First Short Story – The Card

Many friends and family members have asked me what I am going to do when I finish my 365 photo project (only 30 more days, yay!). I’ve thought about doing other photo projects, but I must admit, I’m a bit burnt on photography right now. Instead, based off some books I’ve recently read, I’ve been inspired to write some fiction.

Writing and photography differ in two major areas:

  1. I don’t think I can produce a piece of fiction every day that’s ready for reading. I do intend to write once a day, but publishing it on this blog would be a disservice to you the reader and me the writer. Writing needs time to incubate, morph, and solidify. However, as I get more fluent, I hope to be able to publish on a regular basis. Some would argue that my photography would have been better if I treated it with this same rationale, and they would probably be right.
  2. It’s easier for people to look at photos than to read writing. It takes less time and requires far less thought. Therefore, I expect that the crowd of interested readers will be substantially smaller than the crowd I’ve attracted to look at my photos.

With that, I present my first piece of (very short) fiction, The Card.

Please feel free to critique to your hearts content. If you like it share it with your friends, and if you don’t, I apologize for wasting your time.

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Our Collective Consciousness

Last night, I finished the book Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches by Marvin Harris. It is a fascinating look into different cultures and beliefs and the reason these cultures have or had these beliefs. While the author is first and foremost an anthropologist and sociologist, his epilogue does mention behavioral science several times and the book was purchased at the annual Association of Behavior Analyst Conference (ABA). If you are interested in understanding the real reason why cows are worshiped in India or how educated people could have put 500,000 people to death for witchcraft in the 1500′s and 1600′s, I highly recommend it.

For me, the book brought into sharp relief the idea of our collective consciousness. We, as a society of people who live together, share common beliefs in what is natural, normal, and status quo. Individuals have the ability to influence these beliefs, but it takes a collective movement to make these trends wide spread. While our internal verbal monologue tricks us into believing that we can exercise our “free-will” at any moment, we are bound by this collective societal consciousness, and, with very few exceptions, don’t even bother to try and predict what is outside this structure.

Examples of this collective consciousness include the idea that America is free. This idea is taught to our youth growing up with grandeur and rigor. It is celebrated with fireworks and hot dogs. But yet we pay the same taxes our fore fathers fought to avoid. We have immigration issues and strict rules on what is acceptable behavior in public. I am not criticizing the USA. In the bounds of the United States, we are more free than the bounds of almost any other country, and I appreciate this and wouldn’t choose to live any where else. I only mean to articulate that when a sociologist looks back on the United States in three or four hundred years from now, will this idea of freedom be as foreign to the people of that time as the idea that God would deliver riches on the back of a cargo ship as believed by people in New Guinea is to us now.

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You call it intrinsic motivation. I call it natural contingencies.

B.F. Skinner wrote multiple times that the physiological research that will occur on the brain will be instrumental when combined with the behavior research that the Behavior Analyst conducted. As such, I have become quite a fan of the Frontal Cortex blog by Jonah Lehrer. Often Mr. Lehrer’s post can be applied to behaviorism by the readers. However, sometimes he inserts implications or references which directly impact behavior. Some research he wrote about in his recent blog post, “Will I?” falls under this category.

From the Frontal Cortex:

Scientists have recognized the importance of intrinsic motivation for decades. In the 1970s, Mark Lepper, David Greene and Richard Nisbett conducted a classic study on preschoolers who liked to draw. They divided the kids into three groups. The first group of kids was told that they’d get a reward – a nice blue ribbon with their name on it – if they continued to draw. The second group wasn’t told about the rewards but was given a blue ribbon after drawing. (This was the “unexpected reward” condition.) Finally, the third group was the “no award” condition. They weren’t even told about the blue ribbons.

After two weeks of reinforcement, the scientists observed the preschoolers during a typical period of free play. Here’s where the results get interesting: The kids in the “no award’ and “unexpected award” conditions kept on drawing with the same enthusiasm as before. Their behavior was unchanged. In contrast, the preschoolers in the “award” group now showed much less interest in the activity. Instead of drawing, they played with blocks, or took a nap, or went outside. The reason was that their intrinsic motivation to draw had been contaminated by blue ribbons; the extrinsic reward had diminished the pleasure of playing with crayons and paper. (Daniel Pink, in his excellent book Drive)

The assertion above that the preschoolers were intrinsically motivated is wrong from a behavioral analysis perspective. There is no such thing as intrinsic motivation and usually when this is communicated, the real meaning is that the contingency is unknown or un-observable.

So, with the confession that I am making countless assumptions since the study is not in front of me and this is purely an exercise in theoretical thinking, we can say that the first set of children were aware of the reinforcer – the blue ribbon. Because they knew about it doesn’t make it any less reinforcing and presumably they colored and received their ribbon. With that behavior complete and having received the reinforcer, they were free to play other games and move on. An analogy may be that a hungry person eats. Once they are no longer hungry, they stop eating. A critic might argue that when hunger returns, this person would eat again. To which I would say, if the child found need for another blue ribbon they would color again – assuming the rules set out by the teachers allowed for more than one ribbon.

The second group who did not know about the ribbon ahead of time, but received it anyway were getting a variable schedule of reinforcement. After completion of the task, coloring, they received the ribbon. This is a very strong model of reinforcement and usually leads to an increased likely hood of behavior. However, if after a sustained period of behavior with no additional reinforcement, this group would be more likely to end up like the first group, off playing in free play. To continue the analogy from above, this is the fisherman. He doesn’t always catch a fish, but when he does, he eats. However, if after a prolonged period of no fish, he would conclude there were no more fish in the pond and quit fishing.

