Comments on: 5 psychological experiments that humanity is doomed. https://habitablezone.com/2012/08/10/5-psychological-experiments-that-humanity-doomed/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:15:13 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: bowser https://habitablezone.com/2012/08/10/5-psychological-experiments-that-humanity-doomed/#comment-17301 bowser Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:28:36 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=19884#comment-17301 We were to wear I-s one day and II-s the next and so on. Meantime the pair we weren't wearing was to be shined. All of us wore our I-s, and maintained them minimally. We kept our II-s shined in case of an inspection. At a surprise inspection the one guy in the barracks who had done it right, followed the book, was wearing his II-s, had his I-s shined. That was the correct timing. The instructor, who realized it was all BS and hadn't kept correct, or any, track, gave him hell and extra duty. The guy grumbled to us, but took it all well, and went on to be a good officer. We were to wear I-s one day and II-s the next and so on. Meantime the pair we weren’t wearing was to be shined. All of us wore our I-s, and maintained them minimally. We kept our II-s shined in case of an inspection.

At a surprise inspection the one guy in the barracks who had done it right, followed the book, was wearing his II-s, had his I-s shined. That was the correct timing. The instructor, who realized it was all BS and hadn’t kept correct, or any, track, gave him hell and extra duty. The guy grumbled to us, but took it all well, and went on to be a good officer.

]]> By: alcaray https://habitablezone.com/2012/08/10/5-psychological-experiments-that-humanity-doomed/#comment-17292 alcaray Sat, 11 Aug 2012 05:46:51 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=19884#comment-17292 They get used for all sorts of stuff. They get used for all sorts of stuff.

]]> By: Jody https://habitablezone.com/2012/08/10/5-psychological-experiments-that-humanity-doomed/#comment-17282 Jody Sat, 11 Aug 2012 02:08:04 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=19884#comment-17282 Heh...alcaray was a test subject... Heh…alcaray was a test subject…

]]> By: alcaray https://habitablezone.com/2012/08/10/5-psychological-experiments-that-humanity-doomed/#comment-17256 alcaray Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:37:18 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=19884#comment-17256 The question was administered by an attractive female assistant. She handed me a circular metal disk about the size of a silver dollar and had me hold it by thumb and one finger placed on opposite edges (hmmm... I wish I could pantomime this) so it could be pivoted end for end on that axis. I was instructed to look away from it while I spun it. I was shown a diagram of 4 shapes varying from a circle to an extremely squashed oval. I was told that most people experience a perceptual hallucination that made the circle feel elongated when spun in this way. And then I was supposed to choose which of the 4 shapes described what I perceived. She seemed to be a bit persistent in trying to convince me that what I felt was more elongated and less circular. After taking the test, and thinking about it I decided they were really studying the effect of sexual influence on the subject. As I recall, I chose not the circle, but the one next to it - the least squashed of the ovals. Honestly, it didn't feel much like a circle or an oval, because of the limited contact with my fingers holding it and turning it. But also honestly, it did not seem more like an oval than a circle. So, I must have been in the somewhat influenced category. I prefer to think of it as chivalry. The question was administered by an attractive female assistant. She handed me a circular metal disk about the size of a silver dollar and had me hold it by thumb and one finger placed on opposite edges (hmmm… I wish I could pantomime this) so it could be pivoted end for end on that axis. I was instructed to look away from it while I spun it. I was shown a diagram of 4 shapes varying from a circle to an extremely squashed oval. I was told that most people experience a perceptual hallucination that made the circle feel elongated when spun in this way. And then I was supposed to choose which of the 4 shapes described what I perceived. She seemed to be a bit persistent in trying to convince me that what I felt was more elongated and less circular.

After taking the test, and thinking about it I decided they were really studying the effect of sexual influence on the subject. As I recall, I chose not the circle, but the one next to it – the least squashed of the ovals. Honestly, it didn’t feel much like a circle or an oval, because of the limited contact with my fingers holding it and turning it. But also honestly, it did not seem more like an oval than a circle. So, I must have been in the somewhat influenced category. I prefer to think of it as chivalry.

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