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Unlikely Heroes: Resilience with a Dragon Tattoo

October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Hollywood's remake of the film from the bestseller "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"is scheduled for release just before Christmas.  It comes on the heels of the 2009 Swedish film versions of the Stieg Larsson's Millenium Triology*.  While not exactly family fare, I loved Larsson's books and I'm not the only one eager to see how Director David Fincher handles the material.  The marketing build-up to the December release, concern about the explicit sexual violence, the casting intrigues, and the inevitable comparison to the Swedish versions have, however, eclipsed the true power of the book -- the psychology, particularly of Larsson's complex anti-hero, the anti-social, computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander.   The Psychology of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo furthers this discussion. The soon to be released anthology published by BenBella  and edited by fellow PT blogger Robin Rosenberg and Shannon O'Neill, is collection of essays (including mine) examining the psychology of Lisbeth … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture & Society, Positive Psychology, Psychology Tagged With: , ,

From the SxSW Panel: Does the Internet Make You Happy?

March 18, 2011 By 2 Comments
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I had a great time participating on a panel at the SxSW Interactive Conference with moderator and organizer Anastasia Goldstein, along with Catherina O'Gorman (Think Love.org), Kevin Hansen (SecretRegrets.com), and Veer Gadwaney (DailyFeats.com) . (See the visual map of the panel discussion in a previous post). Here is an overview of my comments: Our panel asked the question: Does the Internet make you happy? My answer was ‘No.’ Let me tell you why. First, happiness is not about the tools. Second, happiness comes from within. We have to get over asking what does technology “does to us” and start asking what we, as humans, are trying to do—individually and as members of a global community—and how technology can help. When I say happiness comes from ‘within,’ I’m talking about the brain. Humans are subject to “impact bias” which means that we always think things and events are going to make us happy, but that isn’t the case. Most of what we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cognition, Positive Psychology, Psychology Tagged With: , , ,

Levis: The Karma Capital That Got Away, Part 2

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Pamela Rutledge and Bonnie Buckner In part 1 "Levi's: Go Forth and Exploit," we wrote about our problems with the Levi’s Go Forth Campaign, such as romanticizing and trivializing the Great Depression and exploiting the efforts of the town of Braddock, PA to fit their Steinbeckian narrative. Here, we will focus on the opportunities for what we call Karma Capital--economic profit combined with positive social impact--that got away. Brands and corporations have significant impact on individuals and culture. The Levi’s campaign shows a considerable deafness to the current social and technological environment and the shifting psychologies and cultural sensibilities of their market. In a globally networked world, every message from a company and organization will ripple through the system. They could have created some serious Karma Capital by aligning social goals with their bottom line. Levi’s missed an opportunities on two levels. Instead of a contrived narrative, they … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Brands & Identity, Culture & Society, Positive Psychology Tagged With: , , ,

Video: Seismic Cultural Shifts in a Globally Connected World

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

My friend Bret Morstad submitted this great video, called "The Message" to TED. It speaks to the seismic shifts in culture and psychology that innovations in technology and a connected global community have delivered. I view media technologies and societies (and all things, really) from a systems perspective. A system means that every participant in the system contributes to its movement and evolution. I like this video because it reminds that the power (and obligation) for change rests on each of us. Good luck with the TED committee, Bret! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Culture & Society, Positive Psychology, Social Media & Networks Tagged With: , ,
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