ROGER SMITH

STAN AND ROGER

ROGER AND STAN

THE FINEST ACTOR IN AMERICA TODAY…

Forget Robert DeNiro. Reese Witherspoon, no way.

The finest actor in America is Roger Smith, the sexually ambiguous Alien on the Fox animated television show “American Dad.”

Roger Smith is an alien that was rescued from Area 51 by Stan Smith, CIA Agent and hero of American Dad.

Roger is a sarcastic, dissolute alien with a “Paul Lynde-esque” persona. As a member of the Smith Family, Roger brings contrast to Stan’s uber-Patriotism and cynicism to Hayley Smith’s youthful liberalism.

But it is Roger’s flexibility as a character actor that highlights his amazing breadth and depth. Roger, out of costume, is a gray alien with a bulbous head, large eyes, large feet, rotund body and man breasts.

But in costume and a toupee, Roger has been transformed into a Southern Plantation owner, gambler, slickster, and stock ”buddy" character to Stan.

Amazing? The Author thought the erudite and discerning readers of The Desert of the Real would appreciate the talents of Roger Smith.

ROGER CAN DRINK FROM THE AUTHOR’S CANTEEN IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!

Don't take Dope. Take Dopamine

[AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a repost of an article from January of 2006. The Author has been busy lately and has not had the time to prepare new material. That will change, however.]

AMERICANS ON DOPE?
NATURAL SELECTION TO BLAME?
EUROPEANS DO NATURAL HIGH?

One of the greatest things about doing economic analysis is that the Author stumbles on to the most amazing things. One of the most interesting is the developing field of economic psychology.

John Mauldin, in Thoughts from the Frontline[i], September 23, 2005, describes some research on Americans brains and high dopamine levels. Dopamine is a pleasure inducing brain chemical and it is associated with addictions and risk-taking behavior. And according to the research cited in Mauldin’s article, dopamine responds more to unpredictable rewards than predictable rewards.

Mauldin goes on to quote from Dr. Peter C. Whybrow, a psychiatrist and author of the book “American Mania”. Dr. Whybrow believes that the high incidence of dopamine-fueled Americans has created both a manic and dynamic society. More kicks, less stability.

DARWIN RESPONSIBLE?

Dr. Whybrow then links American’s high dopamine levels to migration and natural selection. Whybrow states that approximately 2% of any populations have enough dopamine to create the risk-taking behavior to migrate from their group. And since America is a nation of immigrants, and descendants of immigrants, those dopamine-fueled immigrants will create a population that is naturally selected for dopamine-induced behavior. Dr. Whybrow believes that perhaps 50% of Americans have these high-dopamine characteristics.

As most readers now, the Author is interested in the only scientifically tested and accepted basis for life on Earth. Evolution and Natural Selection. It is fact, in the sense that gravity is fact and Maxwell’s electromagnetism equations are fact. He is currently reading “The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution”, by preeminent biologist Richard Dawkins.

An interesting paragraph in the book discusses the work of D.K. Belyaev to systematically breed silver foxes for tameness[ii]. In only 20 generations, Belayev, by mating only the tamest individuals of each generation, produced foxes that behaved like pet dogs. 20 generations is only a blink of the evolutionary eye. And interestingly, these foxes had higher levels of the brain chemical serotonin. In humans, low levels of serotonin often cause depression.

DO EUROPEANS HAVE MORE SEROTONIN?

The Author doesn’t know, if Europeans have higher serotonin levels than Americans, but he knows that Americans take Prozac and other SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) like drunks swig booze. If the down-side of high dopamine levels is low serotonin levels, then America is likely a nation of depressed high-achievers. And Europeans could just be a happier lot.

That is it for the Author, a lover of high-performance motorcycles, fast cars, (formerly fast women) and stock day-trading. Another day, another shot of dopamine.

LIFE IN THE DESERT OF THE REAL!

[i] http://www.frontlinethoughts.com/printarticle.asp?id=mwo092305
[ii] Dawkins, Richard, “The Ancestors Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution”, pps.29-30.