had no name for ships that sail the high seas. Yet, they still described them best in their own language. There are weaker ways to apply the theorem, but most efforts have went to Chomsky's universal grammar.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#92

Post by zackattack » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 7:56 PM UTC

adolph wrote: post #82

zackattack wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your statement is just wrong. Angus Deaton at Princeton found "Each doubling of national income is associated with a near one unit increase in average life-satisfaction measured on an eleven point scale from 0 ('the worst possible life') to 10 ('the best possible life')". I'm all for deluding yourself with baseless platitudes to rationalize your lack of success, and then getting a Yeah! Yeah! rally of upvotes from pe…

Are you saying that if I approach life in a happier and more satisfied mindset, odds are I will make more money? Sweet!

I am not saying that and the study is not saying that. Hijacking a statement through abandonment of context is a poor way to make a point amongst intelligent people.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#93

Post by Charuru » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 8:09 PM UTC

zackattack wrote: post #70

Charuru wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would you like it if I put a bridle on your face.

I'm completely with you, but this is not the right place for this discussion. Lead by example (adopt a 100% cruelty-free lifestyle) and let your influence slowly trickle out through your social network.

I'm not so concerned about the issue that I am willing to agitate on a tech forum, but when I see this I feel bodily distress.

I am not so pleased to see an argument for the banality of evil on what is normally a bastion of liberal hipster moral righteousness either.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#94

Post by thorax » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 8:14 PM UTC

zackattack wrote: post #73

retube wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a well-known corollary here with happiness. People think that if they are million- or billionaires, or have a super-fit girlfriend, or drive a ridiculous car or live in a massive house or whatever they'll be happy, or at least happier. However all studies have shown that rich people are not happier than poor(er) people. And more interesting is people that have suffered catastrophic accidents or contracted di…

Your statement is just wrong. Angus Deaton at Princeton found "Each doubling of national income is associated with a near one unit increase in average life-satisfaction measured on an eleven point scale from 0 ('the worst possible life') to 10 ('the best possible life')". I'm all for deluding yourself with baseless platitudes to rationalize your lack of success, and then getting a Yeah! Yeah! rally of upvotes from pe…

I don't think the rude dismissal is warranted.

I think the point retube was trying to reference is that studies have shown that people vastly overestimate the magnitude and duration of changes in happiness due to a windfall or catastrophe (the most recent source I have for this is Dan Ariely's Upside of Irrationality). While there is a shift of overall life satisfaction, major changes are much less impactful to your long-term happiness than you would predict (presumably due to growing familiarity, adaptation, and the general "the grass is greener" bias we all have).

At any rate, I, specifically, would be happier without reading personally-attacking rebuttals on HN. Is that really needed to make your point?

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#95

Post by philwelch » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 8:32 PM UTC

jeberle wrote: post #76

Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed there's also a man in a kilt.

That's probably a "Utilikilt": http://www.utilikilts.com/

They're not that unusual--I've met at least two people who have one.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#96

Post by albertzeyer » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 9:04 PM UTC

edanm wrote: post #83

albertzeyer wrote: post #80

It reminds me on a passage in Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by D.Adams. He basically says that people unconsciously ignore / blind out strange not-explainable things. He also had a funny term for that but I forgot it...

Are you talking about "Somebody else's problem"? From the books: "An SEP [somebody else's problem] is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem.... The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. If you look at it directly you won't see it unless you know precisely what it is. Your only hope is to catch it by surprise out of the corn…

Ah thanks for linking it, that is what I meant. :)

Btw., your link was broken. Here is the correct one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_Elses_Problem

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#97

Post by plorkyeran » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 9:33 PM UTC

famousactress wrote: post #18

That article brought me more enjoyment-per-paragraph than just about anything in a while. I do wish the photo was revealed somewhere in the middle of the post though. I shared it with my wife that way, and it really has a pretty profound affect to wonder if it's just a metaphor for the first half-dozen paragraphs.

Even with the photograph I thought it was just a metaphor until the end. I assumed he had just photoshopped the horse in to make the article more amusing.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#98

Post by kgo » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 10:37 PM UTC

naner wrote: post #16

ugh wrote: post #2

I know it’s not the topic of the submission but I would have very much liked to get an explanation. Is it maybe a guide horse? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_horse

Yes it is an assistance animal[1]. It is kind of sad that the guy never figured it out. At least he didn't go and try to pet it or something. [1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04Creatures-t.htm...

Who says he didn't?

A logical explanation doesn't change the analogy. I'm aware that S&M Gimps exist. If I went into an Apple Store where someone was being led around by a gimp, and no-one was paying attention, I'd still think that was unusual.

Not to mention that an aside explaining that helper horses exists detracts from the art of storytelling.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#99

Post by Andrew_Quentin » Sat, Sep 04, 2010, 11:11 PM UTC

Off-Topic: Most stories about... cute animal pictures.

On-Topic: ...anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.

Perhaps it is only me, but that things are amazing certainly does not gratify my intellectual curiosity. That things are amazing is a given.

Re: There is a Horse in the Apple Store

#100

Post by naner » Sun, Sep 05, 2010, 12:23 AM UTC

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #52

naner wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes it is an assistance animal[1]. It is kind of sad that the guy never figured it out. At least he didn't go and try to pet it or something. [1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/magazine/04Creatures-t.htm...

>Yes it is an assistance animal[1]. It is kind of sad that the guy never figured it out. Are you sure. Why could it not be a pet? The image in the OP doesn't appear to show a harness (as in the NYTimes article) as is usual for an assistance animal. In my country assistance animals usually wear some high-vis in public too.

It could be a pet, I'm no expert. They don't have to have a harness, though, I'v seen seizure alert dogs with just a leash. They do usually have to have some kind of identifying clothing on, though, so you're probably right on that one.