Word: losers
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...comfort those burned by China shares, but our survey showed that markets in seven out of the eight countries posted gains during the year after the Olympics. (The big loser was Germany, where stocks fell 26%, while South Korea gained less than 1%). "Hopefully at some point this year, there will be an upswing in the [China] markets," said Paul Cavey, a China analyst with Macquarie Research. "What's needed is only a turn in sentiment." But that's dependent upon factors such as an easing of China's inflation rate, not on China's success in track and field...
...research was carried out during a relatively calm period in the markets. But consider what scientists call the "winner effect": two athletes preparing to compete against one another will both experience rising testosterone levels. After the race, though, only those of the eventual winner would continue to climb; the loser's falls. The winner thus gets a persistent boost in confidence and appetite for risk, which increases the same competitor's chance of winning again...
...betterment through reality is not only for the little people (or, as on The Biggest Loser, the big people). VH1, home of "celebreality" shows about the almost famous, has produced one of the most fascinating shows so far this year with Celebrity Rehab. Whereas the network's The Surreal Life brought D listers together to drink, flirt and fight under the same roof, Rehab was the corollary cautionary tale in which substance-abusing guests checked into an actual rehab facility under the care of Loveline's Dr. Drew Pinsky. As trashy as its concept was, Rehab's first season...
...doubtful that The Moment of Truth actually helps anyone (though the payouts could buy a lot of psychotherapy). We don't know if Supernanny improves anyone's long-term parenting, and there are no longitudinal studies to show if The Biggest Loser extends life spans. But like diet books that promise to keep off the fat forever (or until the next diet book, whichever comes first), these shows play off the American ideal of self-reinvention, the confidence that perfection is just one more makeover or 12-step program away...
Thus the common thread on these shows: there are no external circumstances you cannot overcome by improving your internal attitude. On The Biggest Loser, weight loss is about positivity, not genes; on Big Give, your ability to better yourself is limited only by your willingness to help others; on Gunn's and Kressley's shows, your problem is not in your hips but in your head. We want the shows, like the Wizard of Oz, to tell us that we had courage, brains and heart inside us all along...