Re: [tips] The Failure of Higher Education And Its Effect On U.S. Politics
An equally entertaining news item is this Ted Talk which highlights divinatinatory practices among academics. http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/31/nye.rise.china.fears/index.html?hpt=C2 I wonder if he prefers the tarot card or the crystal ball? --Mike On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 8:17 AM, Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu wrote: This year U.S. politics appears to be a little sillier, a little more vicious, and, well, just plain stupider than other elections in the past (then again, I may be repressing memories of more ridiculous elections). One example of this sad state of affairs is given to us by the good citizens of Denver, Colorado who want to set up a commission for aliens. The Wall Street Journal had an article on this yesterday; quoting from the WSJ: |Ballot Initiative 300 would require the city to set up an Extraterrestrial |Affairs Commission, stocked with Ph.D. scientists, to ensure the health, |safety and cultural awareness of Denver residents when it comes to |future contact with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or their vehicles. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303341904575576192201885522.html Perhaps the saddest part is the following: |He and several other volunteers spent a recent afternoon hanging |flying-saucer posters on a college campus in Denver. More than |a few students brushed past with bemused looks. But those voters |who stopped to talk seemed taken by the concept, especially when |they learned that the ET commission would be financed by donations, |not tax dollars. | |I don't really believe in extraterrestrial life, but if we set something |up like that, we'd be prepared for anything, said Brandon Coby, 23 years |old, a biology major at the University of Colorado. You can't go wrong |with it. You don't know how happy I am that it was biology major and not a psychology major who was interviewed (though it is possible that this person has a promising career in neuroscience ;-). The article ends with: |The intergalactic-ectoplasmic smackdown ends Tuesday. No polling |has been done on the initiative. But a 2005 Gallup poll found one in four |Americans believes extraterrestrials have visited Earth. One in three |believes in ghosts. And if you think that the WSJ just represents the effete, elitist, east coast intelligentsia (which would be ironic given that it is now a Murdoch rag) here is a link to the Denver Post newspaper that covered the issue: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_16471380 Quoting: |Remember, city voters once approved impounding the vehicles of illegal |immigrants; we might as well prepare to impound the UFOs of these illegal |aliens, too. Apropos Halloween: be afraid, be very afraid. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tipsl...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fbn=Tl=tipso=6110 or send a blank email to leave-6110-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6130 or send a blank email to leave-6130-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
RE: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School
Well, now that's an attitude that will generate job security for those of remaining in academia. But it won't do anything for students who really would like to aspire to become college professors! Or who just like life-long learning and knowledge generation. I saw no winky or other nonverbal cue that perhaps this was said tongue in cheek, so I am taking it at face value...perhaps I shouldn't. annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Professor, Psychological Sciences University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 tay...@sandiego.edu From: Michael Smith [tipsl...@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:00 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School Sounds good. It's about time the word got out that graduate school is a waste of time, especially in the social sciences and humanities. --Mike On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM, roig-rear...@comcast.net wrote: If you are in the middle of academic advisement perhaps this may useful to you: http://100rsns.blogspot.com/p/complete-list-to-date.html :-) Miguel --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tipsl...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fbn=Tl=tipso=6114 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-6114-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tay...@sandiego.edu. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a21b0n=Tl=tipso=6129 or send a blank email to leave-6129-13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a2...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6131 or send a blank email to leave-6131-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School
Hi Sure ... it's not like the major problems of the world have to do with human behavior and culture rather than some lack of technological knowledge ... and just so Annette doesn't have any doubts, I am being sarcastic! Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca Michael Smith tipsl...@gmail.com 31-Oct-10 12:00 PM Sounds good. It's about time the word got out that graduate school is a waste of time, especially in the social sciences and humanities. --Mike On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM, roig-rear...@comcast.net wrote: If you are in the middle of academic advisement perhaps this may useful to you: http://100rsns.blogspot.com/p/complete-list-to-date.html :-) Miguel --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tipsl...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fbn=Tl=tipso=6114 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-6114-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9n=Tl=tipso=6129 or send a blank email to leave-6129-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6132 or send a blank email to leave-6132-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
RE: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School
