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[Pabappa]

https://images2.zemanta.com/p/srv/sha/a ... ter&fm=jpg

if i had designed the US outlet, i wouldve picked a different design ... one that doesnt stare up at me with an expression like a starving child. who came up with this, anyway, and is it really possible that he didnt see what i see? Is it just because we have the modern design smiley faces with the tall eyes? or is it really just me?

The outlet of Denmark has a similar design but with the mouth facing t he other way so it comes close to resembling a proper smiley face ... but not as close as the US does because the eyes are further apart.

[alynnidalar]

The "mouth" part of the socket is a late addition; that's the ground slot and has only been mandated since 1974. So the original design of the socket was just two parallel lines. When they added the ground, rather than redesign the whole socket, they simply added a third slot with a distinct shape so as to be backwards compatible (and indeed, many small appliances still use ungrounded plugs). Similarity to starving orphans was likely not a big factor in the design process.

[Pabappa]

Oh, I know. My fascination with electrical outlets led me to sponge up all of the information I could sometime back when Wikipedia was young and I still remember most of it. I just cant get over how much even such a small decision as which way to face the "mouth" matters when you figure that there are probably over a billion of those outlets in the world today.

_____
Anyway, I think I may have asked this question here before, so maybe its just me ... instead of posing it as a question I'll just say what I'm thinking.

I've apparently instinctivized smartphone and computer usage to the extent that I can be in bed thinking about something, and immediately picture myself using my smartphone and get a realistic Google page and whatever else I would have if I were doing it for real. Twice this morning I seem to have done this so realistically that I believed I actually had done the tasks I'd imagined, unless I was actually asleep and they were both dreams.

I think my visual imagination is very strong. On the five apple test Im either a 1 or a 2, with the qualifier that my visual imagination is so unstable that the image changes almost immediately into something just as detailed but not really what I wanted to think of. e.g. the first time I saw that post and tried to imagine an apple, I was able to do so perfectly, but within a second or so the apple grew teeth and turned into something between a red Pac-Man and a red Chain Chomp. A bit like your avatar too, now that I think of it, but with an open mouth.

Temple Grandin wrote a book called Thinking in Pictures, which Ive read. She wrrote that people with autism and allied conditions tend to think in pictures and so-called neurotypicals tend to think in words. Im not sure she's right about that, though in my case I would count as one sample in favor.

[Raphael]

I've apparently instinctivized smartphone and computer usage to the extent that I can be in bed thinking about something, and immediately picture myself using my smartphone and get a realistic Google page and whatever else I would have if I were doing it for real.

Same here.

[Travis B.]

I think my visual imagination is very strong. On the five apple test Im either a 1 or a 2, with the qualifier that my visual imagination is so unstable that the image changes almost immediately into something just as detailed but not really what I wanted to think of. e.g. the first time I saw that post and tried to imagine an apple, I was able to do so perfectly, but within a second or so the apple grew teeth and turned into something between a red Pac-Man and a red Chain Chomp. A bit like your avatar too, now that I think of it, but with an open mouth.

I am like a four or five on that test. I also dream in black and white.

[chris_notts]

I think my visual imagination is very strong. On the five apple test Im either a 1 or a 2, with the qualifier that my visual imagination is so unstable that the image changes almost immediately into something just as detailed but not really what I wanted to think of. e.g. the first time I saw that post and tried to imagine an apple, I was able to do so perfectly, but within a second or so the apple grew teeth and turned into something between a red Pac-Man and a red Chain Chomp. A bit like your avatar too, now that I think of it, but with an open mouth.

I am like a four or five on that test. I also dream in black and white.

I get the colours and textures quite strongly but lose the shape if I try to imagine an apple in detail. What I imagine is a complex mixture of reds, yellows and russets on a very indistinct, blobby figure. So I'm not sure what number that would make me since all the numbers have a distinct shape and just vary by colour.

