Thursday, September 15, 2005

Pavlov, Fashion, and Break-up advice

I think one of the reasons that I decided to major in psychology was because you see what you learn outside of the classroom. Lately we have been talking about classical conditioning, discovered by Pavlov years ago. For those of you unfamiliar with this particular subject, let me catch you up right quick:

-The basic idea is that by pairing two stimuli together (one conditioned and one unconditioned) you can eventually elicit a response from the conditioned response alone. Classic example: You have a dog. The sight of food (unconditioned stimulus, or US) will make a dog salivate (unconditioned response (UR)). So what you do is ring a bell,(conditioned stimulus (CS)) right before you present the food to the dog. Eventually, the dog will start to salivate at the sound of the bell (conditioned response (CR)).

Make sense? Good. Well, it came to my attention last night that this has been occuring with Dustin and I for quite some time now. You see, as soon the "band" Water's Edge is done playing, Dustin and I have a tradition of going to the bathroom, just before the start of Bible Study. In the past it has been because we actually had to use the bathroom, and didn't want to hold it through Bible study. But last night, I didn't even need to go, yet as soon as Water's Edge was done playing, I headed for the bathroom, as did Dustin. Water's Edge being done playing (the CS) triggered my reaction to go to the bathroom (CR), despite the fact that the usual US (needing to use the bathroom) did not exist. You have to admit, that's tight.

-Speaking of classical conditioning, what's with these enormous sunglasses girls are wearing these days? They look incredibly stupid. It reminds me of last year when the trendy thing was those rediculous snow boots that girls wore with regular outfits, even in hot weather. I don't know a lot about fashion, but those were incredibly stupid looking. And I'll tell you this, I've never once heard a guy say "Man, check out that girl's snow boots. Those are tight", or "Did you see that girl with those huge sunglasses on? I could only see her forehead and chin, but those glasses were ill". So if you are reading this and you own a pair of those snow boots or large sunglasses, I hope I haven't offended you or made you mad. But seriously, you need to pitch that crap out.

-Here's some funny stuff: Dustin fell out of his chair last night. Were having a serious conversation, too, it wasn't like he was laughing so hard he fell out of his chair. He was just leaning back when all the sudden he just lost control. It all kind of happened in slow motion, too. Like watching a train wreck happen.

-I'm having a hard time dealing with people in my stats class. We are still in the basic stuff and people are having an incredibly hard time with it. And once again, we can't seem to grasp the concept of not having math problems on the test. I recently told you about the guy who asked if we would be needing a calculator for the test, right after the teacher had said that there would be no math problems on it. Yesterday, some guy asks "So will you be providing the formulas for the test or will we need to memorize them?" I nearly laughed out loud when I heard this. This is like the 12th time we have gone over this and we have only had like 8 classes. I really am a patient person, but this is starting to annoy me.

-This is gonna be my must see-TV list for this season:

6) Arrested Development
5) Crossing Jordan
4) Law & Order: SVU
3) The Office
2) The King of Queens
1) Scrubs

-One new show I am considering: My Name is Earl. At first I thought it was going to be just another desperate attempt at cheap laughs, but I found out that there is more to it. Check it out for yourself, I don't feel like explaining it.

-Well I know you all were hoping for me to tell you about something funny that Troy did or said, but unfortuantely he said and did nothing funny last night. However, Jason Lamb managed to step in and pinch hit for him in good fashion. So, instead of the Troy Woodyard Quote of the Day, it will be the .......

"Jason Lamb Quote of the Day": It was actaully more of a moment than a quote. Last night Chandler was telling me about how if you put $2000 into an IRA right now it will be worth $2.2 million by the time you are 65. Jason immdiatley turns to Chandler and says (in that way that only Jason can): Chandler, do no store up treasures for yourself here on earth, but rather store up for yourself treaures in heaven". There's nothing better than delivering an "Ooooh Slam" Matthew 6:19-20 style. Kudos to Lambo.

-There is one last matter of business that I must address. We here at Cooperstown don't mind anonymous comments so much; we prefer that you reveal yourself but we value your feedback too much to block anonymity. However, we will NOT tolerate stupid names, like "psalm 103". Don't pretend to be a Bible verse, that is absurd. However, most other nicknames are fine, such as "The yellow dart", who often visits us here at Cooperstown (You know you want to tell me your real name).

-And finally, before I forget, let me tell you about this. Eric Walters enlightened Dustin and I last night on the best way to break up with someone. One phrase is all that is needed to end the relationship. You simply take he/she aside, look them in the eye, and say "Look, seriously, the phone calls have gotta stop." Brilliant.

posted by Wes @ 10:51 AM

6 Comments:

At 9/15/2005 02:25:00 PM, Blogger d blake said...

I think I've decided to hold out until the end of the football season to cast my vote on how many victories UK's football team will have this year... it appears the poll will still be up then.

 
At 9/15/2005 05:41:00 PM, Blogger JTapp said...

You know, Eric Walters got it exactly right. I'm married and yet I still have to say that exact same thing to girls.

 
At 9/15/2005 11:20:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're blog is hilarious. I specifically love the "what I know what I think" segments. But today was so funny, I had to comment. Please continue to update your blog more. And I'm just wondering, but how big is too big for the sunglasses?

 
At 9/16/2005 12:28:00 AM, Blogger Wes said...

There are small sunglasses, medium sunglasses, large sunglasses, and then there are the oversized ones. The oversized ones are the kind that I abhor. You'll know when you see them. Thanks for the comment!

 
At 9/16/2005 09:23:00 AM, Blogger JTapp said...

Will the Florida Atlantic-UK game be home or away?

 
At 9/16/2005 10:38:00 AM, Blogger Wes said...

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