On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:26:09 -0700, Annette Taylor wrote in reponse to Prof. Michael Smith: Well, now that's an attitude that will generate job security for those of remaining in academia. But it won't do anything for students who really would like to aspire to become college professors! Or who just like life-long learning and knowledge generation. I saw no winky or other nonverbal cue that perhaps this was said tongue in cheek, so I am taking it at face value...perhaps I shouldn't. First, I think that Miguel was being ironic or simply humorous. Second, I think that Prof. Smith is not being ironic or humorous. One gets the impression that he is not happy with his career choices and his comments below reflect this attitude. I'm sure I will be corrected if I am in error. Third, we should always be cautious in advising students about graduate school (it can be a difficult experience even for the smartest student -- perhaps because they are so smart) and the possibilities of a future career. Some will complete the Ph.D. and go on to academia or non-academic research careers or clinical practice/research or leave the field completely and go into some other endeavor. Where one winds up depends upon the opportunities that are available to them and what decisions one makes. It should be made clear that certain options (e.g., becoming a college professor) are likely to be limited to people who have gone to graduate school. If that is the choice one has made, then one will have to learn to live with it. The decision should be one's own and not made by someone else or to please someone else. Also, tt may have to be pointed out how boring it will be for others if one makes the decision to whine about their decisions that they have made, such as going to gradaute school and/or going into academia, which they now regret. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu On Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:00 AM, Michael Smith wrote in response to Miguel Roig: Sounds good. It's about time the word got out that graduate school is a waste of time, especially in the social sciences and humanities. On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM, Miguel Roig wrote: If you are in the middle of academic advisement perhaps this may useful to you: http://100rsns.blogspot.com/p/complete-list-to-date.html :-) --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6133 or send a blank email to leave-6133-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
RE: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School
Mike Palij wrote in part in regard to the question of what we should tell our advisees who are contemplating grad school: Third, we should always be cautious in advising students about graduate school (it can be a difficult experience even for the smartest student -- perhaps because they are so smart) and the possibilities of a future career. When I served in an interim faculty member many years ago, one of the full-time faculty, who was talking about the candidates for admission that year that they used a double cut-off to make decisions about who they would review more carefully for admission to the program. When I asked him about it he said that there was obviously a lower level cut-off for students who were highly unlikely to be able to survive the rigors of a graduate program, and that the upper cut-off for students who would be too intelligent to put up with the BS part of the program. I don't know if he was telling the truth, but several other faculty agreed that what he said was true. I was young, then, and have believed that story to this very day. . Robert W. Wildblood, PhD Adjunct Psychology Faculty Germanna Community College drb...@rcn.com --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6134 or send a blank email to leave-6134-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] Toilet talk
I see that the BMJ (British Medical Journal, as it was once known) has come out with practice guidelines for bedwetting. Number one on the list (ok, pun intended) for intervention is the bell-and-pad method (aka enuresis alarm). This just happens to be arguably the very first behavioural treatment for a distressing psychological problem, going back to the Mowrers in 1938. And it works very well, as randomized controlled studies have shown. I believe that the use of this device is well-established, not only in Britain, but also Australia (where some years ago enuresis devices were rated by a consumer reports-type organization in their publication). But there has always been resistance to its use in North America, probably because of lingering Freudian nonsense about it being merely a sign of a deep-seated problem which must be treated rather than treating the bed- wetting behaviour itself. e.g. Recently the American comedian Sarah Silverman published an autobiography in which her trauma at experiencing untreated enuresis figured prominently. I do not believe she was offered treatment by enuresis alarm. Perhaps this BMJ article will encourage more use of it in North American. Probably not, it being a British publication. BTW, speaking of toilet talk, I can't believe that no one on this list reacted to my slipping in a mention of caganers among the things that men collect, in my recent post on collecting. If we can't have a little toilet humour on this list from time to time, what good is it, anyway? Nunes, V. et al (2010). Practice Guidelines: Management of bedwetting in children and young people: summary of NICE guidance. BMJ 341:c5399 Available free at http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c5399.full [NICE stands for National Institute for Helath and Clinical Excellence of the British NHS [National Health Service-- socialized medicine, oh, the horror, the horror]. Stephen Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca - --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6135 or send a blank email to leave-6135-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School
I think everyone knows the truth contained in the list; except perhaps people who have been grandfathered ;-). If you want a better version try this one: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7451115/?ref=nf --Mike On Sun, Oct 31, 2010 at 4:02 PM, Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu wrote: On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 12:26:09 -0700, Annette Taylor wrote in reponse to Prof. Michael Smith: Well, now that's an attitude that will generate job security for those of remaining in academia. But it won't do anything for students who really would like to aspire to become college professors! Or who just like life-long learning and knowledge generation. I saw no winky or other nonverbal cue that perhaps this was said tongue in cheek, so I am taking it at face value...perhaps I shouldn't. First, I think that Miguel was being ironic or simply humorous. Second, I think that Prof. Smith is not being ironic or humorous. One gets the impression that he is not happy with his career choices and his comments below reflect this attitude. I'm