Risk Preference

Recently I read a book "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig. This book provides a lot of fascinating examples and is well organized. I found and got some useful insights from the book. Also, it was very easy to read. I'd like to mention a thing from the book, anyway.

The author introduces a thought of risk in a chapter. According to the book, there are five types of risks:

1. Physical risk: such as being willing or unwilling to bungee jump off a bridge.
2. Social risk: like being willing or reluctant to start a conversation with a stranger. 
3. Emotional risk: revealing own emotion and feeling.
4. Financial risk: a big financial risk taker or not.
5. Intellectual risk: willingness to take risk in pursuing scientific inquiry.

According to the finance, risk is the probability that actual return on an investment will be lower than the expected return. And, suppose a financial assumption -- which is the more you take risk, the more you get the return, and vise verse -- is correct (For example, high-risk, high-return research is here). That is, the more we take risk, the more we will get something successful or big, as the following comic strip shows.

Comic Strip: Frank & Ernest published on June 23, 2011

With the above idea, I'd like to consider about my risk preference, that means which types of risks I am willing to take. I'm comfortable to take physical risks because I don't think about risk of fracturing a born which some people may worry, while taking social risks are uncomfortable for me as I confessed before: "Shy is not Shine". Also, I'm willing to take intellectual risks such as I like casting doubt on theories and common thought regardless of whether my critics for them are correct and pertinent or not, but I'm not a big financial and emotional risk taker so I may be a cheapskate and an expressionless face...

As Tina Seelig points out, although we are taking a big risk, we don't see ourselves as big risk takers on certain types of risks. For instance, unlike me, some entrepreneurs and bankers don't assume themselves as big risk takers despite spending huge money for investments. On other hand, if someone paid one million dollars for you to play a sky diving, you could never try it out. I think a message comes from these things. That is, "Don't be afraid of failure and shame." But, I know easier said than done. As for the first step of action, take a look at your own risk profile. Which types of risks are you willing to take and don't you see as a big risk? Though it is just a starting point, it would be easy and sometimes helpful for you to go ahead. 

Dogs and cats love watching television shows as well as human being does?

Photo: Hanna watching her favorite show on TV

Recently I have observed my family's dogs, Mikke and Hanna (in the left photo). Although Mikke is a nice dog, Hanna is an interesting dog because she has a weird habit. It's to watch TV with smacking, punching, and heading onto it like the below video, while Mikke isn't seemingly interested in watching TV.

Even when I showed the video to Hanna, she was trying to punching the cat -- particularly, she loves cats.

By the way, some TV shows are known as affecting our behaviors in the social psychology. For instance, a study shows that viewing television violence can subsequently numb people's reactions when they are faced with real-life aggression (called the numbing effect). In the study, those who had watched the police show were more likely to allow to observe a verbally and physically aggressive interaction between preschoolers than those who had watched the volleyball game. Thus, violence shows influence "human being" to response an aggressive behavior.

On other hand, my concerns are as follows:

• Do TV shows have an effort on animals' behaviors?   

To begin with, TV shows are really interesting and an influencer for animals like dogs and cats to change their behaviors? For example, my dog really likes seeing a cat and even a wild felid (Once I watched a documentary about a cheetah, Hanna had an interest in it.). If Hanna's behaviors are changed like a cat by TV shows and she duplicates cat's behaviors, I could assume that dogs are influenced by TV shows. But, is it right? I don't know. The best way is that I'd conduct an experiment for that, anyway.

• Do animals understand TV shows like us?

Are violence programs able to influence animals to change their behaviors more aggressively like human being? Or if I show sexual programs to my dogs...Oops. Anyway, if they understand TV shows like us, violence materials would tend to lead them to take more aggressive actions. But, the cat seems to me to immitate what boxers are doing in the below video (I heard cats are recognizing the world as black and white without colors.), and interpret their aggression. It's really difficult for me to understand waht dogs and cats are doing. I hope to understand correctly. If not, it might be a disaster.

I'll keep observing my dogs because they give me so much fun!

Real Nokanshi

Photo: IMDb

Have you ever watched Departures, a Japanese movie? Basic story is the below:

"Daigo Kobayashi is a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and now finds himself without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled "Departures" thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a "Nokanshi" or "encoffineer," a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of "Nokanshi," acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy and meaning of life and living."

Now Japan has faced with a tough situation since the huge earthquake and tsunami hit on March 11. Through the earthquake and tsunami, many people died. In that situation, there is a volunteer, Ms. Ruiko Sasahara who is a professional encoffineer helping the families of identified dead, sharing the sorrows, and making up the face of the dead with the families.

Photo: asahi.com

Until now, she has already taken care of over 300 bodies from a 10-day old baby to above 90 years old person, according to a radio program.