We've all seen the optical illusion with two lines where we're asked which is longer. It's been around so long most of us have seen it numerous times before. Here it is again:
The two lines are the same length, but many people get it wrong the first time.
The article titled Are These Lines The Same Height? Your Answer Depends On Where You're From contains an interesting excerpt from a book by Adam Alter titled Drunk Tank Pink: And Other Unexpected Forces That Shape How We Think, Feel, and Behave. Via Presurfer
Apparently, individuals in some African bush tribes aren't fooled by the illusion. Scientists explain that it's because their environment doesn't have many straight lines or right angles, so they aren't conditioned to put things into the same perspective as someone accustomed to the architecture prevalent in Westerner countries.
While that one is interesting, the next one is a knock out. Which of the three lines in the box below is the same length as the line in the target box?
If you said line "C," you're right. However, this experiment was staged in a room in which all but one individual had been previously instructed to pick one of the wrong lines. The test was to see if the individual would go along with the crowd or stick to his guns.
Everyone reading this post would probably have stuck to his/her guns. However, rather amazingly, 30% of Americans who took this test gave up on the right answer and went along with the others. Excerpt:
Across hundreds of trials, Asch found that roughly 30 percent of all American participants conformed, responding with the same manifestly incorrect “Line B” response that the others in the room delivered, one after another. This result is powerful because it shows that although Americans generally place a premium on the individualistic values of uniqueness and self-reliance, they still succumb to the pressures of social influence.
There's a good lesson there. Politicians instinctively know this group-think phenomenon and use it quite successfully. For example, most of us know that getting into debt over our heads is a bad thing. However, there are otherwise smart people who say that a nation can take on as much debt as it wants because the nation can print money. That's wrong, and most people know it. However, if enough people conform to this group-think then we're headed for trouble.
The one redeeming aspect of the results of that experiment is that at least Americans didn't seek conformity to as great an extent as people living in collectivist societies.
4. Lack of Vision. There are many popular ways that Internet services allow you to communicate with others. Some are mostly used to keep up with friends and family. Others are for meeting new people or at least asking some questions and getting advice and information. Here are a few of the popular ways people communicate through Internet services.
Posted by: Cheathemo | March 31, 2013 at 07:08 PM