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Addicted to Information?
SiMac writes "According to this New York Times article, two Harvard faculty members say that information causes a "dopamine squirt" in humans, a rush similar to that given by narcotics. Just as narcotics are addictive, information is as well. They've given the disorder of information addiction the name 'pseudo-ADD' because it tends to cause somewhat ADD-like symptoms."
Boycott Slashdot until Michael is removed from the editorial staff. No one likes your stories, Michael, can't you see that?
Please? (Becuase, chances are, he's behind a firewall or proxy, or clicked the Back button to accidentally reuse a form. Please try again.)
Please? (Because, chances are, he's behind a firewall or proxy, or clicked the Back button to accidentally reuse a form. Please try again.)
I think that in terms of movies, there are only a couple that have generated as much attention and fandom and Star Wars, The Matrix, Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter have generated (LOTR & HP are also bestsellers in books as well). So what do they have in common?
:). But honestly now, how many times have you fixed something so that it will never go bad again in any condition?!. Evil is a character, and people can identify it. If Batman keeps changing enemies and Double-Oh-Seven keeps blowing them up, the bad guys are no longer an identifiable part, one that the viewers can relate to and can create their own mental plots/dreams about destroying it in wars of their own. Evil never dies, right? Make a good juicy character out of it!
I would dare to angry anybody and say Star Wars is Lord of the Rings a couple of millennia into the future. Same for The Matrix being Harry Potter. But in terms of movies, I think the reverse is equally true. I think LOTR has to be thankful to Star Wars for part of its success, the same way Harry Potter has to be thankful to The Matrix opening the gates to the Magic Hero trail.
However, ancient and future heroes, battle of good and evil, greek, roman, chinese mythology have been part of a zillion good movies. I mean, good vs evil is THE subject of all modern movies. So why doesn't Sixth Sense, Toy Story and Austin Powers generate such an impressive fandom?
Let me wobble over a couple of reasons I think stand behind such a tremendous success as these four movies have inspired:
* Tickle the imagination. I mean, this is a no-brainer. See the success of the James Bond series. However, the battles and forces the heroes have to face in any of these movies are exceedingly large and victory seems to be against all odds. Death Star, Mordor, The Matrix and Valdemort are perpetuous threatening presences no one else can really win in a battle agains them.
* Bildungsroman and neverending battles. Frodo and Aragorn, Neo, Harry Potter, and Luke Skywalker are red-threads through the entire story, characters that don't stall, but rather learn and evolve in a continuous manner, all of them led by a human yet higher, more esoteric force: Gandalf, Morpheus/Oracle, Dumbledore and Obi-Wan/Yoda. That's the bildungsroman part. In the never ending battle, I'd like you to recall that in any of these movies, in any of the parts, evil is defeated, but not extincted. Now, obviously some could argue that this is part of the Hollywood plot to allow more income from sequels
* Subtle mythology - OK, Harry Potter and LOTR have mythology written all over them (Greek and Celtic/Norse), but what about Star Wars and The Matrix? Matrix is quite easy, the mythology is mostly Christian (devil sending its messengers), although some aspects of Greek mythology is present (think Hydra). Star Wars is not as easy; being similary to LOTR, one could argue about its Celtic roots, but I think it's the aliens in SW that make us think of fabulous creatures, and if there is anything in the old books greater number than heroes, that is the fantastic creatures, ranging from tiny and funny to large and kind, from little and wicked to big and evil. All of us, as kids, had some exposure to mythology, and I think that is a strong identifiable emblem in a movie. You may not be able to put the finger on it and tell exactly what it is, but at least it spurs a shadow of deja-vu in your mind and that is enough to make you feel comfortable with the characters and the whole plot.
* Philosophy. I've left philosophy at the end, because that is the most difficult and esoteric part. Anyone who read Tao Teh Ching has found The Matrix to be an living illustration of it. While I'm not going to mull through what is philosophical in each of the movies, I think adding this touch to a movie gives it an extra kick, and makes possible for one to argue that it really has depth, that it really goes into exploring those dark corners of the human mind. We all love to imagine and think, and after all that is t
"Nowhere do they site research..."
A 'site' is a place. 'cite' is what you are looking for; it's a verb meaning "to quote as an authority or example."
... dopamine squirts you!
Need INPUT!! Input!!