Even though all participants had previously stated that they would pay money to avoid being shocked with electricity, 67% of men and 25% of women chose to inflict it on themselves rather than just sit there quietly and think, the team reports online today in Science.
That doesn't really sound all that conclusive to me.
True sensory deprivation? Tried a tank and VERY rapidly went from losing my mind to singing like Homer Simpson. If you had offered me the chance to get a pretty strong shock as a way to get out of that tube? I don’t care where you put the taser, just get on with it.
But doing a long drive or sitting on a mountain just staring at the world? That is my jam. I basically need to do that every few weeks to keep functioning at this point. There are still external stimuli, but no technology (well, music in the car). It is just an a fairly meditative opportunity to work through my thoughts and issues.
I often get on a flight from the east coast to the west coast and just stare at the seat in front of me. There’s too much to figure out about so many things. I crave alone time with no external stimulation, so weird to me that even 15 minutes would freak people out.
Vsauce actually did a real-life experiment on this in one of his videos, definitely worth a watch. Basically as long as the shock isn’t harmful, some people can see it as some stimulation to help boredom. If I left you alone in an empty room with nothing in it but that fake pack of gum that shocks you when you pull it out, chances are you will try playing with it even though you know it’ll shock you.
There’s only one way to find out, we gotta lock you in a room with nothing to stimulate your mind but a single pack of gum that will shock you every time. 10 bucks you shock yourself on purpose.
It’s not necessarily just being alone, it’s being alone with zero mental stimulation. There are lots of people happy be to alone with a computer or TV or books. Nobody can be alone without anything for more than a few days.
It’s kind of like saying “is it really true people have to sleep everyday?”
True, the article does specifically say people spent time doing nothing, and just thinking.
But this shocks me:
The researchers then decided to take the experiment a step further. For 15 minutes, the team left participants alone in a lab room in which they could push a button and shock themselves if they wanted to. The results were startling: Even though all participants had previously stated that they would pay money to avoid being shocked with electricity, 67% of men and 25% of women chose to inflict it on themselves rather than just sit there quietly and think, the team reports online today in Science.
Really a wtf moment for me. I take from this that most people think it’s painful to meditate as well, because that’s reflecting on your thoughts.
I may be looking at it wrong but there’s an odd flaw to me in the premise. I view “pay money to avoid being shocked” as something that is happening to you, out of your control. Pressing the button, regardless of the outcome, is something you are choosing to do and is most likely a result of curiosity and bordem.
I think a better approach would have been “if you push this button, the simulation is over and you loose”, and then see what people do.
Also, I think most people are curious. It’s not often you get a chance to electrically shock yourself in a safe environment where you know you won’t be injured.
This headline makes a ton of assumptions, namely that the ability to feel boredom means that you hate being alone with your thoughts. Of course people who are stuck in a boring ass experimentation room with no stimuli are willing to try out a minor shock. I wouldn’t be surprised if most people would even consider it a fun experience. I know I’ve thought about playing with tasers before.
Something like “think about your past and explain how you feel, or press this button when you want to end the experiment early at the cost of a shock” would at least be a relevant premise. This is just another benign experiment turned into doomer clickbait, and I wouldn’t let it paint my worldview.
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