Rat in a Cage

So yesterday I figured out that if I write a half-page of that ridiculously long paper for physics every day, it will be done before I need to turn it in. I forgot to factor in that today, February 28, is the last day of the month. That February is a trickster, but I'll still finish my paper the day before it is due by doing a half a page every day, so now it's not nearly as daunting, and with Chicago style notations, I'll have footnotes taking up some extra space at the bottom of each page, so it should be a piece of cake.

So after completing my half page and feeling pretty good about myself, and before catching up on TV shows, I stumbled upon (stumble uponned?), used Stumble Upon a couple of times.  I found a pretty fascinating and surprisingly intellectual yet humorous article on cracked.com.  It was about the techniques that video games use to get people addicted.  One of the things that they pointed out is that most video games are like virtual Skinner boxes.  The rewards aren't real but our brains react to them like they are.  Lots of games have people sitting and doing the same thing over and over until they get a reward.  Well, it got me thinking that this technique should be applied to people's jobs to a greater extent than getting a raise or a promotion.  If you work hard enough, your boss will buy you lunch or something. I haven't really figured out the exact details, but it just made me think that if someone will sit for hours clicking something repeatedly or whatever when they don't even have to, in order to get some reward that isn't tangible, it makes sense that when people have to repeat the same tasks over and over again at their job, then applying the same sort of reward system only with a tangible reward will make people want to keep working so they can get the next reward.  I employ the same technique when I'm studying. I'll tell myself that after I do a certain amount of work or work for some amount of time, then I can watch some tv or something.

So it's really not the different from what Nirvana says, "Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage." Despite all our brains, we are still just rats in Skinner boxes.

SNOW!!!

Guess what everyone? I'm not dead and it's snowing! I quit coughing up blood after a little bit yesterday and today I still have a sore throat and cough, but no fever.  I had physical therapy today and my legs are so tired that I can't even bend my knees now.  Today I only had one class, but in my mind it was Monday. On Mondays, I get a ride back from my first class at 11:45. On Tuesdays, I get a ride back from class at 11:25. So since I thought today was Monday, I missed my ride. The big problem is that since my phone isn't working, I couldn't call to get a ride. The other problem is that I only have their number on my phone.  So I went back in the building and there was this girl using a laptop. She let me use it to look up the number and then borrow her phone.  I had to wait an hour for my ride so we talked. She was pretty cool and she gave me her number in case I ever need a ride.  I had sweet potato fries at lunch and they were so delicious. Now it's snowing really hard.  There's an extra credit movie tonight for my Finnish class but I'm not going to go, because it is 3 hours long and this snow will really be piled up by then. I wouldn't want to get stuck across campus. Also, there's the issue of finding someone to give me a ride there in the snow. So I'm going to stay in my warm little dorm room and write a paper on the physics of parkour, which I just found out this morning needs to be 6-10 pages SINGLE-spaced.  For those of you who can't do math, that's like 12-20 pages double spaced. Yikes. I also have to write a paper for my drugs and society class, but that one's just 4 pages, double spaced.  And I still need to develop a basic understanding of relativity that's more than just light has the same speed no matter what, because that's all I understand about it now and my midterm is on Thursday. Maybe it will snow a ton and the midterm will be postponed. That would be nice. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I just found out that they're making an Odd Thomas movie! That's one of my favorite books ever! And I only have to wait until 2013 to see it.

You know what? After I start being able to walk again (well a while after, like when I'm capable of running), I'm going to start doing parkour. It might even help with my fear of heights. It might help with my asthma too. This Carolynn Grigsby girl over on youtube is pretty skilled and I happen to be competitive so I want to become as good at it as she is.