Culture

Book Review: The Price Of Everything

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The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do by Eduardo Porter
# ISBN-10: 1591843626
# ISBN-13: 978-1591843627

PROS:

  • Makes you think seriously about prices and economics on a variety of subjects.
  • Has fascinating historical and cultural insights, with plenty of references.
  • Asks – and answers – some hard economic questions.
  • Extremely readable and accessible.

CONS:

  • References are arranged in a hard, odd-to-use way.
  • At times the author's opinion intrudes on his analysis.
  • Discusses solutions to economic issues, but not in much depth.

SUMMARY: An accessible and thought-provoking look at how economics affects almost everything we do that's good for people who want a better handle on the psychology of our economic behaviors.

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The Originality/Unoriginality Barrier: Gradual Evolution.

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(Not done writing about originality yet.  Regular poster Serdar noted that my ideas addressing originality suggested that highly original people can and should address using their ideas via gradual evolution, and that gradual evolution of media was an ideal. I want to address that).

I've been writing a lot about originality in media lately.  This is entirely understandable because originality is a big topic in media – in an age of remakes and the shockingly innovative it's going to be something prominent in people's minds.  It's also an important subject because people feel very passionate about it – as I noted there are many psychological/cultural factors to a love of originality.

My conclusions actually were that originality is actually not a prime driver in media consumption – socializabitility is.  People's interests in media were often heavily influenced by what they can share with and enjoy with others.  Originality, in turn, was most important when it helped with that social factor.

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Superheroes and Sex Appeal

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A friend of mine recently discussed the new Green Lantern trailer.  Sure he was enthused about the movie, the effects, the scope, but he was also enthused about Ryan Reynolds.  The enthusiasm my friend felt for Ryan Reynolds was an admixture; he felt Reynolds was both charming and looked great in his underwear.  My friend is not the only person to comment on a level of sex appeal in the Green Lantern Trailer, leaving me to the conclusions that this is both intentional and that Mr. Reynolds is someone who will make more of us feel inadequate in our underwear in the years to come.

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