You Get What You Pay For

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Want a sugar pill to work really well? Charge more for it.

A study published on Tuesday shows the well-known "placebo effect" works even better if the dummy pill costs more.

Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University in North Carolina, and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tested 82 volunteers.

All got a light electric shock and were offered what they were told was a painkiller.

Half were given a brochure describing the pill as a newly approved painkiller that cost $2.50 per dose and half were given a brochure describing it as marked down to 10 cents.

Writing in a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Ariely and colleagues said the effects were unexpectedly strong.

Eighty-five percent of volunteers who thought they were getting a $2.50 pill said they felt less pain after taking it, compared with 61 percent of those who thought they were getting a discounted drug.

The results fit with other studies that show charging more for something makes people value it more. But Ariely said the combination with the placebo effect was especially interesting.
"The placebo effect is one of the most fascinating, least harnessed forces in the universe," Ariely said in a statement.

That is F***ing Weak!

Annual cost of attending CMU soars past $50,000

" 'I'm more interested in the quality of what Carnegie Mellon is all about than being embarrassed about the cost or trying to justify the cost,' [Carnegie Mellon's vice president for enrollment] said."

Bite me.

When Clipart Falls into the Wrong Hands

Yep. Not just one person, but an entire organization thought this was a good idea. I found this little clip-art genocide at the bagel place I go to in the mornings.

I'm actually thinking of getting an inexpensive road bike to go to and from work. It would save me gas money, but also would be a good workout. It would also buy me a few points with the 'Frisco eco-snob club. Oh, and did I mention that its always beautiful here?

Metaphoric, Literal Signs

I get quite a sense of satisfaction that the highway signs I see twice daily say "San Francisco, Eureka!" Okay, the ! isn't actually there.

Eu-re'-ka (interj.):

Used to express triumph upon finding or discovering something.

Housekeeping

Shortest month of the year produces the most posts. Go figure.


This website is now accessible via http://www.jasonscottread.com/


Hopefully that's more convienent than the blogspot address. I had been using that URL as yet another redirect to my design website, but I think 4 is quite enough for that.


The last of the cross country pics are now up on facebook. I've still got pics from Alcatraz that I'll go through and post soon. They won't be as good as Dale's, but on the otherhand, they'll actually see the outside of their SD card :-P

Architecture as Inspiration

The architect's name is Calatrava, and I recommend taking a look at some of his projects. I actually recently visited one of his works, without knowing whose it was at the time, and it was sheer brilliance.

Critical Mass

Today was an excellent day. I got my first Lightswitch paycheck, I got a great compliment from the senior architectural lighting designer there, and I spent the entire day working on lighting network layouts for a new roller coaster. Maybe I should explain that last one... this is the first time EVER that I have actually contributed something tangible to what will be a major theme park attraction. Its a big step, and it feels very good to be here.

I would say today might be the day I achieved critical mass out here.

It was October when I first began hatching plans to... euphamistially speaking here... 'improve my educational situation.' And today is also a little sweater with the knowledge that it is also a big day for the person I had those plans with.

Let it be etched in positerity that, fittingly, this is the night that the last shot of the Patron Anejo was had.

Strange

Is it just me. Or does everyone else also feel like the average attention span on this continent just sky-rocketed?