In the 1960’s,  Walter Mischel of Stanford University conducted an experiment with a group of 4 years olds and marshmallows. The children were asked to sit alone in a room with nothing but a marshmallow. If they refrained from eating the marshmallow until the evaluator returned (a long 20 minutes!), they could earn a second one. 

The experiment showcases the ability to delay gratification, a trait that Daniel Goleman and others recognize as an essential ingredient for success in life. Motivational coach Joachim de Posada notes that the marshmallow application is much needed in the United States where “we have big debt and are eating more marshmallows than we’re producing” (TED Talks, May 2009).

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Technolology is making it possible for many of us to rewire our connections. In a recent NPR article, Joshua Brockman reports that one quarter of American homes use the mobile phone as the only primary line (”Cutting The Cord: Staying Connected Without Wires”).

And there’s a growing number of Millenials (people in their 20’s) who have neither land line nor cable tv. Instead, they depend on high-speed internet service for video feed.

Brockman refers to the indvidual who is well connected and mobile as a “digital gypsy.” She is that person who is working from any mobile hotspot, like the local Starbucks. With information localized to our gadgets, knowledge seems ubiquitous. It may be that Generation Z will have to grapple with navigating the information excess. For now, we’re all pretty happy just to have the access.

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In markets where property inventory is up, people may shy away from buying. This is a trend rooted more in emotion and less in rational thinking, according to some in the housing industry such as Trulia, a real estate search engine company. Brett Arends reports interesting findings in ”A Fresh Look at Rent vs. Buy” (The Wall Street Journal).

According to Trulia’s data, individuals and families should consider buying when a property is fairly valued and priced at about 15 times what it would cost to rent that same home for one year.

There are areas in the U.S. where property prices match or fall below value. When buyers find these homes, they get real bang for their buck. In general, it’s paramount that buyers remember that a real estate purchase is an investment. Rather than fear risk, we must and can learn to manage it.

Pac-Man migrated from Japan to the US in 1980. The arcade game celebrates its 30th year in the industry and remains as relevant now as it was then.

Created by 8 developers over a period of 15 months, Pac-Man was first called “Puckman,” which meant Chomp-man in the original Japanese. (The name was changed for obvious reasons.) Four ghosts — Pinky, Blinky, Inky, and Clyde — pursued Pac-Man, who attempted to gobble up dots lining the maze. The broad popularity and success of the game spurred the creation of over 400 Pac-Man derivatives (e.g. Ms. Pac-Man, cereal, cartoon, etc).

What inspired Namco developer Toru Iwatani to create Pac-Man? Legend tells us that Iwatani’s “partially eaten pizza pie [was] turned into a gaming character: a big yellow dot that gobbled up smaller dots.” (CNN, “Chomp! Pac-Man, the arcade classic, turns 30″)

Does our sense of touch have anything to do with decision-making? MIT Assistant Professor in marketing, Joshua Ackerman, believes that it does. He teamed up with psychologists at Harvard and Yale to put his theory to the test (Jeremy Hsu, “Just a Touch Can Influence Thoughts and Decisions,” Live Science).

The researches divided people into two groups. One group was asked to sit in soft chairs, and the second was asked to sit in hard chairs. While sitting, the individuals were given two chances to bid on an automobile with a $16,500 sticker price. Those who sat on soft chairs changed their bids by an average of $1243.60, while the group that sat in rigid chairs changed offers by an average of $896.50. That’s a huge difference.

Now that we’ve seen one demonstration of how touch influences decisions, the practical implications are endless. Before we go out to buy a car, for example, we’ll forego sitting in the easy recliner and opt for the hardest chair we can find. On the flip side, if we’re overly stressed and edgy, an hour in the soft chair may help ease our perspective.

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The small house has just gotten tiny! An architectural and social movement, the small house rarely exceeds 500 square feet. and the tiny house can be as little as 90 square feet.

According to NPR’s “Do-It-Yourselfer Downsize: How To Build A Tiny House,” the uses of the small house are varied. Derek Diedricksen, a small house do-it-yourselfer, built a “hickshaw” (a rickshaw for hicks) on a wheel-barrow platform. The hickshaw is essentially a room with a view for one that can be wheeled to a specific location of choice.

Another small house enthusiast Peter King, 51, has several tiny houses on his geodesic dome property in Vermont. His words sum up the heart of the movement. “I just like the sense of economy…The sense of: you can’t put a lot of stuff in there, so you have to be careful of what’s important. And another beauty of the tiny house is that you can put them almost anywhere. They are moveable at this scale.”

A moveable house that holds the essentials — it speaks to a challenge that most of us feel, which is the desire to de-clutter. In response to society’s super-sizing on purchases and accommodations, the small house movement embraces frugality. If you’re interested in a small house but don’t want to build one, you can purchase a kit from Tumbleweed Tiny House Company in California for about $20K. It might be a long time coming before the small house is a prototype for new housing developments. For now, it’s an ideal option for communities surviving environmental disaster, serious campers, and those who seek sanctuary in a separate home office or playhouse of sorts.

http://holykaw.alltop.com/video-game-violinist-video

Have a listen to violinist Teppel Okada as he replicates the sound effects of the Super Mario Bros. video game.

Happy Friday!

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