Monday, January 29, 2007

Nature of Romance, and Scott Adams' confusion

In his post Baffled by Romance, Scott Adams expresses "confusion, shock and dismay" in making sense of romantic acts narrated by the readers of the Dilbert Blog.

That's easy to understand. You cannot find romance in a single act. Yes, that would be like finding music in a single note.

Romantic acts acquire meaning in context created by other (romantic) acts, to which they are logically related. They are not random, unexpected acts of kindness or love.

Romance comes from anticipation, buildup, playfulness and surprise. Much like music. Flowers every Valentine's day? That's not romantic. But it isn't romantic to simply let the day pass either, because you must keep the beat.

Like in music, romantic sequences often repeat as variations. Recognising them is part of the romance.

Romance must be distinguished from love (an emotional thing) and sex (a physical act). Romance is cerebral. It is about the cryptic message riding on a succession of acts.

It's possible for love, romance and sex to exist independent of each other, although they are most potent when mixed well in a cocktail.

Mammals are always capable of sex, and sometimes maybe love, but romance is uniquely human. Because it requires the ability to recognise and decode a message, a faculty linked to language. And being cerebral, romance happens between intellectually comparable persons, whereas love or sex are not limited this way.

Here's most of Scott's post, with my comments in bullets:

I was surprised to learn that doing household chores qualifies as romantic for most of you. That’s exactly why you should never hire a butler if you strike it rich – the minute that Jeeves starts unloading the dishwasher without being asked, your wife is going to start humping his leg.

  • I'd be equally surprised if difficult ornamentations were beautiful by themselves. Why, you could become a composer by simply stringing together a dozen trills!

Love notes and flowers were often mentioned. But again, I am confused. Hypothetically, if you were to give your spouse a love note and flowers once a week for a year, all it would do is raise the baseline requirement. It wouldn’t be romantic anymore. Indeed, it would appear too easy. So in a sense, the thing that makes flowers and love notes romantic in the first place is… and wait for this pearl of wisdom… all the times that you DON’T give love notes and flowers.

  • Yes. Endlessly repeating a note is not musical. What comes before, maybe silence, and often what comes after, are both important.

I also noticed that a lot of the so-called romantic gestures have a distinct selfish element, i.e. “I took the day off of work to spend it with her,” and my favorite, “surprise sex.” Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that those only qualify as unselfish if you hate spending time with your spouse or if he or she has a passing resemblance to Shrek. Otherwise, you’re just getting something for yourself and your spouse is lucky to be going along for the ride. I’m all for days off and extra sex. But how are they romantic?

  • That's a non sequitur. Why does a romantic act have to be unselfish? Would an anonymous gift of $100 by post, when the recipient isn't in particular need of the money, qualify as supremely romantic because it is unselfish? 

Romance also seems like gender discrimination. The things that women enjoy often take a great deal of work, e.g. “Surprise, honey! I shingled the roof!” Or “I planned a 14-day trip to Spain!” The things that men want are inherently easy, e.g. “I’ll leave you alone so you can watch the game.” Or “Sure, just don’t wake me up.”

  • What is the point? Is something romantic or not determined only by how difficult, or expensive, it is to execute? Part of the appeal in a musical piece may come from how high it is--or rhythmically complex or difficult in some way. But for most part, a piece is beautiful, and derives meaning, from its place in a larger pattern.

Privately, all guys gave me the same advice when I got married: “Set the bar low. Otherwise, you have no chance.” Romance, I’m told, is the delta between your selfish asshole baseline and the occasional deviations from that baseline. That’s why Donald Trump, for example, can’t stay married. As soon as you buy your wife a helicopter, a ski resort, and a staff of servants, you’ve set her up for certain disappointment.

  • You'd be surprised, Scott. The ski resort may make her happy one evening. But don't expect the helicopter to work next evening again. A hug, however, might. There is no formula here. Enjoy Mozart's formula but that won't make you a composer either.

So allow me to say right here that I am the luckiest man in the world for any minute that my beautiful wife is willing to put up with me. The best days of my life started when I met Shelly. I cherish her, and love her, and always will.

  • You probably mean every word here. But face it that this romantic act is no better than somewhat embellished protestations of a teenager. Because Scott, a single romantic act doesn't exist.

In the music between the two of you, at this moment, it may have been the most beautifully expressed sentiment. But say it many times at random, and you'd know what I mean.

(After the tags, I've included several comments from Scott's readers. They illustrate the point.)