[Moose-tache]

I remember when I first learned that not everyone can visualize images and memories. There are people who just can't visualize an apple, but if you put one in front of them, they can identify it. So they "know" what an apple is; the information for what an apple looks like is in there somewhere, but they have no deliberate access to it. I've also heard people say that they can't do this with memories, either. So if they remember a day at the race track, they can describe to you what they saw, but cannot imagine it visually. To me, that feels like having no memories at all, yet these people can accurately recall all the information about that day.

But of course when I visualize something, I can't know that it's as accurate as it feels. I can visualize a crowded stadium and in my mind's eye it looks exactly like the real thing. But there is no way my brain is filling in the clothing and body language and facial expressions of every single human in the crowd. Even though the apple in my mind is a 1 according to the scale Pabappa linked to, I know there can't be as much detail as a real apple, i.e. there can't be as much detail as I believe I'm seeing. It "looks" like an apple, with a waxy sheen, bumpy bottom, maybe a brown spot or two. But is that apparent realism a trick that I'm playing on myself?

[zompist]

We can all dream, which is creating multisensory illusions so convincing that they can be hard to tell from reality.

Though, as to individual faces in a stadium... we don't see that even if we're looking at a stadium. We just think we do. The in-focus area— the fovea— is just 5% of the visual field. And that's linear; in terms of area it's more like 0.25%. That's all that's in focus at any one moment. We don't have the experience of seeing a big blur because 1) our eyes are constantly scanning, so the fovea is moving, and 2) the brain can ignore the blurry bits.

(It's really hard to not write as if the brain was organizing a coherent view for "us" to look at... a homunculus looking at a neural movie screen. Nothing of the sort happens! You really can't look at what the brain is doing and expect that some sort of high-focus movie is being developed.)

Anyway, I dream just fine, but I'm terrible at mental images.

[Raphael]

We can all dream, which is creating multisensory illusions so convincing that they can be hard to tell from reality.

Are you sure about that point? I'm asking because there are so many unusual neurological conditions in the world that I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if someone told me about people who can't dream.

[Raphael]

Unrelated, here's another question from me, this time, a cultural one: Many or even most people around the world seem to agree that the French are a nation of wine drinkers. For many people, the connection seems to be so strong that even their attitudes towards France as a nation and towards wine as a drink are correlated.

But is that stereotype actually true?

Now, I've only been to France twice, each time when I was nine years old, and each time just passing through on the way to somewhere else, so I have very little direct personal experience of the country. But what makes me a bit suspicious on that point is the fact that in what seems to be the most successful modern French pop culture franchise, Astérix, the protagonists drink an ancient version of beer all the time, but only rarely ever drink an ancient version of wine.

So what's going on there? Is it, perhaps, a regional thing, with Bretons like Astérix being more likely to be stereotyped as liking beer, while people from parts of the country with less harsh, more wine-friendly climates are more likely to be stereotyped as liking wine? Or could it be a class thing, with "regular people" like Astérix and his friends being portrayed as liking beer, while people from the middle and upper classes are portrayed as liking wine? But in that case, would the French as a nation really be more into wine than the Americans, the British, or the Germans, where similar class dynamics are often at play? Or is it a historical thing, with ancient Gauls being seen as more into beer than modern French people? Again, what's the matter here?

[Ryusenshi]

Well, a quick Internet search confirms that the French are indeed wine drinkers: https://jakubmarian.com/wine-consumptio ... er-capita/. From personal experience, many people will drink one or two glasses of wine while eating, and possibly more if it's a party or celebration. This doesn't mean that they don't like beer, though.

Is it, perhaps, a regional thing, with Bretons like Astérix being more likely to be stereotyped as liking beer, while people from parts of the country with less harsh, more wine-friendly climates are more likely to be stereotyped as liking wine? [...] Or is it a historical thing, with ancient Gauls being seen as more into beer than modern French people? Again, what's the matter here?

