
A Healthy Diet For The Mind - bgray
http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2011-01.html#e2011-01-08T10_41_10.htm
======
TeMPOraL
About reading fiction apart from technical things - I believe that fiction
writing is important and practical for society as a whole in a way similar to
how thought experiments and simulations are important for scientists. Writers
of books and TV shows create imaginery worlds in which they set up different
scenarios, create problems and propose solutions. Those stories often create
discussions, in which people generate and evaluate ideas.

For example, many science-fiction fans get involved in lengthy discussions
about physics of space travel and social consequences of technology that
doesn't exist yet. But it might exist in the future, as it is with ie. Orson
Scott Card's writings exploring influence of global information network on
society and governments back in 1980-s.

I believe the same applies to other genres as well - good stories contain
simulations of events that might not be happening right now around us, but one
day they might. It's a human way to create solutions before real problems
strike hard.

~~~
mpk
> For example, many science-fiction fans get involved in lengthy discussions
> about physics [...]

This always bothers me when talking to sci-fi fans that only read sci-fi. It
also bothers me in more modern sci-fi when the author puts too much time into
explaining the mechanics of whatever concepts are used.

The 1950s, 1960s and the earlier 1970s sci-fi is usually about _ideas_. The
'science' is mostly there as a plot device. This gives the author huge freedom
to just take an idea (however absurd) and run with it.

Whatever kind of fiction your read, though, it's always characters, their
development and their reaction to the environment that they find themselves in
that is the key to a good story.

(Yes, there is plenty of good sci-fi to be found today, from the hard kind to
the lyrical/meta-physical kind, I'm just commenting on the general development
of the genre. Also, see Sturgeon's Law).

------
wallflower
One of the worst things you can do for your mind is watch the eleven o'clock
news. Before you head off to bed. Rarely do you see anything positive - it's
all about calamities, accidents, and murders. And, of course, X product does
something bad.

~~~
YogSothoth
Suppose you were a news outlet and suppose you were trying to maximize your
company's profitability.

Clearly,when folks change the channel away from your program, your
profitability goes down. So, you might do a bit of research to find out what
tends to make folks change or not change the channel.

Your research could indicate that strong negative emotions, such as anger,
sadness or fear tend to make the viewer fixate and not change the channel.

Finally, you might ask yourself, how should the news be presented so as to
maximize profits?

In many cases, a news outlet's profitability is directly related to the amount
of emotional distress it can generate in its viewers. Sure isn't something I
want to support when looked at that way.

~~~
idoh
I think you got it - "If it bleeds, it leads". I can't fault them for
maximizing revenues, but I'd advise everyone to avoid them, just like you'd
avoid a casino or social gaming.

~~~
nodata
Why can't you fault a company for maximising revenues?

------
rottencupcakes
Can we get a more descriptive title next time? I clicked this link expecting
to read about food and diet choices that improved thinking and was incredibly
disappointed.

~~~
nithyad
I too expected that. But what I read managed to thrill me than disappoint me.
This is some topic which isn't discussed much and I am glad such an idea is
being discussed!

------
sz
I was thinking about exactly this yesterday - so much of "media matter" is
like junk food for the mind. I wondered if we could start an organic movement
but for the content industry.

~~~
dstorrs
You might check out this novel:

[http://www.amazon.com/Davids-Sling-Marc-
Stiegler/dp/06716536...](http://www.amazon.com/Davids-Sling-Marc-
Stiegler/dp/0671653695)

Among other things, Stiegler posits a "Zetetic Institute" that teaches people
how to think better -- effectively, an "organic foods" industry for the mind.

~~~
CamperBob
Isn't that basically what the Singularity Institute and
<http://lesswrong.com/> guys are trying to do?

~~~
billswift
I added this from _David's Sling_ to the December Rationality Quotes thread on
Less Wrong
([http://lesswrong.com/lw/37k/rationality_quotes_december_2010...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/37k/rationality_quotes_december_2010/)):

In the Information Age, the first step to sanity is FILTERING. Filter the
information; extract the knowledge.

Filter first for substance. Filter second for significance. These filters
protect against advertising.

Filter third for reliability. This filter protects against politicians.

Filter fourth for completeness. This filter protects from the media.

\-- Marc Stielger, David's Sling

------
pkghost
_You become the stories you listen to. Be mindful of the diet of ideas you
feed your mind._

This applies not only to your reading list, but also to your own thoughts.

~~~
billswift
And your physical actions - Your attitudes and general outlook tends to follow
your physical actions as much or more than the other way around. So act how
you want to feel, then you will become more like you act. I actually learned
this trick back in the eighties from a book _Self-Creation_ by George
Weinberg.

------
muhfuhkuh
I welcome healthy discussion on the Story's role in shaping, sharpening, and
healing minds (especially as we grow up and then grow older). At the very
least, it's a big change from the "I have empirical evidence that degrees in
English and the people who major in it are absolutely worthless" threads/links
that run through HN from time to time.

Remember, all, those great characters and classic tales you've ever read and
heard/seen are spun by someone who studied the language and the past
storytellers just as intently as a software engineer studied the merge and
bubble sort.

~~~
pyre
How many great novelists were English majors?

~~~
muhfuhkuh
Douglas Adams, Stephen King, John Updike, Joseph Heller, JRR Tolkein.

Among other notable storytellers: Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, James
Cameron, Danny Boyle.

------
unignorant
I agree strongly with the sentiment of the post. My conception of self and
world has been shaped in no small part by great works of fiction.

That said, I winced a bit at the author's particular use of the nutrition
metaphor. The U.S. government's "food pyramid" is one idea that could do with
a bit less mass consumption.

------
nithyad
Reading fiction shouldn't be brushed aside as something frivolous. When you
read a story you live the characters. When you live different characters to
acquire the ability to relate to different kinds of people that are not like
you. In short you learn to empathize. You become more human.

------
light3
Anybody got any good sources of material to read?

------
lhnn
A little off topic:

In the "It Pays To Be Specific" post below the main story, I sure hope the
student didn't get an F for the assignment, assuming his submission was
otherwise correct.

~~~
apsurd
Err, i think it's actually proof the guy paid someone else to do it. I hope he
got a zero not an F.

~~~
lhnn
Naive me, I thought it was because he knew more than one version of assembly.

One time, I did a database assignment in MySQL instead of SQL server because I
was only running Linux at the time, and didn't have access to the school's lab
the night before the assignment was due. Ya, I know.