 

Excerpts from comments on Scott's blog"

In general, unexpected increases in or sudden occurrences of "being sweet" are good, and vice versa. What qualifies as sweet obviously varies from couple to couple, between genders, and according to income.

Posted by: Keith | January 22, 2007 at 08:05 AM

*gag* That was funny until then end and then you went and got all soppy on me!!!

Posted by: Zarna | January 20, 2007 at 08:30 PM

the post was funny... i didnt get any point out of it tho.

Posted by: n | January 20, 2007 at 06:14 PM

"Gag me with a spoon.
You'll have to do better than that, dear."
- Shelley Adams

Aha - we get a reply from Shelley Adams.

Posted by: ShirtBloke | January 20, 2007 at 05:39 AM

I know from experience that flowers are nice, Godiva Chocolates are nice, diamonds are nice. I don't know about helicopters.

Posted by: Patty | January 20, 2007 at 02:07 AM

My husband does things that are so random, but so perceptive, they are amazing. He'll stop at the crafts store and buy me several bars of clay, or six different types of glue, or beads, or something else. ... and not just do the things the floral marketers, confectionary industry, and Hallmark Company says we should.

Posted by: Paula | January 19, 2007 at 07:47 PM

The best "surprise" romantic gesture is actually *saying* what you think your partner ought to already know.

Posted by: Cobwebs | January 19, 2007 at 06:32 PM

If there is anyone that is not baffled by romance, they are either clueless or they're lying.

Posted by: Mary | January 19, 2007 at 04:34 PM

She likes it when I wake up early and go to work on time and do productive things like that. For some strange reason, that makes her happier than anything else I do.

Posted by: Shan | January 19, 2007 at 04:07 PM

I find that the romantic things don't have to be unexpected, just heartfelt even if routine. My wife and I have a tradition where I bring her breakfast in bed at least once a weekend.

Posted by: HCIGuy | January 19, 2007 at 02:10 PM

Very funny stuff. Well, romance can come in many forms. Please check out my blog and let me know what you think. Despite it all, I am a romantic at heart!!

Posted by: Rachel | January 19, 2007 at 11:45 AM

So now my dad has to go out every Sunday to get roses for my mother. Not for romance, just to keep a bunch of retired nuns from thinking they are on the brink of divorce. How sweet;)

Posted by: Claire | January 19, 2007 at 11:43 AM

I get a feeling from the post that things which are done once in a blue moon are more or less romantic .. huh ..I don't want to be that kind of romantic. I'd rather set the bar high than worry about the asshole delta.

Posted by: Ashok | January 19, 2007 at 11:29 AM

You're so right about that raising the baseline business. My husband treats me so well that I get cranky when he forgets to change the flowers in the miniature shrine that he built to me. :-)

Posted by: webar | January 19, 2007 at 11:05 AM

I liked the guy who gives his wife something different every Thursday, the one who secretly arranged for his wife to drive a Mercedes on her trip to her friend's wedding, the woman who's writing her husband a sonnett, etc.

I think romance lives in every kind, thoughtful, and creative gesture we do for the ones we love - even dishes. You don't have to be rich or even clever to be romantic - you just have to love someone so much that you think about them at opportune moments of the day.

Posted by: Mason | January 19, 2007 at 10:55 AM

"Do I smell a whiff of sucking up here?"

Posted by: jayward | January 19, 2007 at 10:47 AM

I have to disagree with your comment about things losing value if you do it to often. While it may raise the bar a bit, i think flowers every week is better than flowers once in a while. the surprise factor is not as important as the 'I am willing to do this all the time' factor.

Posted by: Patrick | January 19, 2007 at 10:30 AM

Hmm, I guess this means "mentioned you in my blog" is the 21st century bouquet? :P

Posted by: SpongeJim | January 19, 2007 at 10:27 AM

1. When we get a parking ticket here, it comes in an envelope of sorts. You take the ticket out, pay it, and are left with the sleeve that it came in. Keep the sleeve, plunk your love note in there, then put it under your s/o's wiper one day when you know where they're parked.

2. Send them a pizza from across the country. Domino's, you might be interested to know, will take credit card payment over the phone. So when my g/f (now my wife) was working in the states (I'm in Canada), this one time I called up dominos in the city where she was working and got her favorite pizza delivered to her.

Posted by: dreadsword | January 19, 2007 at 10:14 AM

Awww... that's so sweet! What did you do wrong? Did Shelly read something on your blog that offended her so you decided to write something good? Are you doing this just as insurance so if she does read your blog she'll melt when she reads this and not go any further avoiding any controversy that may come up from an erlier post?