sure I will be corrected if I am in error. Third, we should always be cautious in advising students about graduate school (it can be a difficult experience even for the smartest student -- perhaps because they are so smart) and the possibilities of a future career. Some will complete the Ph.D. and go on to academia or non-academic research careers or clinical practice/research or leave the field completely and go into some other endeavor. Where one winds up depends upon the opportunities that are available to them and what decisions one makes. It should be made clear that certain options (e.g., becoming a college professor) are likely to be limited to people who have gone to graduate school. If that is the choice one has made, then one will have to learn to live with it. The decision should be one's own and not made by someone else or to please someone else. Also, tt may have to be pointed out how boring it will be for others if one makes the decision to whine about their decisions that they have made, such as going to gradaute school and/or going into academia, which they now regret. -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu On Sunday, October 31, 2010 10:00 AM, Michael Smith wrote in response to Miguel Roig: Sounds good. It's about time the word got out that graduate school is a waste of time, especially in the social sciences and humanities. On Sat, Oct 30, 2010 at 4:22 PM, Miguel Roig wrote: If you are in the middle of academic advisement perhaps this may useful to you: http://100rsns.blogspot.com/p/complete-list-to-date.html :-) --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tipsl...@gmail.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f4720fbn=Tl=tipso=6133 or send a blank email to leave-6133-13541.42a7e8017ab9578358f118300f472...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6136 or send a blank email to leave-6136-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
re: [tips] Toilet talk
On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:04:32 -0700, Stephen Black wrote: [snip] BTW, speaking of toilet talk, I can't believe that no one on this list reacted to my slipping in a mention of caganers among the things that men collect, in my recent post on collecting. If we can't have a little toilet humour on this list from time to time, what good is it, anyway? First, how DARE you use such a word on this list!?! Why, I would have missed it completely if you had not brought it up now. And now I had to look up the meaning of the dang thing. I didn't even know there was a word for such a thing. Second, for those of you who are like me and are unfamiliar with the term caganer, there is a Wikipedia entry on it with amusing pictures of examples. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer Third, I've had one girlfriend and a family member who were into collecting Christmas ornaments and cannot remember them ever referring to a caganer let alone having one. I've seen my share of Christmas nativity scenes over the decades and don't ever remember seeing such a figure in any of them. I will have to check out the creche at St. Patrick's cathedral in midtown though I have a feeling that I am more likely to see a caganer in Old St Patrick's cathedral in Little Italy. Fourth, what the hell is Canadian doing using a Catalan cultural concept? Bucking for the new cultural dude on Tips? ;-) -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6137 or send a blank email to leave-6137-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Toilet talk
Oh dear ... I have Catalan roots (actually, Ibiza; my father's side - Roig) and I totally missed it. Thanks, Stephen. I will have to get one of those. I wonder whether the caganer collector represents the quintessential anal retentive character. ;-) Miguel - Original Message - From: Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu Cc: Mike Palij m...@nyu.edu Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 7:08:58 PM Subject: re: [tips] Toilet talk On Sun, 31 Oct 2010 15:04:32 -0700, Stephen Black wrote: [snip] BTW, speaking of toilet talk, I can't believe that no one on this list reacted to my slipping in a mention of caganers among the things that men collect, in my recent post on collecting. If we can't have a little toilet humour on this list from time to time, what good is it, anyway? First, how DARE you use such a word on this list!?! Why, I would have missed it completely if you had not brought it up now. And now I had to look up the meaning of the dang thing. I didn't even know there was a word for such a thing. Second, for those of you who are like me and are unfamiliar with the term caganer, there is a Wikipedia entry on it with amusing pictures of examples. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caganer Third, I've had one girlfriend and a family member who were into collecting Christmas ornaments and cannot remember them ever referring to a caganer let alone having one. I've seen my share of Christmas nativity scenes over the decades and don't ever remember seeing such a figure in any of them. I will have to check out the creche at St. Patrick's cathedral in midtown though I have a feeling that I am more likely to see a caganer in Old St Patrick's cathedral in Little Italy. Fourth, what the hell is Canadian doing using a Catalan cultural concept? Bucking for the new cultural dude on Tips? ;-) -Mike Palij New York University m...@nyu.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: roig-rear...@comcast.net. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13482.917fac06d4daae681dabfe964ca8c74en=Tl=tipso=6137 or send a blank email to leave-6137-13482.917fac06d4daae681dabfe964ca8c...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6138 or send a blank email to leave-6138-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
[tips] More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention #2
