If you want to sit in a room with me in total quiet i would be delighted. I got time
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This was my eleven-year-old school report summary…
ETA: Also 12, 13, 14, 15, 16…
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Ah, but do you immediately believe they’re telling the truth, and the WHOLE truth? Maybe there will or won’t be a shock, and maybe there will or won’t be a shock the second time, and maybe there will or won’t be a shock AND CAKE the third time, etcetera. People will do a lot of weird things if there might be cake. Certainly if the researchers have the budget to wrangle with an institutional review board long enough to get the experiment off the ground, they have a big enough budget there could be cake.
This is one of these times when a general Big Five personality traits personality test would be in order, to see how well idle self-zappiness correlates with other aspects of personality. Openness to new experience is the obvious one to expect, but humans are surprising enough that I wouldn’t put a LOT of money on it.
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Or maybe you just find you enjoy it?
More than you’d expect apparently, and sensations range far outside unpleasant to painful. Given the same voltage setting, a violet wand can give sharp and painful from a “pin point” conductor like a knitting needle or a tickling tingle with something that spreads the arc out over a wider area like the back of a metal serving spoon.
Personal sensations can also vary a lot, even with other factors remaining the same, just as reactions to capcasium can vary. By chemical reaction the only response we might expect would be unpleasant, but obviously a lot of people find the sensations enjoyable. (And of course you always find people that feel the need to push it for bullshit machismo purposes, but I think that’s outside the range of “enjoyment.”)
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Wow, that’s impressive. If you are even half-way good at mindful meditation, 6 to 15 minutes should be a breeze. When you just sit and pay attention to your body, thoughts, and environment, there’s a lot going on.
It looks like these are results from WEIRD college students. It would be interesting to see how results would differ by culture and age.
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Obligatory Soto Zen question: have you tried sitting and not thinking?
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It’s depression and PTSD for me. I have sat for hours silently staring at a wall because I felt unable to do anything sensible about my situation.
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Can I sit in here for 15 minutes and let the demons out?
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Back in elementary/Jr. High, I was part of a program at school that explored alternative and experimental teaching methods. We had a great teacher, and even though it was just one hour a week, we learned a lot. One semester, we studied biofeedback, meditation, and lucid dreaming.
Cue, about half-way through the semester, one of the school administrators looking for our teacher wandering into the class, and seeing the half-dozen or so of us sitting quietly, strange devices wired up to us, eyes closed and breathing slowly and deeply – until said administrator screamed “What are y’all doing!?”
That kinda broke the mood for us – I don’t really know why she was so upset, but she obviously couldn’t deal with a bunch of students just sitting quietly and apparently not doing anything.
Honestly, that one semester has helped me get through a lot of situations and stress, just knowing that I can lower my blood pressure, heart rate, and quiet my often chaotic mind so I can focus has been very useful.
I kind of wonder why that never caught on – I’ve known a lot of people who couldn’t disengage when distraught or upset, or who couldn’t deal with having to sit still for a while, even as adults. Then again, I’m not sure how many students would be able to resist the temptations – chatter, note passing, and the always hilarious 'let’s throw something at the kid who’s actually doing what we’re all supposed to do" would probably make any attempt to teach such techniques futile at best. It instead could well attract hostile interest from those who believe it to be against their religious beliefs, those who think it a waste of time and resources, and of course get hostile reactions from those who just don’t want students to be trained in how to control their inner selves.
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Fair!
But I still contend if it’s so you’re not alone with your thoughts, maybe talk to someone about it.
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Okay, if Aperture Science is conducting the tests, then curiosity could come into play. But so would self-preservation, so personally, I’d definitely not press the button…
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They don’t get to leave when they shock themselves. They just stay in the room shocking themselves to avoid their own thoughts. I find it desperately sad.
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I’m curious as to how long you have to leave the men until they shock their own penises.
Stop trying to trick me GlaDOS. I won’t fall for it, no matter what user-name you post under. There’s no cake, there’s never cake. The cake is a lie.
ETA: Nice try with the reverse psychology peer pressure posting as “Shuck.” Still not falling for it.
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If the penis fits in the device, then no time at all.
That’s not even worth betting on.
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Is there a variation where someone I do not know will get shocked, and I receive $200,000?
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An entirely sensible move, which gets you classed as a non-scientist
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Sounds about right.
Oh hey, did anyone look at the link?
Some guy shocked himself 190 times.
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We have several scientists in our family. I can confirm this. “What happens when I do this?” has really lead to some interesting conversations around the holiday tables.
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