Posted by: Chris Kankiewicz | January 19, 2007 at 10:09 AM

Yeah, well, if you signed off with those sweet words every day as you should have been doing, I'm sure Shelly would be less than dazzled now.

Posted by: Shan | January 19, 2007 at 10:09 AM

The fact is that romantic gestures shouldn't be special events. They should be daily events. They don't have to be flowers, but can even be just a glimmer of desire when they get dressed.

Throw in some more significant gestures on occasion just to mix things up. And they don't have to be anything big.

Posted by: Piotr Reysner | January 19, 2007 at 10:02 AM

At the same time, romance is very much like a fire. If left alone and unattended it will die out. With day-to-day life it does take an effort to keep it alive.

What constitutes romance changes with time. The basics never go out of style (flowers, dinner out, surprise gifts, trips) but other acts can take on new meaning.

Posted by: CLB | January 19, 2007 at 09:58 AM

That one's going to come back to haunt whichever of you files a divorce petition first.

Posted by: Bob | January 19, 2007 at 09:51 AM

No wonder all of my friends think that romance is finally dead. If not romance, then certainly imagination.

Posted by: Krissy | January 19, 2007 at 09:47 AM

According to the blog, every romantic gesture loses its "oomph" over time. If that is your belief, why would it matter if the gesture is "housework" or "half selfish."

Posted by: Joshua | January 19, 2007 at 09:42 AM

I just pulled out my old copy of 'The Dilbert Principle' to have a few laughs, and noticed it was dedicated to Pam.

Posted by: RPK | January 19, 2007 at 09:27 AM

It doesn't take much - well ok maybe it does - listening and hearing what matters is the best way to be romantic.

Posted by: Barbara | January 19, 2007 at 09:27 AM

But the important thing … is that the gesture of breaking the pattern to demonstrate interest that might not be widely recognized is the important part.

Similarly, it's not the act of emptying the dishwasher that's romantic. It's the outward and unexpected recognition, the "unspoken statement" of "you're always doing this, without thanks, and I'm sure you're exhausted.

Posted by: olie | January 19, 2007 at 09:20 AM

Then again, I'm lucky that my wonderful husband is willing to put up with me. And he is lucky that I'm willing to put up with him. And so on. So then - is love nothing more than getting lucky, and putting up with your spouse? Ouch :-)

Posted by: Griff | January 19, 2007 at 09:04 AM

I think you've got us all beat, Scott:

"Hey honey, remember when I injected Botox into my throat just so that I could talk to you?"

Posted by: Lenn | January 19, 2007 at 09:02 AM

Romanticism is a constantly modifying concept that differs between couples. What you will consider romantic now, won't be as romantic in a few years. It is also a scale; things can be more or less romantic, when compared to other items on the scale.

My studies plus other true love stuff, http://www.weir.net/~andrews/love

Posted by: -drew | January 19, 2007 at 09:00 AM

The last 2 lines that you wrote? Now that is romance.

Posted by: Catherine | January 19, 2007 at 08:55 AM

A lot of romance is cliche. The trick is not being too corny.

Posted by: steve | January 19, 2007 at 08:54 AM

Look at other animals. There are several types of birds and mammals that attrack a mate by making a nest or otherwise showing how "handy" they are. Is it such a leap to understand why doing the dishes could be a turn on?

Posted by: Christine | January 19, 2007 at 08:51 AM

…(ever waltz with your wife in the kitchen? hold her hand walking down the street? tell her you love her as you gaze at the moon? it's sometimes the simplest gestures that are romantic...). The only thing I'll argue with you is that luck has nothing to do with love or being happy, it's attitude. Keep it up!

Posted by: Marco | January 19, 2007 at 08:43 AM

You missed the obvious
conclusion. Romance is most
effective when it is the
least predictable. Your
romantic decisions should be
made by a pseudorandom number
generator, to take any
predictability out of it.

Posted by: Mark Thorson | January 19, 2007 at 08:43 AM

The most romantic thing my husband ever did, was insist that I follow a dream of mine, which was to learn the German language in Germany.

Posted by: Julie | January 19, 2007 at 08:41 AM

And yes, I'm a woman who is a sucker for romance. But really even the sweet little things are romantic, especially if they are selfless.

Posted by: Anna Letha | January 19, 2007 at 08:40 AM

In 2005 for Valentine's Day, I made my boyfriend a gift. I sent it to him in Singapore and he received it in his college's office. It was a cookie jar(the one with a spring lid) and I put origami hearts inside. and inside each heart, was a message to be opened on a certain date. there were enough hearts to be opened for two dates in a month for an entire year. the messages were mostly significant and related to whatever special occasion he was having on that day. such as birthdays or exams or holidays or memories..

Here's a link to my post: http://jayelleenelial.blogdrive.com/archive/520.html

Posted by: jayelle | January 19, 2007 at 08:33 AM

let me guess: she reads your blog ;-)

Posted by: notswiss | January 19, 2007 at 08:30 AM

Wow... a 2 day setup for a romantic blog gesture ;) now THAT's putting thought into it.

Posted by: Adam | January 19, 2007 at 08:22 AM

How can you say you will "always" love Shelly? Aren't we mindless meat puppets? Isn't "love" just an illusion created by random firings of neurons? We can't choose to love someone forever. That isn't part of a predetermined life devoid of free will.

Posted by: Rick Bell | January 19, 2007 at 08:16 AM

Gee whiz, don't get mushy on us, Scott. …and now everytime you don't include it in your blogs Shelly will wonder what's wrong!

Posted by: larry horowitz | January 19, 2007 at 08:04 AM

Monday, January 22, 2007

Rethink your plans, you might live longer

If you are above 60, tough luck, because you'd likely miss exciting times ahead. And if you are much younger, beware that your parents would be around longer than you have believed.

Life expectancy is increasing in the developed world. But Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey believes it will soon extend dramatically to 1,000. Here, he explains why.

Source: BBC NEWS | UK | 'We will be able to live to 1,000'

We ought to address at least the foreseeable problems to make the transition to ultra-long, 1000-year life as smooth as possible. To start the process, here goes.

The rich and famous ought to worry about losing their wealth and retraining for future employment. Michael Jackson would have to consider new career options seriously.

Most job openings would arise when people quit because they are bored. And most employees would outlive their employing organizations, so you need to select your industry wisely.

Aviation industry would nosedive, at least in the short run. Inter stellar space travel would become a reality. Rail travel at 50 kph would be the ideal mode of transport for the earth bound.

Riskier sports, like Formula 1 without protective gear, would attract maximum sponsorship. Hard hats would be required in golf.

Club memberships and gun licenses would be very precious.

People would not only get new body parts, like noses, but may order them a particular shape. Everybody would thus be as handsome as they wish. The rich might afford brief periods of ugliness, just to break the monotony.

All marriages would be subject to natural limitation to make them void every 50 years or so. The term for life imprisonment would have to be enhanced to make it a realistic deterrent.

Everybody would blog for practical reasons. Were we married once? Let me check my blog. Yes, here you are mentioned 3 centuries before now.

Get the picture?

Links:

  1. Aubrey de Grey in wikipedia;
  2. bio: http://www.sens.org/AdGbio.htm
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Friday, January 19, 2007

Violent Acres » Love, Shame, and the Human Pecking Order

A confessional from Violent Acres on a princess's mistreatment of a geek.

I kept it because it hurt me to read it. I keep it as a reminder that someone out there once thought I was smart and beautiful, but my behavior changed his mind. When I'm feeling really low about the direction of my life, I read it and I think to myself that it took a boy that I abused to reveal to me my innate character flaws. When I put it down, I make a silent vow to show kindness to those who show me kindness. Sometimes I fail others and in doing so, I fail myself.

Source: Violent Acres » Archives » Love, Shame, and the Human Pecking Order

It takes courage to write openly and honestly about mistakes one makes. And then to put it up for everyone to comment upon.

The story almost sounds like the fabricated tales that appear in chain emails. The ones designed to bring about some catharsis in the readers and to encourage them in that moment to pass it along to everyone else. Except, this one appears to be true.

 

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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tips for writing examinations

It that time of the year again. Students, especially those in Class X or XII, are getting ready to face examinations that would impact their choices for several years.


DSC01892
Originally uploaded by kerry_yi.

Their performance would be largely determined by years of studies and also, to an extent, by natural talents. However, for their level of knowledge and preparation, some examination strategies could affect the results a little.

Here's what I think might help, judging at little from my own recent experience in marking a large set of answer scripts.

