People Would Rather Give Themselves Electric Shocks Than Be Alone With Their Own Thoughts

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http://www.newscientist.com/article...mptation-of-electric-shocks.html#.U7hclfldWSo

Idle minds succumb to temptation of electric shocks
Desperate for some downtime? Be careful what you wish for. Many of us dislike being left alone with nothing to do but think, and would be happier self-administering an electric shock than sitting idle.

Timothy Wilson of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and his colleagues wanted to find out whether letting your mind wander is a pleasant experience.

In a series of experiments, people were told to sit still and do nothing but think. The participants not only found the experience unpleasant, they also opted to give themselves mild electric shocks, possibly to relieve the boredom.

The volunteers received the shock once before the experiment, so as to quell their sense of curiosity. And they didn't seem to like it much – saying they would pay money to avoid receiving it again.

Nonetheless, when left alone, 67 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women chose to voluntarily zap themselves.



The women did it on average 2.3 times during the session, which lasted between 6 and 15 minutes, and men 1.5 times – excluding one sensation-seeker who was so compelled to experience the shock he administered it no less than 190 times.

The team reckon the gender difference might be because men are generally more inclined to seek sensation.

Bored senseless
"This tells us that it's very hard for people to kill time with just their own thoughts and that it may be a normal human function to avoid doing nothing and to instead entertain ourselves with action," says Wilson.

"I believe that the mammalian brain evolved to engage with the world – looking for opportunities, avoiding dangers, and solving problems. Human beings, as far as we know, are the only species who are also able to turn their attention away from the external world and just think for extended periods of time, but the fact that the mind evolved to engage with the world may place limits on our ability to do this," he says.

But the results may have been partly down to the artificial set up. For a start, the very nature of letting your mind wander is that it drifts off on its own. Sitting in an experimental setting with an electric-shock generator might not be a fair representation. The set-up, especially the fact that participants were told to sit still, may have made people feel distracted and uncomfortable, saysJonathan Schooler, who studies the wandering mind at the University of California in Santa Barbara.

Daydreamers
But he does think there is a need to better understand those people who didn't struggle with the task. After all, much has been made of the benefits of allowing the mind to wander – for instance, it can help to generate creative insights.

Wilson agrees and will now begin to investigate simple tasks that might help people to slip off into daydreaming mode more easily.

"With the number of times in our daily lives that we have downtime, having negative thinking experiences during those times can add up to a lot of stress," Wilson says.

Indeed, says Jay Segal of Temple University in Philadelphia, if a person's mind is constantly reacting to input, the body can get tired, and that's when stress becomes a problem. Introspection is a chance to let the mind relax and get the system back to a physical and emotional balance, he says.
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observe

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Ok,,but humans run on electricity..anyway..Bruce Lee used to shock himself to build up his muscles..electricity is your friend,,the universe is electricity also..
 
C

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Nonetheless, when left alone, 67 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women chose to voluntarily zap themselves.
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Two thirds of men and a quarter of women. That's a hell of a lot different than saying that 'people' in general would rather give themselves electric shocks than be alone with their thoughts. If substantially more western whites than southeast asians chose to shock themselves, this fool would then make generalities based on western whites and ignore the southeast asians' results.

What's Mr. Timothy Wilson look like?

image002.jpg



Yep. Die off already.
 
ryshy

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tmonster said:
it shows a certain threshold of average American neurosis
this can be leveraged in many ways in marketing and behavior modification
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how do we know that though wheres the evidence that these findings have anything to do with neurosis? are we talking hand buzzer shock or a bad static shock? If i was bored id probably do it alot for fun. If you put me in there without the shocker id still be fine. From what ive read about neurosis i dont see how it has anything to do with this or advertising
 
tmonster

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silver said:
how do we know that though wheres the evidence that these findings have anything to do with neurosis? are we talking hand buzzer shock or a bad static shock? If i was bored id probably do it alot for fun. If you put me in there without the shocker id still be fine. From what ive read about neurosis i dont see how it has anything to do with this or advertising
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:merchant:ok you right
 
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