GOING OUT OF MY HEAD (AND INSIDE)

BUSINESSWEEK (2008) 9/22

HELM/ 88

With the economy appearing to head downward, retailers are looking for new ways to get you into the store. This is not retail anthropology where social scientist looks at the location of the products, the size of the aisles, and lighting. Rather, it is another avenue.

This firm of dunnhumby inc. works first with current customers. They have improved Macy’s sales by 5% in these difficult times. So what do they do? They crunch data on your credit card transactions.

Starting in the mid 90’s, they started looking at consumer patterns as well as continuous repeat business or customer loyalty.

As an example, there was a poor selling loaf of bread and a super market wanted to dump it. However, although the sales could be better, it attracted a customer who would drive long distances to get the bread. Further, it would drive a customer to a different store if the bread was dropped. It is a destination product and thus very important. Decision was made to give it less shelf space, but to keep the loaf of bread.

The firm was also helpful in some in-store promotions. They also bring together, groups of occupations to see what they like in terms of in store products. One group could be certain professionals. Others are skilled craftsman.

Even body types seem to have a correlation. Slimmer folks buy new clothes at the beginning of the season. Heavier people wait until later in the season to see what is popular.

Thus, there is more to gain and this little firm has now partnered with some large firms, because they want to know was is out of our heads or in them.

A SENIOR SEX REVOLUTION

U.S. NEWS 7 WORLD REPORT (9/15)

LYON ET. AL. / 54-55

VIAGARA and related medications have changed sex life of seniors. In other words, the male can get an erection later in life. Further, there are a number of strategies. Those with heart problems are more limited. The statins and other meds push blood pressure down. Viagra push the blood pressure even further downward and the individual male dies.

For females there are new creams for the vagina that also include antibiotics so that intercourse is not hurtful. The medical community can also provide a small dose of testosterone that can get the female interested again.

However, there are numerous sociological and psychological inputs that spoil the sex. Even thought the couple is legally married, they bring into the room all the nuns, rabbis, imams, and preachers discussion about the evil of sex. So for two consenting married partners, sex carries baggage. A life time also means that women have been more likely to have been hit on, raped, and felt an obligation to sex. On the other men get raped by gangs of girls who push unfriendly things into their rectum. They could be raped by another male. They had sex too young. They were stripped and whipped over sex.

That needs work as roughly 40% of couples report such problems. Another is that the females supposedly push  away from the husband and onto the children.

The males can go to Viagra, the pump, caverject (a hypodermic needle filled with chemical to help erections, but may now be out of business.)

The female also needs not only that listed above, but some printed erotica. And so sex can be a problem or an opportunity for every age group. How this effects, bi-sexual, gays, and transgender is yet to be noted.

IS MORALITY NATURAL?

NEWSWEEEK (2008) 9/22

HAUSER/65

There is a set of questions that you may want to answer (moral.wjh.harvard.edu) it has to do with very difficult choices where you have to choose between the lives of a number of people and it there is not an easy out.

One of the findings is that atheists and believers respond about the same way. Emotions run high, but that does not seem to be the answer. When you compare psychopath’s answers with others, they make about the same decisions. What appears to count is action. It is at the beginning of the action, when the groups differed. Psychopaths continue without shame or remorse. For the rest of us, we suffer and necessarily so. Then we regroup or recover.