Remember that the examiner's effort is to assign marks, nothing else. Ask yourself, "Would he read my answer script if it weren't for his obligation to mark it?" Right, so the strategy must be formulated keeping this fact in mind:

  1. He is probably not interested in reading your piece. Do him a favour. Just show that you know the key points and make them stand out.
  2. Make clear, labeled diagrams, where they help. If he sees that you got all the forces right and you have the correct final answer, good you get full marks in a few seconds. Even if you don't get the final answer spot on, he would give you some marks. What he does with lots of equations and variables that are not clearly laid out, and do not produce the correct answer, is anybody's guess.
  3. Don't make irrelevant diagrams. It takes time to do them, which is time well spent only if they communicate what you want to convey.  Otherwise they expose your desperation equally effectively.
  4. To use length of an answer to cover up for any lack of knowledge is bad strategy. The examiner would discover you faked if he skims through the answer or samples a couple of paragraphs at random. You would do better to avoid lengthy answers, unless they are your only hope of getting more than about 20% marks.
  5. Don't make wild guesses. If you are completely clueless about a question, try something else.
  6. Be considerate. Write legibly.
  7. Identify your answers correctly. Put a few lines of space to set them off from other answers. These prompts would ensure that you earn marks for all your answers.
  8. Answer all parts. Do not answer anything extra. (Reading the rubric and any instructions within the sections, questions, etc. is worth the few minutes it takes.)

Enjoy the examination. Even if you are not well-prepared. Why make yourself miserable, nervous and, as a consequence, more error prone? And your state of anxiety would probably get reflected in the handwriting and choice of words. That can't be good for you.

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Sunday, January 14, 2007

Body's own logic

In the process of testing a theory of his, Scott Adams of Dilbert fame narrates:

When I cross my legs, right-over-left, and sit on my left ass-cheek, my brain doesn't work right. In order to think well enough to do work, I either have to have both feet on the ground (and both ass cheeks), or have my legs crossed left-over-right and sit on my right cheek. I discovered this years ago. I have no idea what causes it.

Source: The Dilbert Blog: The Ultimate Test

Here's a story of my own, about a mystery that got solved.

My father used to complain about a dull pain at the base of his left thumb. Nothing was ever found wrong, but the pain was there on and off. Just a pain with no identifiable cause.

He never found out the reason. I stumbled upon it recently, almost a decade after he is no more--yes, when I mysteriously developed the same symptoms.

Enlightenment struck one afternoon while I was drifting in and out of sleep. I tend to fix my thumb snugly between the other arm and body while sleeping. The hand stays like that for hours, and as I lean on to it, the thumb is stretched further! Yes, my father used to sleep like that too!!

Since the discovery, the pain is gone. It recurs when I unconsciously slip into the same comfortable posture.

Just how much we inherit! Even the way we acquire our pains!!

 

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Saturday, January 13, 2007

Why is Amit Agarwal so successful?

Amit is a professional blogger who has made it big in his field.

His blog, Digital Inspiration - The Tech Guide, makes the kind of money that few jobs bring in. How does he do it?

It is too easy to assume what makes him tick. 

If you guesses are along the lines indicated here, you may not be very wrong, but have missed the real thing.

(Follow the link at the end of the post to find the real reasons.)

He writes about technology, which interests netizens

He writes about technology, but so do many others.

Why aren't more people equally successful? Especially, when he often writes about things that are discoverable through search.

He knows all the tricks

You know, about positioning the ads, doing an SEO, etc? The tricks that bring in visitors and the money?

There are some excellent articles on the net about these methods, some of them written by Amit himself. When the knowledge is widely available, why isn't the success replicated easily?

Bonus Question: If these tricks really work, why does Amit discuss them so readily. Will it not diminish his competitive advantage?

Do let me know other apparent reasons that you think aren't really the source of his success. It would be fantastic to hear what Amit himself has to say about the myths!

All right, how does he do it then?

Continued ...

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Friday, January 05, 2007

Blogging in the style of Cubists

Just as it would be wrong to assume that Picasso loved ugly women by merely looking at some of his paintings, we must not assume that a weird blog says something obvious about the blogger.

Because a blogger and his (or her) blog are different.

A blog, like paintings or other art forms, is a creation that stands apart from the artist.

Picture taken by deror avi on June 2005.

Cubism has been an influential movement in modern art. It's leading proponent being the famous painter Pablo Picasso.

The jagged shapes and flat figures of cubists are strange; and their devices, like the passage (things going into one another), stranger still.

It is difficult to understand or relate to them, but often these paintings do hold attention. Perhaps, for the reason that one cannot take all the information in at once.

To the knowledgeable, these paintings undoubtedly convey ideas and emotions that cannot be communicated otherwise.

There must also be bloggers experimenting with devices, perhaps subliminally, that are as strange as those of cubists.

Today they may be anonymous, but their inventions could create a future blogging movement.

I have a theory here about the likely existence of such blogs, but no specific examples. If you know any, please, leave a link in comments.

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