For this literate, word-loving chronicler of the world he sees around him, acting offers different stimuli.
And sugar and alcohol are clearly supernormal stimuli, so we're continuing to debate and adjust our rules and societal norms about who gets unfettered access to them, what good limits are, and how often these things should appear in a "good life".
I'm not that sort of human. 1 Transform the meaning of stimuli "It sounds like a heavy phrase but what does it mean?" says Walter Mischel.
Smart gels contain water or some other fluid within a matrix of chain-like polymer molecules, and respond to changes in temperature, light, and various other forces and stimuli with dramatic changes in size or shape.
Pondering these questions, I'm reminded of the philosopher Daniel Dennett's thinking on "supernormal stimuli".
Whatever the answer, the nuanced position on supernormal stimuli isn't "ban them all" but "let's think carefully about how we want to live with them".
The second flight, a long one, took half a day (or, strictly speaking, all night), in my temporary abode stashed under my human's stockinged feet (those wretched olfactory stimuli).
That put paid to the visual stimuli, sure, but I was left all alone.
In the absence of such stimuli, history suggests that catch-up will be a long, difficult grind, built on slow improvement in institutions and worker skill levels.
Unlike some other economic stimuli, these benefits tend to get spent quickly on consumer goods.
"The brain design of the movie agents focuses on how they will react to particular stimuli and situations, such as deflecting an incoming battle axe, and finding an enemy," says Ms Holland.The result is Massive Insight, a software package that makes it possible to create agents and program their behaviour preferences using simple graphical tools.
