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The Environmental Bond Act – Why People are Voting “No!”

By Chris Carosa on November 3, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 1, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

(Author’s Note: What follows is a factual review of next Tuesday’s Ballot Box Proposition #1 – the 21^st Century Environmental Quality Bond Act. While I try to fairly present both sides of the issue, the reader should be aware that I am co-chairman of People for People and the Environment, a non-partisan grass roots organization which has taken a position in opposition to the Bond Act.)

Last spring, in the days following the 20^th anniversary of Earth Day, governor Cuomo and the rest of Albany agreed to offer voters of New York State a choice. Our state government has asked us if we will allow them to borrow nearly $2 billion for Continue Reading “The Environmental Bond Act – Why People are Voting “No!””

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Earth Day, Environmental Bond Act, Mario Cuomo, New York State, People for People and the Environment

The Dark Side: A Review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert B. Cialdini et al

By Chris Carosa on November 2, 2011

Luke: …Is the Dark Side stronger?
Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?
Yoda: You will know… when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.

In his first book, Robert Cialdini, psychology-professor-turned-marketing-guru wrote of his desire to learn “How to Say No” to itinerant marketers, aggressive solicitors and various other ne’er-do-wells. As a result, (and as I explain in my review of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion), Cialdini goes out of his way to show readers why we say “yes” when we don’t want to and how to say “no” when we should. Furthermore, in his follow-up book (see my review of Influence: Science and Practice) Cialdini extends his discussion of the six principles of persuasion to specifically include Continue Reading “The Dark Side: A Review of Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Robert B. Cialdini et al”

Posted in Book Reviews Tagged Behavioral, Compliance, Dark Side, Influence, Jedi, Luke, Persuasion, psychology, Robert Cialdini, The Force, Yoda

Don’t Be a Patsy! A Review of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

By Chris Carosa on November 1, 2011

Whether it was actually said by P.T. Barnum or about P.T. Barnum, few would discount the adage “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Truth be told, if you asked Robert Cialdini, a well-respected Regents Professor Emeritus of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University who many consider the guru of the science of persuasion, he would freely admit he was born during one of those minutes. Indeed, in his introduction to Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, this favorite author of marketers around the globe states in no uncertain terms, “All my life I’ve been a patsy.”

Cialdini attributes his long standing disposition as a sucker inspired his interest in the study of compliance. “Study of compliance?” you might ask. To the scholarly Cialdini, who cut his bones with a series of seminal academic papers on social psychology in the 1970’s, that phrase means “the psychology of persuasion” as in “how does one get another Continue Reading “Don’t Be a Patsy! A Review of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini”

Posted in Book Reviews Tagged Behavioral, Compliance, Influence, P.T. Barnum, Persuasion, psychology, Robert Cialdini, The Psychology of Persuasion

A Book Cover to Judge: A Review of Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini

By Chris Carosa on October 31, 2011

Towards the end of Influence: Science and Practice, author Robert Cialdini tells a story of a rather nasty TV talk show host who regularly berated his publicity-seeking celebrity guests, often immediately after he introduced them. Many felt the host’s venom stemmed from a leg amputation suffered earlier in his life. Cialdini writes of the time in the 1960s when a long-haired Frank Zappa came on as a guest. The host introduced Zappa with this zinger: “I guess your long hair makes you a girl.”

Without hesitation, Zappa shot back: “I guess your wooden leg makes a table.”

This story reflects the motif of Continue Reading “A Book Cover to Judge: A Review of Influence: Science and Practice by Robert B. Cialdini”

Posted in Book Reviews Tagged Behavioral, Compliance, Frank Zappa, Influence, Persuasion, psychology, Robert Cialdini

American Egalitarianism

By Chris Carosa on October 27, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 25, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Is America equal?

We immediately respond with a resounding “Yes!” As youngsters, we begin learning the lessons of the American saga. A free and open democracy – like that in the United States – implies and demands a society of equals. Our founding fathers’ forged the idea of “one man, one vote.” (Most of us forgive our ancestors, who took nearly 150 years to add “one woman, one vote” to our forbears’ edict.)

