What do we hope to see in 2009? I mean this both personally, and in reference to our society as a whole. 
In this post, I am going to talk first about technological expectations, then some of the other societal changes that I expect, followed by a more personal section.
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It is finally time for me to publish this post. In the article to follow, I describe my ambitious plans for a social experiment to test the theories set out in Analyzing Shifts in Human Behaviour (and Part II), the Anatomy of Trust, and A Thorough Treatise on the Nature of Friendship. Such an experiment will not be conducted according to scientific methodology, although I will be adding details on how such an experiment could be adapted to be performed in a better, more controlled fashion.
This social experiment involves two parts:
See more after the jump.
The following is an inspiring and real-life anecdote about how setting high standards has helped a person, written by Matthew Wu. It talks about not achieving your goals, and how setting seemingly impossible goals will push you to work harder.
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Here’s my list of things for which I am grateful, and I’m not even at home:
Perhaps I am feeling happier. The National Seminar hasn’t even started yet… meeting other delegates is an interesting experience.
My flight to Calgary, Alberta (Canada) leaves at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. There I will be having fun at the National Seminar for debate, a noncompetitive conference for debaters all across the country.
Friday is our recreational day, when we will be visiting Banff and the hot springs pool there. Who knows? I might even have a chance to visit Lake Louise.
I will aim to post Twitter and blog posts every day, in the rare occasion that one of you may actually be interested.
Here’s my list for today of things for which I am grateful.
Am I feeling happier yet? Not really. In fact, I’ve been feeling more and more stressed out lately. In any case, that’ll be fixed by Tuesday of next week.
My Twitter updates are still not being synchronized to my blog, but hopefully that’ll be fixed with the next update of Twitter Tools.
M.W. recently suggested to me that writing down the things for which I am grateful will lead to some sense of happiness. I’m willing to try this out, because there is a sound psychological basis for doing so; this activity forces a person to realize all of the positive things that exist in the world around them.
I also realize that, perhaps you aren’t particularly interested in my personal life (although I’d point out that that is what many blogs focus on). I will return to posting other interesting things since I have nearly exhausted this topic.
It wouldn’t be too convenient to make a new blog post every day or even every week for this topic, so I’m going to place some of them on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/frederickding) or check this blog (since my Twitter updates are automatically re-posted here daily).
My three-item list for today (November 14, 2008):
I really wouldn’t mind if you decided to share a few of the things for which you are grateful, either by commenting here or by signing up for Twitter and letting me know about you.
ADDENDUM: of course some things will need to be kept private. But even the private things will be posted, except under lock and key.
ADDENDUM 2: here are my lists for November 15 and 16:
