хайку. Кобаяши Исса. Kobayashi Issa.

春の日の入所なり藤の花
haru no hi no iri-tokoro nari fuji no hana

the setting place
for the spring sun...
wisteria blossoms

translated by David Lanoue

там где садится
весеннее солнце...
вистерия в цвету

(no subject)

There are many classic examples of inspirations and problem solutions that happened only when the would-be creator gives in to just plain not knowing what to do. Interestingly, one of Freud’s early methodological discoveries that led to much of his theorizing was that it was when patients finally ran out of free associations on a topic and went blank, that was the point when, if they stayed with the blank, insights into their situation could occur.

Rosch, E. (in press). Beginner's mind: Paths to the wisdom that is not learned. In Ferrari, M. & Potworowski, G. (Eds.). Teaching for Wisdom, Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum.
http://psychology.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/erosch2006.pdf

force participants to run out of problems/solutions.

(no subject)

The more people you're competing against, it turns out, the less motivated and competitive you are. Psychologists observed this pattern across several different situations. Students taking standardized tests in more crowded venues got lower scores. Students asked to complete a short general-knowledge test as fast as possible to win a prize if they were in the fastest 20 percent completed it faster if they were told that they were competing against 10 people rather than 100.

In hindsight, it almost seems like a corollary to the social loafing effect.

It looks like people generally reduce their contribution level while working in large groups.

Brain and the city

Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are chastening. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control.

Summary: city life increases your networking opportunities, but fucks your brain.