Yet, can a society in which less than 1 percent of the population owns more than 20Continue Reading “American Egalitarianism”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam Smith, class warfare, Daniel Moynihan, Founding Father, Great Society, Horatio Alger, King George, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, life, Lyndon Johnson, Social Darwinism, Social Mobility, Thomas Jefferson

Penalize Colorado! Ethics Begins on the Football Field

By Chris Carosa on October 20, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 18, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Sure I wanted Notre Dame to score on that last second touchdown pass. Just like a lot of other people, I was disappointed when the receiver dropped the ball. Yet, something else occurred on that particular Saturday which upset me even more.

College football bashing seems to be a regular event among the more erudite columnists. Many people complain the big money business of NCAA football runs counter to the spirit of the educational university. Certainly, we can’t encourage putting bucks ahead of books. But a solid education must Continue Reading “Penalize Colorado! Ethics Begins on the Football Field”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1972 Olympic basketball, Bill McCartney, Colorado, education, ethics, Extracurricular Activities, fair play, football, honesty, NCAA, philosophy, Vince Lombardi

The Speed of Light

By Chris Carosa on October 13, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 11, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. It takes light about one and one-third seconds to go from the Earth to the Moon. We know this because scientists have shot lasers at the reflectors the Apollo astronauts left on the lunar surface. The Moon orbits at a distance of 240,000 miles from the Earth.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. The light emitted from our Sun has aged a little over eight minutes by the time it hits the Earth. The Earth circles the Sun from a span of 93 million miles away.

One hundred and eighty six thousand miles per second. That’s equal to nearly six trillion miles in one year. We refer to this distance as one light-year. The nearest star (Proxima Centauri) looms a mere 4.3 light-years from our Solar System. That translates to just Continue Reading “The Speed of Light”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alpha Centauri, Apollo, distance to moon, distance to Sun, Einstein, ether, Galilean Transformation, Galileo, light-year, Michelson, Michelson-Morley, Morley, Newton, Principia, Proxima Centauri, Relativity, science fiction, Speed of light, Theory of Relativity, wave-particle duality

Who Owns Your Data?

By Chris Carosa on October 7, 2011

Towards the end of the day, I finally rediscovered how to use Twitter on my Blackberry. Then I discovered I could retweet faster than I could type. Since a lot of folks had similar ideas to mine, retweeting became the most efficient method for me to get those ideas out of my head and into the Twittosphere known as #SMACSRIT.

#SMACSRIT was the hashtag for the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Social Media and Communication Symposium (SMACS) II, a lively, entertaining and enlightening event held on – at least what started out as – a rainy Thursday on September 29, 2011. I could write about each session, but, perhaps bowing to the behavioral phenomenon called “recency” – the tendency to overweight the last thing seen – I’ll focus on the final keynoter, who posed an intriguing question while Continue Reading “Who Owns Your Data?”

Posted in It's a Nerd's World Tagged facebook, Maggi Fox, Mark Zuckerberg, recency, RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, SMACSRIT, Social Media and Communications Symposium II, Social Media Group

EDITORIAL

By Chris Carosa on October 6, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the October 4, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]
No Carosa Commentary appeared this week. In its place appeared an unsigned Editorial concerning the school budget vote.

Next Week #79: Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions (originally published on September 27, 1990)
Next Week #81: The Speed of Light (originally published on October 11, 1990)

[What is this and why is here? See Interested in Discovering My Time Machine? for more details.]

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries

Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions

By Chris Carosa on September 29, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the September 27, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

There’s a demon looming on the horizon. It hasn’t been around for a long, long time, but it’s there. People have been talking about it for a few years, though it remains just beyond the edge of our view. Some folks have even said it’s been seen, yet only by limited regions of the country and only for a short time.

Nobody knows how bad this demon will be. Nobody’s even sure if the demon will show its face. Still others will argue the demon stands in our midst now.

The evil has an evil aura about it. People fear the very thought of it, even those who Continue Reading “Taxes, Social Spending and Recessions”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged class warfare, economics, economy, Grace Commission, politics, recession, social spending, tax, taxes

Chris Carosa