Mostly the latter. According to the stereotype, ancient Gauls mostly drank cervoise (an early beer) rather than wine. You'll notice that Astérix occasionally plays up the contrast with the Romans, who do like their wine (and also Gauls who are assimilating to Roman culture). But it's also a regional thing: wine has historically been less popular in regions where grapes don't grow well, like Brittany, Normandy (where they prefer cider), the North and Alsace (where they prefer beer, partially due to German and Dutch influence). Indeed, whenever Astérix travels to the Southern part of Gaul, the local Gauls do seem to enjoy wine.

[Raphael]

Ah, thank you!

[Raphael]

We can all dream, which is creating multisensory illusions so convincing that they can be hard to tell from reality.

Are you sure about that point? I'm asking because there are so many unusual neurological conditions in the world that I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if someone told me about people who can't dream.

Ok, a quick Google search brought up this, which is said to be very rare:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcot%E ... d_syndrome

[MacAnDàil]

I just realised that I prefer to sort my computer files the same I used to sort my CDs: in date order.

[zompist]

That article raises more questions than it answers... The first case is not dreamlessness at all, but a visual problem: the person still dreamed "in words." People who have always been blind dream with sounds, feelings, etc. And the article notes that REM sleep, associated with dreams, continues in most patients. That at least suggests that dreams are still present but are not remembered, especially by patients who lose vision.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are totally dreamless people, but I'd expect that to go along with severe brain problems.

[Ryusenshi]

Or could it be a class thing, with "regular people" like Astérix and his friends being portrayed as liking beer, while people from the middle and upper classes are portrayed as liking wine?

A remark in passing. While drinking habits are certainly influenced by social class, this isn't a simple beer/wine dichotomy. Sure, there's the sophistication and snobbery of wine experts... but also a tradition of cheap plonk (with associated slang: pinard, vinasse) distributed in larger containers, and largely drunk by the working classes (with associated horror tales of chronic alcoholism). There's the stereotype of the lower-class beauf drinking cheap beer in front of the TV... but also a culture of small-scale fancy brews.

[Pabappa]

i dont know about consumption, but France certainly dominates wine *production*, so a whole lot of wines have French names, and these tend to be the most prized ones ,so Im sure that contrbitues to the stereotype. the only beer with a French name that Im familiar with from American stores is Stella Artois, which is in fact bottled in Belgium.

I was surprised to see France is somewhat on the map in terms of beer production too, e.g. https://p2d7x8x2.stackpathcdn.com/wordp ... 40x357.png , but for whatever reason their beer is not popular in America. Either they prefer to savor it themselves or it doesnt sell well here, or both.

[Linguoboy]

But it's also a regional thing: wine has historically been less popular in regions where grapes don't grow well, like Brittany, Normandy (where they prefer cider), the North and Alsace (where they prefer beer, partially due to German and Dutch influence). Indeed, whenever Astérix travels to the Southern part of Gaul, the local Gauls do seem to enjoy wine.

Similarly, few countries are more heavily associated with beer than Germany, but the part where I lived (Baden) was wine country and the local beer (Ganter) was swill.

[chris_notts]

i dont know about consumption, but France certainly dominates wine *production*, so a whole lot of wines have French names, and these tend to be the most prized ones ,so Im sure that contrbitues to the stereotype. the only beer with a French name that Im familiar with from American stores is Stella Artois, which is in fact bottled in Belgium.

I find it odd that France has such a good reputation for wine. I don't deny that a lot of French wines are nice, but the nice ones tend to be expensive compared even to other European wines. I personally actively avoid French wine nowadays since there's a price premium over e.g. Spanish wine of comparable quality. Why pay extra when you're not getting something better, when both countries are developed nations with a high standard of living?

[malloc]

One thing that has always baffled me about Christian mythology (or whatever you would call it): why did Satan think he could successfully revolt against God given His well-known omnipotence? It seems hard to imagine any scenario where this rebellion could have worked, apart from God abjuring His full power and agreeing to surrender if defeated under those circumstances.