Comments for Ray Woodcock's Current Thoughts

Comment on Proposed: Morality < Cleanliness < Self-Respect by Katie

Katie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:29:52 +0000

Hi Ray, Interesting commentary. I’ve never considered Windex or cleaning supplies as an indicator of socioeconomic status, so I don’t know whether the average consumer equates cleaning products with status (even if it were an associate of socioeconomic status, I might not expect the same pattern of results–other research indicates that high-status indicators incite consumption and self-interested behaviors). Regardless, the power of scent to influence emotions, memories and current behavior is pretty remarkable. For example, in addition to our research on clean scents and morality, there’s fascinating research that shows aversive smells incite aggression (interesting to pair this research and consider behavior in prisons, cities with poor sanitation, etc.). Smells have the special ability to conjure up memories, emotions, and even certain mindsets. So the theory is that cleanliness activates a moral awareness (per your second suggestion, we’ve conducted studies with visual cues and replicated the same pattern of behavior)–perhaps the most compelling evidence of this is that cleanliness cues not only influence moral choices, but can subconsciously activate moral concepts as well.

Comment on Proposed: Public-Private Worksharing by Mike

Mike — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:43:25 +0000

Just passing by.Btw, your website have great content!

Comment on Needed: Audiotaped Police Reports by looking4trth

looking4trth — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 14:52:46 +0000

Excellent Idea! However, there’s a reason, in some cases, that police reports don’t accurately convey the situation as it happened, i.e., my blog about the corrupt police dept. in my town. I record any conversations with these police and they change their reports to match LOL! Or, they plagerize it from my book if they never wrote a report. Any way you look at it, the legal system believes, unequivically, the police report, whether it’s accurate or not. Good luck getting that changed, but your idea is a worthy one.

Regards,
Looking4trth

Comment on Needed: Wish List Webpage by TyroneGlover

TyroneGlover — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:44:57 +0000

thanks,

Comment on Questions: What If It’s Not Just Parrots? by Mitch Rezman

Mitch Rezman — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Don’t doubt for a minute these creatures not only think but can actually plan events

Comment on Needed: Wish List Webpage by FedericoDuran

FedericoDuran — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:22:29 +0000

cool links, thanks!,

Comment on Proposed: The Internet Library Circulation Department by Roman

Roman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:05:31 +0000

So then how do we burn-em or do we just effectively “un-publish” them?
And a database to-die-for too?

Comment on 2120 Hindsight: The Life Expectancy Gap by Roman

Roman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:48:33 +0000

You can almost feel it approaching so let’s play with some variables now!
Very interesting, if ominous look forward.

Comment on Contrarian Position: The Poverty Paradox by Aditi

Aditi — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:26:13 +0000

I truly agree with consciousness awakening part of the post.!
People rating poverty as poor from their hearts is the first step towards any revolution to be taking place..

The Millennium Development goals of the UN..works this principle..!
They want people to think..question themselves and then come forward to their bit in the cause..!
It has being doing enormous efforts on these lines….
This year UN will be shifting its focus on India, with Stand Up and Take action event and getting many hands together to fulfill the 8 goals…
Be updated….with the latest happeningss..
http://www.orkut.co.in/Community.aspx?cmm=47234928

Comment on Question: Do Animals Cross in Front of Cars for Protection? by R

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:22:37 +0000

This is an interesting phenomenon that I have also pondered, because often in rural areas and suburbs, there are no cars on the road most of the time, so the animals can cross the street safely. However, many animals are seen ran over by cars and drivers often encounter animals darting in front of their cars. Also, do you notice cars stop for geese with chicks so they can crossly safely on the streets? This suggests that geese cross only when they see cars coming. At first I thought the animals, especially squirrels and rabbits, cross in front of cars for protection like you said, but it doesn’t make sense when much larger animals cross the same way. Instead, I think the animals cross the roads because of the will to follow a seemingly existent, unwritten, and natural law that all wild animals follow, which is to not trespass marked territories (call this the Natural Law of No-trespassing). After million years of evolution without humans, the paved roads for cars are a new comer to the environment that animals must adapt, but instead of thinking it’s just another part of nature like grass or sand that they can walk on, animals think the roads are the territories of cars and humans. Just like bears never go after the prey that hunters slain, even though they can easily overpower the humans, they still wait patiently at a safe distance for the humans to take what they could and leave before going after the carcass, so too the animals think they can only pass on roads under the observance of drivers in cars. Animals are smart enough to know that cars are not alive, but operated by humans, and that as long as the people are in cars, there is no way they can harm the animals outside. When the animals see a car approaching, they will observe the eyes of the driver to see if he’s watching, and if animals think the driver can clearly see them when they cross, they will assume the driver will stop for them and not continue driving (sadly this is often not the case). If you observe closely, you will notice that the animals will stay still on the side of the road if you don’t stare or look at them directly (if you do, they will dart across no matter how close the car is). If the animals do cross, if you take your eyes off them and look at the road ahead, the animals will either stop immediatly to let you pass, or run faster with more urgency and confidence across the street. The best thing to do while driving and avoiding animals jumping in front of you is to look at the road as far as the eye could see and pay no attention to the sidelines. If the animals do cross in this situation, it will be far enough away so you have time to react and slow down. It might just often be the case that street kills are often the result of less experienced drivers who often look at the road not far ahead of them and constantly peering at the sidelines, this just gives the animals a reason to cross in front of the car.