inkbluesky

Dull jobs really do numb the mind

Boring jobs turn our mind to autopilot, say scientists - and it means we can seriously mess up some simple tasks.

Monotonous duties switch our brain to “rest mode”, whether we like it or not, the researchers report in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.

They found mistakes can be predicted up to 30 seconds before we make them, by patterns in our brain activity.

The team hopes to design an early-warning brain monitor for pilots and others in “critical situations”.

The scientists say the device would be particularly suitable for monotonous jobs where focus is hard to maintain - such as passport and immigration control.

Maybe they can put a big hat with rotating light and siren on your head so the whole world can see that you’re bored out of your skull. Once we get over a certain learning curve most of us find our jobs rather predictable. Predictable is boring’s first cousin. There does seem to be a good side to the cycle of learning and the excitement about doing something new followed by settling in. We feel more comfortable less on edge, less like we might screw up. Unfortunately for those outside of the tech sector, most companies still operate much along the very structured lines that corporations have for years thus not allowing for much in the way of employee empowerment and the control over their work that would make it marginally less boring. For all their pep talks and seminars about thinking outside the box, that is where most of corporate America wants to keep things - the moldy old top down power pyramid.

chinese hideaway. note that the occupants are still in touch with the world with multiple large antennas.

Pardon me for gloating a little, Networks continue to ignore NY Times’ military analyst story, but all find time for Hannah Montana

Since The New York Times reported on the hidden ties between media military analysts and the Pentagon on April 20, the three major broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — have still not mentioned the report at all, according to a Media Matters for America search* of the Nexis news database. Times reporter David Barstow wrote that “the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform” these military analysts, many of whom have clients with an interest in obtaining Pentagon contracts, “into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.” As Media Matters noted, the three networks also reportedly declined to participate in a segment on the April 24 edition of PBS’ NewsHour regarding the Times story; Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC also refused to appear in the PBS segment.

By contrast, during their April 28 evening newscasts, all three broadcast networks reported on the Vanity Fair photo of Miley Cyrus, star of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana: ABC devoted about two and a half minutes to that story, while CBS and NBC each devoted about two minutes to it.

By reporting on the analysts the networks would be admitting they participated in deceiving the public. By reporting about M’s Cyrus all they do is push that easily accessible little button that is America’s inner Puritan; which also happens to sell the beer and cars that pay the talking heads multi million dollar salaries.