Independent Thinkers Judge Distances Differently Than Holistic Types

Another study, this time saying that independent thinkers (which are the type you find a greater percentage of in the Western World) are less able to judge spatial distances than the interdependent types of thinkers (which are mostly found in the East).

I think, by reading this article, that neither thinker has too much problem with dead reckoning a straight line. Western thinkers, however, think of turns in a road as distractions and continue to see a straight line even though there might be curves in it that make the path longer.



Interdependent thinkers, however, do not have this problem as much, but they are generally more confused by optical illusions.



None of this really explains why no one has really perfected a fool-proof pathfinding AI in games. :-)

How 'Bout That Final Crisis #2?

I have a monumental stack of comics and very little time to read them. I got through Final Crisis #2, though. Definitely a step up from #1. Loved the Japanese heroes (I wonder if the Chinese guys will show up?) However, knowing how godlike Batman is in a Morrison comic, I feel sorry for the bad guys, who just brought him back to their lair.

Choosing a New Experience Can Feel Good

Apparently, seeking out unusual experiences can release dopamine into the brain. This dovetails into game design nicely, in that new experiences: new places to see, new things to do, new weapons to experiment with, can make a game more enjoyable. Unfortunately, this goes straight into the face of game development, where you only have time to create a certain amount of assets to be placed in the game and a certain amount of new experiences can be scripted. As always, life remains a balancing act.

Grief Addiction

This is an interesting study that explains a lot of things. Apparently, a minority of people, when experiencing grief, have the reward centers of their brain stimulated. This causes, over time, an actual addiction to feeling grief. The grief, being a dehabilitating emotion, causes depression which can cause all sorts of life problems.

The other week, my wife and I were watching a History of Britain and Queen Victoria seems like a great candidate for this. After her husband, Prince Albert, died, she wore black and grieved for the rest of her life: about 40 years.

The human brain has some odd quirks.

Best Comic

Wow! I have 2.5 weeks of comics to go through.

Here's the list:

Booster Gold #10: Is Blue Beetle dead again? Did it have to be an homage to Wrath of Kahn?

Fantastic Four Secret Invasion #2: A great issue if you wanted to be brought up to speed on Johnny Storm's love life. Nice art.

Guardians of the Galaxy #2: The team is gelling, and Vance Astro (the elder) comes back around again. This issue is about twice as good as the first one. Let's hope it continues this way and that Warlock and Starlord get some character back.

Incredible Hercules #118: This is my favorite issue of the past two weeks. A journey into a Jungian universe allows the God Squad to reveal their characters a bit more. Interestingly, it's the secondary characters I liked about this issue, and not so much Herc or Amadeus.

Invincible #50: This comic somehow became hugely mediocre during the last 20 issues. But I've covered that before. #50 doesn't do much to make it any better, plus Kirkman decides to pad the damn thing with a bunch of stories I couldn't care less about.

New Universal Shockfront #2: Plots develop, and Warren does to Kicker's Inc. what we all wanted to do when it first came out.

Number of the Beast #5: The story continues to develop, but in kind of a predictable way.

Secret Invasion Who Do You Trust #1: The Beast and Wonder Man story is the one that got to me. I used to love the old Avengers specifically because of their relationship. This short story comes off awkward, which makes sense, but it's awkwardness isn't all that entertaining.

The Last Defenders #4: It feels like this is completely lost. I think the next two issues might bring together the plot, but that may be me fooling myself.

Titans #3: Definitely in the running for "Can there be a worse comic than Supergirl".

Trinity #1:
Trinity #2:
Trinity #3: I'll cover these with one post. I would have been happy with 52 issues of Clark, Bruce and Diana eating dinner somewhere and just talking. However, comics are nothing without action and this team, which has been thrust together more because of their popularity with fans than any other commonality, continue to bedevil writers due to their highly disparate power levels. I prefer them on the even playing ground of the social arena, where none of them have a greater power than the other. Anyway, so far its good enough to keep buying for now.

Good Job Hercules! Woohoo!