Book: "Contagious" by Jonah Berger

This book is not my biology or sci-fi reading and not about viral infection (e.g. "Hot zone", "Outbreak"). It is about social spreading of a content, like viral videos and something popular; widespread rumors, urban legends and effective advertising.

I have wondered the same question. Why things catch on and become popular? That's why I picked up this book.

The author proposes that there are six factors for the contents to catch on.

1. Social currency    It makes you look good or cool. Or it's remarkable.
2. Triggers               It's reminded, then talked.
3. Emotion               It provokes emotional response (e.g. makes you feel good.)
4. Public                   It is seen popular. Many others are involved in it.
5. Practical value     It is useful.
6. Stories                  It comes in story.

In the epilogue, they did have a chart to summarize all these. Potential application is, so that you may be able to design something that is more likely to become popular.

Is it possible? I don't know. But having a strategy to rely on is usually a good thing.



"Everyone is trying to sell something" is a view in contemporary marketing. That something can be anything. Insurance agents try to sell insurance to the uninsured or the insured by other companies. Scientists try to sell the utilities of their ideas to granting agencies. Job interviewers try to sell their service to employer. Tweeters try to sell their tweets to potential new followers. Evangelicals try to sell their version of Christianity to non-Christians. 

[Previously I met an evangelist guy who assumed I am non-Christian, and started preaching for 10 minutes non-stop, with his proclamation of  "Jesus died for you" sounding as if some kind of finishing blow in anime battle. His preaching was well-practiced (with a prop card, smooth delivery and all), but I had to say it didn't work so well. Selling something to someone who is not on the market is usually hard. I digress.....]


I know some will say it is a mocking view. But it is a view with certain convincing power, nonetheless.

With this background, having a mental framework to see popularity and the reason may aid your own selling and may have a practical value. That may be a reason for this book to have been a bestseller.

Dance: Well defined moves are much better than half-a**ed ones

Some time ago I wrote about how to look good instantly on the dance floor (at least when you are not moving).

5/3/2015, "Dance: Look Good Instantly"


This entry is to complement the entry. It's a part of hints for "how to move well".

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When I dance Tango with an advanced followers, one thing I notice first is that it is easier to dance with her than less advanced followers.

It's common among many dances. Dance with untrained and unpredictable dancers is usually difficult. From a leader's standpoint, only experience on troubleshooting and correction can help to dance with untrained and unpredictable dancers, and it takes time to develop the sense for troubleshooting.

Advanced dancers follow solidly. She will do ocho when she is led an ocho. Once we get used to each other, she might even "dance" ocho in the latter half of the Tanda.


The impression of "solid follow" comes from how "well-defined" her moves are performed.


Let's take ocho as an example. She takes a side step and shifts axis. Once her weight transfer is complete, she collects her feet. On her new axis she pivots. Then she takes another step with her moving leg nicely stretched, her foot finds a new landing point, she gets ready to stabilize herself, then shifts weight,....

All these processes are done without cheating or rushing. She takes her time, yet as a whole the processes flow smoothly one after another.

Execution of the each step is done solidly. When she is doing that, I call the state as "she is doing "well-defined" moves".


When you watch Tango in a milonga, you can see followers doing well-defined moves, and followers not doing them.

When she is not doing well-defined moves, her moves look half-a**ed, and the dance does not look as good as it could. 

You can find which one of the couple is responsible for the sorry state. Maybe it is her, rushing herself, or reversely, not responding to the flow of momentum and being late. Or maybe it's him, not supporting her, or rushing her weight shift so she has no time to do it gracefully.

A first aid? Slow down and take your time. Follow the music. Both of you.


If you feel your Tango is stagnant or not getting better as much as you like, check how well defined your moves are. Break down the moves into processes. Usually you are cheating somewhere, like you do not collect your feet nicely, or initiating next step without shifting weight completely, or  using arm connection to push/pull your partner instead of moving your upper body as a unit, or ...(this list can go on). And the "cheated" part is affecting your entire dance.

If there is a problem, divide it and conquer.


Once you learn well-defined moves, that means you have acquired the skills for on spot dance diagnostics. When you have skills for dance diagnostics, you can complement and correct the cheated part to improve the dance.

I don't recommend you to preach and teach your partner in a milonga at all. But if you become obviously good, your partner may ask you an advice. When your partner seeks advice and is willing to listen, you can give a comment or two.

Advanced dancers don't think about all these processes and steps when they dance. They internalized good habits, and don't have to think about them. But if required, they can explain them (or, a pro can, and an amateur may or may not. It's a difference between a pro and an amateur). Good dancing is a habit. How you build your good-looking habit is the question you can focus on to be a good dancer.

["Westerner and Arab practicing geometry 15th century manuscript" by Anonymous painter,15th century]

Life:" Do not do useless things (Musashi Miyamoto)"

Musashi Miyamoto was a famous swordsman in 17th century "war time" Japan. During his life he won over 60 duels, including the one against entire Yoshioka martial arts school with 50+ swordsmen and the one against another genius swordsman Kojiro Sasaki.

There is a book Musashi wrote in his late years, "the book of five rings（五輪書）". The book is a unique classic.

One phrase I particularly like from the book is, "Do not do useless things".


I admit, it is hard to define what is useless and what is useful in life.

But sometimes I feel my judgement in action. "Duh, this is useless". Remembering Musashi's phrase, I change the course.


We can categorize our actions into two; consuming and creating. 

When I am watching TV, reading books, gaming and shopping, etc, I am consuming and acting as a consumer of time, energy, and/or money.

