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for July, 2010.
By mthomas
The following is from the BPS research digest. This view of personality is quite limited but probably contains some ‘truths’ about bloggers and their choice of words. It would be interesting to analyse by topic too; perhaps wine bloggers tend towards a specific personality type. I always think that wine language is peculiarly idiosyncratic, elaborated (in terms of being a code) and often alienates people.
See if you can identify the Psychologist (pictured left) given the post below.
You can tell a person’s personality from the words they use. Neurotics have a penchant for negative words; agreeable types for words pertaining to socialising; and so on. We know this from recordings of people’s speech and from brief writing tasks. Now Tal Yarkoni has extended this line of research to the blogosphere by analysing the content of 694 blogs - containing an average of 115,000 words written over an average period of about two years - and matching this with the bloggers’ (predominantly female; average age 36) answers to online personality questionnaires.
Some commentators have suggested that the internet allows people to present idealised versions of themselves to the world. Contrary to that idea, Yarkoni found that bloggers’ choice of words consistently related to their personality type just as has been found in past offline research.
More neurotic bloggers used more words associated with negative emotions; extravert bloggers used more words pertaining to positive emotions; high scorers on agreeableness avoided swear words and used more words related to communality; and conscientious bloggers mentioned more words with achievement connotations. These were all as expected. More of a surprise was the lack of a link between the Big Five personality factor of ‘openness to experience’ and word categories related to intellectual or sensory experience. Instead openness was associated with more use of prepositions, more formal language and longer words.
The sheer size of the data set at Yarkoni’s disposal allowed him to look not only at links between personality factors and broad word categories (as past research has done) but to also zoom in on the usage of specific words. Among the most strong and intriguing correlations were: Neuroticism correlated with use of ‘irony’ and negatively correlated with ‘invited’; Extraversion correlated with ‘drinks’ and negatively correlated with ‘computer’; Openness correlated with ‘ink’; Agreeableness with ‘wonderful’ and negatively correlated with ‘porn’; and Conscientiousness correlated with ‘completed’ and negatively correlated with ‘boring’.
‘The results underscore the importance of studying the influence of personality on word use at multiple levels of analysis,’ Yarkoni concluded, ‘and provide a novel approach for refining existing categorical word taxonomies and identifying new and unexpected associations with personality.’
Yarkoni, T. (2010). Personality in 100,000 Words: A large-scale analysis of personality and word use among bloggers. Journal of Research in Personality, 44 (3), 363-373
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2010.04.001
By mthomas
Pictured left is the cork from a bottle of 2005 grand cru Riesling made by a good producer in Alsace. I am not naming and, potentially shaming, because this can happen to anyone using corks. I am assuming that it is not a systemic issue for the maker and that the whole production was not tainted. The upside is that it was from the Wine Society and, following a brief phone call, a replacement is on its way. I can also rest easy that they are unlikely to put the boot in to the supplier the way some of the supermarkets are reported to.
The cork has an obvious flaw in it and the musty smell was a particularly good example! I let my sons smell it (without priming them) and both described it in unpleasant terms. I also got them to smell another white (admittedly not a Reisling) which elicited much more flattering descriptors. The youngest had a particularly strong response to the taint and is generally sensitive to odours. Our threshold for detecting TCA is usually a few parts per trillion but this can vary by several orders of magnitude depending on each individual’s sensitivity. I have a friend who is particularly sensitive and bemoans it as a curse. If there is one glass on a table with it, he says that it taints all the others he tastes. Detection is complicated by quick habituation to TCA, making the smell less obvious on each subsequent sniff. It can therefore pay to go with first impressions.
I wish I could taste a bottle of the same wine that had been screw topped. Riesling can age well under a screw cap and cork taint is not an issue but there is an aesthetic pleasure in pulling a cork that I would greatly miss if it disappeared completely. Cork producers do need to diversify and improve product reliability though. The costs to makers and consumers is significant. Corks are unlikely to disappear at the top end of the market though. They are associated with notions of quality and authenticity and there should be a demand for good quality corks for a long time.
By mthomas
I went to Bar Boulud the other day for a very pleasant lunch. Chef Daniel Boulud is renowned for his traditional French cuisine and was recently awarded three Michelin stars for his New York restaurant. He is one of an increasing number of big name successful US chefs opening eateries in London. Reviews have been good and I can see why.
The Bar Boulud menu is based on French charcuterie served alongside seasonal bistro cooking. Situated in the basement of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge (formerly the old Hyde Park Hotel), it has its own separate entrance and is a slick operation. The set menu at lunch and between 5.30 - 7 pm is £20 and an absolute steal for cooking of this quality.