The last group were outside the control of the blue ribbon. However, this does not mean that they were outside the control of reinforcement. Their reinforcement was coming from natural contingencies. It is entirely possible that one of the other students commented favorably on their drawing, that one of their parents put it on the fridge, or simply that the act of drawing next to other students who were also drawing was pleasurable. This could be akin to the hunter who is not hungry, but who fishes or hunts to feed others. He would receive praise and thanks from feeding others and the feelings that accompany that type of reinforcement.

It is also very important to note that just because the first group chose to play in free play, doesn’t mean they weren’t likely to draw when alone, at home or when necessary. If they received enough other reinforcement from drawing besides the blue ribbon, they would continue to draw.

What I find very interesting is the kids who knew exactly what the reinforcer was and achieving it were free to pursue other contingencies. While those who did not know and pursued natural contingencies put them more under the control of these contingencies. In this sense, is the argument, proposed by Daniel Pink and many others, that intrinsic motivation is some how more beneficial to the child? It certainly is less “free.” In fact, Lehrer even calls it “free play” in his recount of the study.

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Should You Cheat on your Diet?

Shredded Beef Tacos
I skipped the fast food, ate my salad and passed on desert. I guess I deserve this Ice Cream treat. Sound familiar? This is called cheating on your diet. This is like the alcoholic who celebrates sobriety with a Jack and Coke.  Like the smoker who has one smoke to congratulate himself on not having a cigarette for the week. It just doesn’t make sense.

When you change your diet, you are changing your behavior. If you successfully change your behavior for a day or a few days in a row, and then reward that by participating in the behavior you hope to change, you will fall right back into your old routine. You are basically telling yourself that your old behavior is good enough to be treated as a reward. And if it’s that good, why not do it all the time?

However, it does make sense to reward yourself for working hard on your diet. It’s just that these rewards can not be in the form of non-food items. Maybe it’s that new pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing. Or, for the guys, a round of golf at a course you’ve been wanting to play. You need to find what’s particularly rewarding for you.

These rewards should be frequent at first. Maybe daily for the first few months. In that case, new shoes or rounds of golf may be too expensive. You’ll have to find smaller rewards. As you become a master of your old behavior, you won’t need a reward as often. Instead, maybe if you have 2 solid weeks of good eating, then you go shopping.

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My Todo Items are Too Inconspicuous

Do you ever find you have todo items on your task lists that just seem to linger. No matter how long they stay on the list and how motivated you are to work, you just can’t seem to get around to them?

It may be that they are just to inconspicuous. When we act, it is to receive a reinforcer. This reinforcer can come in all kinds of different formats from avoiding punishment, to receiving something we want, to feeling good about our selfs (this last one is in layman terms). At work, we most likely complete tasks to avoid punishment (keep our jobs). However, when given the freedom to work on different tasks, prioritized how we deem fit, we usually prioritize based off which will give us the most likely chance to receive praise from our superiors, peers, clients or customers.

So when a task lingers, ask yourself, “am I avoiding this task because no one will notice if it gets done?”

If the answer is yes, try and look at the task differently. What will it solve? Who will it help? Who is going to benefit from the completion of the task? In doing so, hopefully you can find ways to tweak it to make it more conspicuous. Maybe increasing the scope of the task will help more people making it more valuable. Not only will this get the task done, but it will allow you to exceed expectations and therefore receive the praise you so richly desire.

Something to remember though: Positive praise will only come from work that is praise worthy. If your task is an expectation of your job, the level of praise you receive from it will be equivalent – meaning not very high. It’s when you go above and beyond these expectations that you will receive positive praise.

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My New Camera



My New Camera, originally uploaded by Shoot Art, Not Each Other.

267/365

My birthday is tomorrow, but my wife will be out of town. So she made me this cake today. I love that she did this. It was her first attempt at using foundant and I think it was harder than she thought it would be. My favorite part is that she created my 50mm lens on the camera and also my 100mm lens incase I needed to zoom in or get a macro photo.

Strobist: Vivitar 285hv at 1/4 power through softbox. It was positioned behind the cake – above the camera strap in the photo. I used two pieces of white poster board in front – directly under the camera – to help fill the shadows. Triggered with a Cactus V4.

See more photos here

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Roar



Roar, originally uploaded by Shoot Art, Not Each Other.

266/365

Yeah, I might be loosing it.

Strobist: Vivitar 285hv at 1/2 power camera right triggered with a Cactus V4.

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CSI



CSI, originally uploaded by Shoot Art, Not Each Other.

265/365

Macro Monday Theme: Crime

I didn’t have a white ruler, so I drew one. I left the flash on camera to create a harshness. I’m not sure if I like it.

On a different note, only 100 days left in my 365.

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Very Windy



Very Windy, originally uploaded by Shoot Art, Not Each Other.

264/365

Mayah asked me to call this one, "Very Windy." And while it was windy outside, the leaves blowing in from the right were actually tossed up by me.

Strobist: Vivitar 285hv at 1/2 power camera right on the ground pointing up at Mayah. Triggered with a Cactus V4. Sun light was coming in from behind filtered by tree branches.

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Love, Money, Health, Travel

263/365

Ramiros Mexican Food is a great little mexican food restaurant on Bell st across from the Frys. Very authentic and good prices.

Light was coming in from the window camera right. Heavily processed in Lightroom.

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