When I am working as a scientist, writing manuscripts, generating information, or doing something that produce results, I call the acts creating.

And I generally see creating is more useful to others (except for the money I pay) than my consuming. They are opposite direction; input and output of something useful.

It is easy to consume. Capitalistic culture encourages consumption and it's everywhere. In contrast, unless you actively learn how to create, creating something of value does not come naturally.



After many life or death duels, Musashi was pragmatic. It makes a good contrast to spiritualism and philosophies that swordsmanship and martial arts picked up later on. 

When I remember Musashi's words, I am reminded of checking whether I am doing useless things or not.

[Musashi Miyamoto]

Dance: Imagine her skeleton

It's Friday evening and I went to a summer street event, "Passion in the Plaza". They taught Hip Hop and Argentine Tango to anyone who were interested.

I was watching Hip Hop instruction. There were like 20 people. Some were good, others were not as much, a few were...unique. Doesn't matter who's good or not. They were having fun, and I was enjoying watching happy dancers.

Hip Hop is a very visual dance. Learning is basically imitating the instructor. "One and two, three and four, step step, sway, hop, punch, and slash, left walk, right walk, hop, heel, heel,....."  these call outs were learning aid, but you wouldn't know how the moves would be by the call outs alone.

Then came Tango. They taught a modified basic 8 counts. 1-2-3-4(cross/pause)-5(uncross/walk forward)-6(side step)-7 and 8 (in place weight shift).

It was amusing to see a good Hip Hop guy (sort of) struggled in the partner dance.

Maneuvering his own body is one thing, maneuvering partner as a couple is another. Actually it's entirely different business. Lead-follow-based partner dance has very different working principles from solo dances.



To get the Tango to work, a helpful tip for the leader is, "imagine her skeleton".

Lead-follow in partner dance is done through frame, a structural connection between the lead and follow (putting the visual lead aside). And her structure is mainly supported through her bones and skeleton.

Thus, I say "Imagine her skeleton". 

By doing it, you are visualizing her power train, and imagining an effective way to drive her body.

A major part of Tango lead is axis specification, then rotation/pivot of the axis. From a Tango lead's standpoint, the flow is like, "specify her axis, support and stabilize the axis, and pause, suggesting her to do her embellishments, then move on to next step,...".

Right. It can be mechanical.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for emotional, great feeling dance. But I am also a firm believer for skills and techniques. And if you want to be good in a relatively short time, taking your time in focusing on skills and techniques is necessary.

This "imagine her skeleton" can work with many smooth dances, in which you hold her closely. In Latin dances, sure it can work, but not as much as in a smooth dance.

Her bones and skeleton are very much involved in good body coordination and good looking posture.

Leaders. Next time you try Tango, imagine her skeleton. It may sound so un-romantic, but you'll learn how to drive your partner faster.

Book: "Hirohiko Araki's Manga Techniques"

While in Japan for two and a half weeks, I picked up 10 Japanese books and read them. Reflecting my preference for something practical or useful, they were mostly books that are educational and written by (or about) someone who has some kind of skills.

Among them was "Hirohiko Araki's Manga techniques" (荒木飛呂彦の漫画術). The book happened to be published newly on 4/17/2015 and was a top seller in the 5/15/2015 week.

Hirohiko Araki is a famous Mangaka (Comic artist) in Japan. His most successful Manga series, "JoJo's bizarre adventure [wikipedia link]", have secured a place in Japanese pop culture. As a casual reader, I like many of his Manga.

[JoJo's bizarre adventure]

"Oh, so he is disclosing his secrets?" was what I thought when I picked up the book.

And the book did not disappoint. He disclosed his secrets in a great detail.


Like any other artists (painters, musicians, dancers, etc), all practices by Mangaka are held backstage. What we as general public see are only products or final results. He writes about the backstage efforts and his thought process to create a popular Manga.

His main medium had been "Shonen Jump", a weekly Japanese Manga magazine notorious for the rigorous use of reader's feedback to determine whether the Manga can continue or is discontinued and replaced by another Manga. There were a lot of thoughts went in to survive in the harsh and competitive environment for a mangaka. Although his manga (e.g. "JoJo") tended to be considered as an oddball among other mangas in the magazine at the time (e.g. "Dragon Ball", "Fist of the North star"), he claims that his manga is not artful or indie kind. They are designed to be popular and represent an "authentic" or "standard" manga, he says. He wishes his readers to learn the know-how to create a "gold standard" manga.

The chapter titles include;

How to create the first page that readers take interested
How to make stories, and big no-nos in story-making
How to visualize something that you cannot normally see
Four basic elements in manga
How to create a character
Critical factors in drawing 
Main character/hero should always "go up"
Worldview in comic
Learn from Hemingway
      ...........

This book is full of interesting thoughts for creating a manga and of insightful observations.

"Drawings by Akira Toriyama (of "Dragon Ball") represent a great blend of symbolization and reality."

"Character-driven manga can go out of date, because a character is tied to the zeitgeist."

""What you want to create""why you want to create" are the most important things for a mangaka. With "create because it sells" attitude, you will hit the wall, will tragically lose passion and will go astray as a creator."

   ................


Of course his techniques are mainly for Manga, a unique art form. But some of his thoughts can be applicable for other media or art forms.

Although I have no desire to be a Mangaka, the thought process written by a popular creator in the industry was quite interesting. That much great information in only $8. I love reading.



This book was published only recently, and no English translation is available yet. The book should be a good challenge for a student of Japanese language. But if you are interested in creating Manga, it would be worthwhile to read this.

[the Book cover]