Chop-chop salad with lobster and Oysters fin de claires were fine to start but the charcuterie tasting board and DBGB ‘piggie burger’ (cooked perfectly medium-rare as requested) were outstanding. If there is a better burger in the UK I haven’t eaten it. The drawn pork, ’slaw’ and home made bun complimenting a succulent and perfectly formed thick pattie of top quality ground beef. The charcuterie is also outstanding and a terrine based on Moroccan lamb tagine was beautifully spiced and memorable for good reasons.
Daniel Boulud favours the Rhone and Burgundy and this is reflected on the list, which is strong and has a good choice by the glass as well as top-end bottles for four-figures. Sommelier David Vareille suggested Domaine des Neuves Roches (website here) Saumur Champigny 2009 made by Thierry Germain (one to watch in his own right). Unfiltered young Cabernet Franc, pleasingly ‘cloudy’, aromatic and bursting with red and black fruits. Served chilled it was a great foil to richness of burger and charcuterie. I have written previously about wines from the Loire which are increasingly reliable and excellent value. In the hands of a skilled maker, like Germain, Cabernet Franc can excel.
My only criticism, and it took some thinking to identify a downside, would be the slightly ‘hotel’ feel to Bar Boulud. You could be anywhere in the world and so it did not really have a London feel to it and could become quite staid. Even so , this is a great addition to Knighsbridge and I guess, even in these tough times, it will thrive because it gets the basics right.
Bar Boulud, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA, Telephone: 020 7201 3899
By mthomas
Got back last night from great writing and sailing trip to Greece. There were five of us on our boat (two other psychologists, skipper Pete and my very good friend Paul, Mike the Barrister and Roy who created and writes ‘New Tricks’ for the BBC) and seven on the other boat (skippered by Pete’s brother John) who we affectionately referred to as ‘The Hobbits’ due to their diminutive size compared to us 6 footers. We had a new Bavaria 45 (pictured to the left) which handled beautifully and has plenty of space. The trip was superb and along the way we also took in some great Greek culture including plenty of wines.
We left Athens and did a roundabout trip taking in most of the Saronic islands and some of the mainland towns such as Epidavros. A highlight was mooring in the notoriously difficult Hydra (pictured right) after the rescue of a French family. They had snagged their anchor on an electrical cable and Pete dived down over 5 metres to release it. He is an absolute legend and with Mike, Paul and Roy, was fantastic company.
In between the sailing I managed to read, and make notes on, William Younger’s opus; Gods, Men and Wine. It was a work of love he completed following a stint working for the intelligence services during the war. The introduction sets the tone to this learned and fascinating history of wine;
“Wine suffers a heaving birth. It has a rough, groping childhood. It develops into adolescence. Then if it does not sicken, it matures: and in this it is almost human since it does not mature according to a fixed rule but according to the law of its particular and individual personality. The act which gives it personality is the act of fermentation. In this metamorphosis it is changed from fruit into animal: sometimes even an animal of splendor.”
It was great to read about wines in antiquity whilst visiting some of the places mentioned. The section on wine and the Romans is incredibly insightful and informative, and some of the illustrative plates fascinating in terms of aesthetics and content. If you can get hold of a copy it is one of the great wine books.
As for the wine we drank… I am a lover of Greek wines but found the majority of the bottled wines available on the islands were overpriced and poor. However, we ate out most evenings and the house rosé in most tavernas was consistently enjoyable and very cheap. No-one ever seemed to know the grapes but it was fresh, light and perfect for the food and climate. Usually, but not always, quite dark for rosé, it was good to support local producers who, like many Greeks, are having a tough time. We often left carrying a couple of litres (mineral water bottles refilled) which we subsequently drank at lunch the next day, after a sail and swim, over one of Roy’s miraculous lunches whilst moored off a secluded cove. Bliss.
At times I found myself reflecting on how life must have been for the Greeks on these islands thousands of years ago. Wine had important functions in terms of religion, economics and culture but was also ‘medication’, nourishment and entertainment. I like to think the wine I drank was pretty close to some of those they had enjoyed and, in many ways, beneath the veneer of modernity and sophistication little has changed.
Younger, W. (1966) Gods, Men and Wine The Wine and Food Society
The following is from the BPS research digest. This view of personality is quite limited but probably contains some ‘truths’ about bloggers and their choice of words. It would be interesting to analyse by topic too; perhaps wine bloggers tend towards a specific personality type. I always think that wine language is peculiarly idiosyncratic, elaborated (in terms of being a code) and often alienates people.
