Things I Learned Today...Part 7655.3

 

• At my school, there's a whole branch of research called "hedonomics"-- contrary to the popular study of economics that permeates pretty much all of my school, hedonomists define their study by saying, "Whereas economics studies how to maximize wealth with limited resources, hedonomics studies how to maximize happiness with limited wealth"
• They found that sometimes less is better depending on the perception. Whereas people almost always assume that more is better, depending on the perception (a high definition TV at the store when it's next to another HDTV or at home next to nothing, a full, small cup of ice cream instead of a normally filled, medium cup of ice cream) can distort your perception, leading you to buyers remorse or regrets later
• Additionally, when people thought strategically between how much reward they wanted before undertaking a task, they were able to better plan optimally for their rewards, ultimately leading to more happiness in the long run
•  At my school, there's also this sculpture in our courtyard (a courtyard we call the summer garden) and it's basically a barren tree with a bunch of rocks in the branches (see above). I always thought that this was some sort of sad, pathetic and/or angry symbol of UChicago as a whole ("where fun goes to die") but recently found out that the artist who made this piece grew up in rural Europe-somewhere (that's a real place, look it up) where it snowed all the time. Each winter, the snow would be so heavy that it would roll rocks down the mountains where she lived and push them into the trees below. When the snow melted in the spring time, the trees would all have these massive rocks in them. She made this work as a symbol of her home. This story made me feel better about my life
• I should never go shopping in October or April. April because most people get their tax refund checks then and the retailers jack up prices/decrease the number of promotions to capitalize on that. October because it's a retailer's reprieve between back to school sales and holiday sales, so they're unlikely to offer good deals during this time as they're trying to stay in the black
• 5s-es are selling better than 5c-s, which Bloomberg keeps reporting like it's some sort of genius idea. So you're telling me that in a crazily image-driven, status-symbol-centric culture like China (for the first time the iPhone releases are being simultaneously released in the US and China instead of through a phased rollout), people like the more expensive option? No way!
• Jeff Bezos (of Amazon) might be the best or worst leader ever. I never knew that he had such quips as, "If I have to hear that idea again, I'm gonna have to kill myself." On the other hand, he has a shadow CEO that follows him everywhere, so....that's.....interesting.