A-Z Book List: Y for Yellow

Another of those alphabets where I haven’t read any book starting with that letter. So I am going to go again with the book that I would like to read.

Name: The Yellow Wall Paper by  Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Elaine Hedges

Genre: Horror, Psychology, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

I remembered this because I saw a trailer for a movie with the same name or did I see it while I was browsing through the list of movies to pick and watch? I don’t remember now. But this name stuck with me. Found out that it was a 2012 movie which is based on this short story about a woman’s decline into mental illness. I haven’t read the story, just the synopsis, but that itself is enough to tell you that it can be very dreary and sad. These kind of stories always makes me sad. There are very mixed reviews for the movie. But the Goodreads has a very good rating for the book. I guess I should be in a particular mood to go through these kind of stories and not feel depressed at the end.

Let me see when I get the time to get around to it. If you have read this short story, do drop in your views or links to your views in the comments. Or if you have any other book starting with this alphabet that you have read and have enjoyed, please let me know of that too. Might come in handy next time 😉

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

A-Z Book List: W for Who

Nope, not Dr. Who but the pronoun Who. Yes. Let’s directly jump to the book now, shall we?

Name: Who moved My Cheese? by  Spencer Johnson, Kenneth H. Blanchard

Genre: Philosophy, Psychology, Management, Self-Help, Inspirational

As you can see in the below photograph (taken from my phone) that this book was bought on October 8th, 2002. Almost 14 years ago, when I was still new to the working environment.

It is about Life, Work and how to cope up with changes. It is just about 96 pages in the volume. Very small indeed. If we had cheese in the story, we should have mice in them too. Well, we surely do in this one. If you don’t really want to read the book but wanted to know what it says (along with the story), just read the Wikipedia and you can be done with it. It is mostly about expecting changes, being prepared for it, and be willing to go through with it. I have no idea why I bought this book then. Maybe because it was a very popular one and everyone was talking about it and it was cheaper and smaller? But I did enjoy it when I read it. I am not a person who will read all these self-help books. Makes me sleep, those books. But this one was a cool one. If you get a chance just go through it. Hardly takes about a few minutes or maybe an hour max.

PS: Check out the rest of the A-Z Book list here

“I like you even more,

now that you have fallen on your back”

Sounds weird isn’t. But seems like this is one of the many interesting psychological facts as mentioned in the answers for a question in Quora.

What is “The Pratfall Effect” ? Here is what the Changingminds.org  has to say about it.

When a person makes a mistake or acts in a clumsy way that might even make people laugh, they are found to be more likeable, including in comparison with people who are more intelligent and clever.
When you make a mistake, you appear more human, more like others and so more likeable. People who are perfect can seem threatening, but people who are imperfect are safe and hence easier to truly like.

But the lecture (8 mins) given in Yale University by a Professor tells us that this is applicable only if you are already perceived as a competent person. So if a competent (or a perceived competent) person does a mistake or blunders or pratfalls, that person is likely to be liked more, which is a positive thing.  But if a mediocre (or one who is perceived mediocre) person blunders or pratfalls, well they become more mediocre, which is a negative thing. Now whether we are considered a competent person or a mediocre person depends on various factors according to me. I could be competent in one area and mediocre in another. Even though this is applicable to a situation, it is sort of based on the perceived personality.  Interesting isn’t ?

I now know the term to use when very popular celebrities make a mistake and then accept and own them and charm everyone about how they were so dumb to do something monumentally stupid and people will clap and accept their apologies and consider them even more greater than before because they did own up to their (mis)deeds finally didn’t they? But any next person or even one among the family does something remotely stupid, we make them feel more stupider.

But on a lighter note, I saw some examples where they say that this effect is the reason why people liked Jennifer Lawrence more because she was clumsy to fall on that stage, just like any normal human being and she was also cool enough to let Ellen make fun of her in the next Oscar. Really ? I thought it was her nonchalant attitude, no?

 

 

 

Optimist/Pessimist – More confusions

Continuing with the Glass Full or Empty thing that I had posted earlier.

Remember all these are just fun. You can go and check the test, get your score and then continue 🙂 . I am not going to go into some deeper level discussion on these topics, even though I might be inclined to do so later. Today its gonna be light (because I am working and I am just plain tired and need a break in between and I may or may not make enough sense).

Did you know that there is a term called ‘Optimistic Pessimist’ and ‘Pessimistic Optimist’. I tell you, the urbandictionary.com  has definitions for everything. Even your name. My name (original name) had some pretty bad definitions (apart from some good ones). So this is what it has to say about the Optimistic Pessimist:

Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.

Optimistic pessimism is a great way to live your life, because you can’t lose.

And about Pessimistic Optimism:

It has many meanings such like :
– taking a precaution to prevent a near death experience
– level of optimism
– they see the cup as nor half full or half empty as to them it is constantly filling whilst constantly emptying
– for a good thing to happen a bad must follow and vice versa

For this they have an example there which is quite nice actually considering the facts there.

Now I am confused, I know I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I come in between these two. But this is where it gets confusing with these new terms.

Now with my score in the previous post : Optimism: 67 Pessimism: 58 , should I be considered Pessimistic Optimist (I got more score on the optimism right?) or should I be considered an Optimistic Pessimist because I believe in Hope for the best, but prepare for the worse. I even have that written in my diary some long time ago. What do you think.

Two words and the permutations and combinations of these two has reeled me in today. Sometimes I wish I was smart enough like this.

Puzzling Friday

Yay!!! Friday already. Here are some funny (or not so funny) puzzles to start your day. I am giving some space between the questions and the answers if in case you feel  like solving them before checking out the answers. And nope, I am not that smart. In fact I never bothered to even think for a few seconds for the answers. Puzzles and me don’t get along well.

 

a)

I got this as a forward through SMS sometime back and had saved it. Apparently and thankfully I gave a wrong answer to this one before I got the actual answer.

“Read this and give answer… A woman, at the funeral of her mom, meets a guy whom she didnt know. She thought this guy was very much of her dream guy. She fell in love with him but never proposed or found him again. A few days later she killed her first sister…. Question: whats her motive in killing her sister”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

“She was hoping that the guy would appear at her sister’s funeral again. ”
“This was a test by a famous American Psychologist to test if one has the same mentality as a killer. Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly. If you didnt answer the question correctly, good for you, if you had answered correctly, good knowing you ;)”

 

b)

During a visit to a mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criteria is that defines if a patient should be admitted.

“Well,” said the Director, “we fill up a bathtub. Then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask the patient to empty the bathtub.”

Okay, here’s your test: Would you use the spoon, the teacup or the bucket?

“Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would choose the bucket, as it is larger than the spoon.”

What was the director’s response?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

“No,” answered the Director. “A normal person would pull the plug.”

 

And last for the day

c)

The clever butler needed some extra cash, so he tells his master:

“I know almost every song that has ever been written”

The master laughs at this, but the butler says
“I am willing to bet you a months pay that I can sing a song that you have heard of with the lady’s name of your choice in it.”

“Deal”, says the master. “How about my mother’s name, Felicity Jane Ashley?”

And so the bulter sang and earned himself an extra months pay.

What song did he sing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer:

Happy Birthday…

 

And here is some ‘Silly Stuff’ to smile about 🙂