A culture addicted to risk--TED

[secrets0stolen]

Naomi Klein: Addicted to risk | Video on TED.com

[t4488]

I made it about a third of the way through. I won't assume she is malicious.

[Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi]

this is heady stuff. I hadn't considered this angle but it makes a lot of sense.

[supertom]

In the end, the debates will end, because reality will tell us how wrong or right we are about things when it comes to nature.

[agsags]

USA is a country of immigrants with the national temperament being heavily hyperthymic, crossing into hypomanic territory. And such a temperament is celebrated in this country.

Piligrims gambled with the most precious things they had - their lives and families - while crossing the Atlantic to settle permanently in a land far away. Most immigrants are self-selected for higher-risk tolerance, so it's no surprise USA takes bigger bets than Europe.

[zeitgeist]

Originally Posted by agsags

USA is a country of immigrants with the national temperament being heavily hyperthymic, crossing into hypomanic territory. And such a temperament is celebrated in this country.

Piligrims gambled with the most precious things they had - their lives and families - while crossing the Atlantic to settle permanently in a land far away. Most immigrants are self-selected for higher-risk tolerance, so it's no surprise USA takes bigger bets than Europe.

I think this interpretation is correct - the risk lovers ventured into the new world (this includes criminals who for example were shipped to Australia - they are risk takers in their own right) while the risk averse stayed at in the old world. I read a book the other day that claimed there is even a gene for risk taking behaviour.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by agsags

USA is a country of immigrants with the national temperament being heavily hyperthymic, crossing into hypomanic territory. And such a temperament is celebrated in this country.

Piligrims gambled with the most precious things they had - their lives and families - while crossing the Atlantic to settle permanently in a land far away. Most immigrants are self-selected for higher-risk tolerance, so it's no surprise USA takes bigger bets than Europe.

There's plenty of gambling on both sides of the Atlantic, but you do have a certain point.

This reminds me of a professional gambler friend of mine (a European in the US) who pointed out that the historic gambling games of the US are poker, sports betting, horse betting, craps and blackjack - in their original forms all five of those are beatable games where skilled players can consistently make money (the rules of casino craps have subsequently changed and made it unbeatable). Meanwhile the historic gambling games of continental Europe are baccarat and roulette - inherently rigged games where the house always wins in the long run and the only enjoyment to be had as a player comes from bitching about your losses. He felt that summed up the respective continental temperments rather well

[Andrew Brunelle]

We all think we are God's gift to the world, and think no matter what we do, things will still be okay. We think we're better than the rest of the world, when in fact we are no better, no worse. We think we can slap Mother Nature around, but it's going to get us eventually, and it will be for our own good.

Now I finally know what the Alberta Tar Sands are as well. It is crazy what we are doing to the planet in the name of societal progress.

[InfinityCurve]

Nice vid, thank you.

[Brutha]

This reminds me of a professional gambler friend of mine (a European in the US) who pointed out that the historic gambling games of the US are poker, sports betting, horse betting, craps and blackjack - in their original forms all five of those are beatable games where skilled players can consistently make money (the rules of casino craps have subsequently changed and made it unbeatable).

There also the nice saying that US foreign policy runs on the principles of poker, Russian foreign policy runs on those of chess while Chinese foreign policy runs on those of Go.

Those also happen to be the games where skilled people make the most money in the respective countries.

[SnerpGoodWord]

Originally Posted by Brutha

There also the nice saying that US foreign policy runs on the principles of poker, Russian foreign policy runs on those of chess while Chinese foreign policy runs on those of Go.

Those also happen to be the games where skilled people make the most money in the respective countries.

I can't speak to the Russians or Chinese, but there is a deep relationship between poker and the national temperament in the US, and it's not just a matter of the modern game being invented here. This is especially true in the western and southern parts of the country. I remember one time I interviewed for a job, and one of the people there who knew me introduced me to his co-workers by saying basically "Don't ever play cards against Snerp" -as a profound compliment.

I think this is also why the US manages to consistently extract money from the rest of the world via our financial dealings. The zero-sum aspects of finance are the same game as poker, just dressed up differently.