Believing You Are Very Good Or Evil Boosts Your Physical Capabilities 192
Research by Kurt Gray, a doctoral student in psychology at Harvard, shows that a person's capacity for willpower and physical endurance increases if they perceive themselves as good or evil. "Evil" acts in particular give a person a large boost in physical strength. From the article: “'People perceive those who do good and evil to have more efficacy, more willpower, and less sensitivity to discomfort,' Gray said. 'By perceiving themselves as good or evil, people embody these perceptions, actually becoming more capable of physical endurance.' Gray’s findings run counter to the notion that only those blessed with heightened willpower or self-control are capable of heroism, suggesting instead that simply attempting heroic deeds can confer personal power."
Re:Playing your alignment? (Score:3, Insightful)
I hate to go all Godwin on you, but isn't the best example of evil in the past 100 years a perfect example of 'lawful evil'?
Re:Old as dirt. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Playing your alignment? (Score:3, Insightful)
Chaotic is Conan running into a crowd of enemies whirling his sword. Chaotic is 'V for Vendetta' disrupting the machinery of the 'lawful evil' society around him. Chaotic is the Unibomber.
The Nazi war machine was a well organized, disciplined army running on precise rules. The rule of law was despicable, but a rule of law nonetheless.
Ah, the science of misinterpretation (Score:5, Insightful)
IMHO they missed the mark on this one.
It's not about good or evil, it's about catering to the ego's sense of importance.
Speaking from personal experience, if I am going out of my way to commit a personal sacrifice in the name goodness, then my sense of importance becomes expanded for the duration of the act.
For example, if you're running a marathon for a charity you believe in. Suddenly, you may find the wordly measurements of your physical endurance to be exhibiting increased levels.
Are you a super human? No.
You're just willing to grit your teeth and take a little more pain. Because it's *important* and what you're doing is *important* and the ego just eats it up.
Re:Midichlorian testing to come soon (Score:3, Insightful)
Midichlorians may simply be organisms that are capable of exerting heretofore unknown forces in the universe or modifying the interactions of currently known forces (suppressing, increasing, reversing them, whatever). Plants, for example, seem to use quantum entanglement as a part of photosynthesis, according to some recent news stories I've read - why couldn't there be other organisms out there that take advantage of other quirks of physics?
Or maybe they're organisms that have evolved that feed on force energy, and their presence in someone's body isn't giving them the force, but simply a way of getting an idea of whether or not they're strong with it. For example, white blood cell counts are used as a way of inferring whether or not someone has an infection. I think this is a more probable explanation, as, given the fact that Vader lost both arms and legs and was *still* phenomenally powerful, the midichlorians in his arms and legs were probably not contributing to his power.
Personally, I don't think the force needed to be explained, but I don't think that the explanation they gave was as much bullshit as people seem to think.
I'm with you, though, in that I think stories that try to explain why certain features of their universe work tend to really wind up underwhelming. Let magic be magic - we were perfectly OK for 20+ years with the idea that Jedi are basically magic, why spoil it with something mundane?
Re:So being netural is the worst chocie then? (Score:3, Insightful)
OLIVER: How hard was it to remind neutral during World War II?
MAURER: Well, I think this is always a debate and I think we do make a clear distinction between our neutrality as an instrument of foreign policy and what we think as individuals and what the country thinks.
OLIVER: But then, the neutrality issue seems complicated. Now obviously, Hitler did some very bad things, we know that. How do you focus on the positive things to balance that out?
MAURER: It's not a question of positive. It's a question of our neutrality has always been a state-driven concept of not participating in war.
OLIVER: Was there not just a little voice of humanity inside you saying this is terrible, we should really do something about it?
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MAURER: As a question of principle, it's unadvisable for a country as small as ours to participate in war. Why should we?
OLIVER: So: Easy to take a position on neutrality, hard to take a position on Hitler.
MAURER: We did take strong positions on Hitler and many other things. We didn't participate in the war. That's two different things.
OLIVER: [imitating Hitler] "Would it be possible for me to keep my gold here?" [Imitating the Swiss] "Ah, Adolf! Of course! Lovely to see you again. Come back in! What have you been up to? Actually, don't tell me, I want to be able to say I don't know."
[uncomfortable pause]
OLIVER: Is this neutral anger, or real anger, Mr. Ambassador?
Re:Playing your alignment? (Score:3, Insightful)
seriously dude, just pick up the phone, give her a call, and ask her out. It's Summer, go for a walk in the park, picnic, bring some wine if you're old enough.
Don't play the just friends shit either, specify it's a date. If she's not interested, fine, move on to another one.
Re:Playing your alignment? (Score:3, Insightful)
Eh, sex is part of it, a fantastic part, but not the whole.
"Move on to another one" is the advice I give to "nice guys" who are absolutely fixated on one girl, especially one who clearly isn't interested in them and\or doesn't even know they exist. This is a tremendously common problem.
Even if you're looking for love above all else, why would you waste your time on someone who isn't interested in you?
Re:Playing your alignment? (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, bullshit. Women do want a man who is self-confident. Being self-confident is not the same as not being "nice". Grow a sack, learn how to communicate directly irl, learn how to not be doormat for women, and maybe you'll be taken seriously by one.
Re:Midichlorian testing to come soon (Score:3, Insightful)
The explanation is bullshit. We are supposed to believe that this blaster having, light speed exceeding, strong AI using galactic society can not figure out and duplicate the 'quirk of physics' embodied in midichlorians? The explanation is magical precisely because it can not be duplicated or even explained technologically by a sufficiently advanced civilization.
Re:Midichlorian testing to come soon (Score:3, Insightful)
Which is pretty much the response you'd get right now, today.