There are a lot of angry people in the world. These people typically have a number of gripes, and sometimes one of them stands above everything else. Those who have web savvy might even take it to the rest of the world through a passionate blog or unifying community website. I was interested in what Google thought the most hated things were, and this is the list:
- Cilantro
- Brooklyn
- Starbucks
- Divorce
- Emo kids
- Clowns
- Cubicles
- SBC Yahoo
- Haggling
- Macs
From this logic, I present a highly unsuccessful personals ad:
Part-time clown seeks cilantro-loving emo kid. My house in Brooklyn , my cubicle in Manhattan (selling SBC Yahoo), but my heart is with Austen (die hagglers!). Let’s grab a Starbucks or just chat on our powerbooks!
Surprisingly, I find myself being quite a big fan of most of them. Maybe people just hate the things I like, but probably these things get more attention because they are highly divided topics.
Quite a while back I reade a book called Satisfaction: the science of finding true fulfillment. The book is about the scientific escapades of its author, Gregory Berns, as he seeks the answer to a number of questions about happiness. The book varies from extremely technical descriptions of Berns’ research in neuroeconomics to extremely accessible stories and anecdotes that most people can related to. It’s a highly enjoyable read, and I recommend it to anyone who likes reading pop science.
I give a lot of love to authors that use footnotes. When someone can write a completely accessible book but still maintain depth by referencing all of the relevant literature in endnotes, they are a master communicator. Satisfaction has a number of interesting footnotes that I have intended to follow up on; as a service to myself I’m going to place them here as well.
Perhaps I need to see someone from an Internet/Computer Addiction Service. My job might necessitate anti-depressants.