Some subscribers to TIPS and TeachEdPsych might be interested in a post Re: More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention #2 [Hake (2010)]. The abstract reads: ABSTRACT: In response to my post Re: More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention EDDRA2's Keith Baker wrote : Bad fonts slow down reading which means that info has longer to get processed into long term memory which improves memory of the info. . . . . . . CP Snow was right. There is no need for physicists to reinvent the wheel psychology discovered 100 years ago if there is good education. Two points: 1. I wonder if Baker could tell us *what* he thinks C.P. Snow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._P._Snow was right about? 2. Regarding physicists reinventing the wheel psychology discovered 100 years ago: a. The article Fortune Favors the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects of Disfluency on Educational Outcomes [Oppenheimer et al. (2010)] was authored by *psychologists* at Princeton and Indiana University. b. Considering the probable insignificance of difficult-to-read fonts to higher-order learning relative to interactive engagement [Benezet (1935, 1936), Hake (1998a,b)], is the emphasis on fonts actually a flat tire rather than a wheel? - see the signature quote. To access the complete 12 kB post please click on http://bit.ly/cmFMZr. Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands President, PEdants for Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet (PEDARRII) rrh...@earthlink.net http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com http://iub.academia.edu/RichardHake It seems that in education, the wheel (more usually the flat tire) must be reinvented every few decades Lee Shulman, as paraphrased by the late Arnold Arons (1986, p. 24): REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 31 October 2010.] Hake, R.R. 2010. Re: More Difficult to Read Text Leads to Better Retention #2, online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at http://bit.ly/cmFMZr. The abstract and link to the complete post are being transmitted to various discussion lists and are also online on my blog Hake'sEdStuff at http://bit.ly/c040Lz. Oppenheimer, D.M., C.D. Yauman, E.B. Vaughn. 2010. Fortune Favors the Bold (and the Italicized): Effects of Disfluency on Educational Outcomes, online at http://bit.ly/cATcBK. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5n=Tl=tipso=6139 or send a blank email to leave-6139-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
Re: [tips] Collecting
On 31 October 2010 Mike Williams gave us My 2 cents on collecting […] Thanks, Mike, for all that interesting insider info on collecting (as against hoarding). (More like $2 worth!) I hesitate to mention horses again, but you could say this was straight from the horse's mouth. :-) Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org -- [tips] Collecting Mike Wiliams Sun, 31 Oct 2010 07:48:30 -0700 My 2 cents on collecting. I have a rather long comment because I have been a collector ever since I started a coin collection when I was 10. I now have a large collection of Japanese woodblock prints, original news photographs, original props and costumes from Star Trek and books and other ephemera related to the works of JRR Tolkien. I even maintain a website devoted to collecting, Tolkiencollector.com. I have interacted with numerous collectors and dealers through the years so I think I have a unique perspective as a semi-professional dealer and collector. First, there actually is a difference between a hoarder and a collector. Hoarders generally keep everything in their lives of any value because they want control over their domestic environment. There are no more hoarders who are collectors than there are collectors among the general population. A collector is usually motivated by desire to posses objects that represent an emotional connection between the object and the original experiences of the object or associated experiences. The dealers and auction houses refer to this as recognizable emotional value. Objects are associated with positive experiences and the object are desired. This is not hoarding. However, collecting can become a psychological problem when the collector becomes obsessed with being a completist. This is a collector who wants to have an example of everything possible and becomes far too involved in obtaining them. This kind of obsession is still not hoarding. Obsession is indicated when people run out of money during acquisition and when collectors can't sell their items. Ebay has actually reduced obsession by increasing supply. If I can't buy something this month, I know that it will eventually be available again on Ebay. Great collections are built by buying and selling. If a collector can't sell something, then obsession is likely. When it comes to gender, I have known many women collectors, and many women who are obsessive about collecting. However, my best guess is that the ratio of men to women is about 60:40. There are many women collectors ( watch them at the auction real life shows) but many more men. The content of their collections are different but there are many areas that overlap. For example, probably the most well-known Tolkien collectors are a husband/wife team, Christina Scull and Wayne Hammond. They have a collection that is amazing because they started early. Christina Scull edits a very detailed newsletter on Tolkien collecting and is presumably as involved in collecting as her husband. The point is that many collecting domains are shared by men and women. In my experience, men usually have larger collections than women. I associate this with a general interest that men have in objects and they also collect manipulatable objects, such as cars, motorcycles, calculating machines and cameras. Women tend to collect fine china, glassware, jewelry and dolls. These differences mirror the gender differences in the population. That being said, there are still a fair number of jewelry and glass collectors who are men. Although many of the Star Trek collectors are women, women tend to collect costumes and men tend to collect props. I have a theory that collectors are often interested in history. If you think of the great collections in museums, most take an historical perspective. Many collections have an historical time frame to them, especially coins and stamps. My collection of news photographs clearly stems from an interest in history. Finally, the person who mentioned that he has 15 guitars and she has 50 pairs of shoes, neither person is a collector. I have seven guitars but I don't collect them. Anyone who seriously plays guitar realizes that you need at least 5 to have a chance at mastering the instrument. Women need more shoes than men for the same reason that a guitar player needs more than one guitar. There is more fashion variability among women. Now, if she was collecting a pair of shoes from women leaders of the world, that would be a collection! Here is a link to part of my Star Trek collection. I generally focused on medical items. My key item is the blue lab coat of Dr. Beverly Crusher. The History channel did a documentary of the Christie's Star Trek auction. It was so popular that I had to buy tickets to the preview. While waiting in line, a crew from one of the New York TV
