Heavy Thoughts
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Scientists consider some pretty weighty matters.
Having heavy thoughts? That could be good!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Dutch psychologists wondered what gives our opinions weight. Could it be ... weight itself?
To find out, they gave subjects questionnaires asking them to estimate the value of various things.
The super-sneaky experimental catch? The questionnaires were distributed on either light or heavy clipboards.
And turns out, the heft makes a difference!
One experiment asked subjects to guess the worth of currencies like Japanese yen and Swiss francs. And what
do you know: subjects holding heavy clipboards thought the currencies were worth more than folks carrying light clipboards.
In another experiment, subjects were asked to rate the importance of student input on a hypothetical university issue. Subjects with heavy clipboards ranked the input as being more important.
In two further experiments, heavy clipboarders again rated objects as being more important than light clipboarders did.
The researchers conclude that gravitational pull not only shapes people's bodies and behavior, but influences their very thoughts.
And yet why are today's $50,000-a-year college diplomas so light? Makes you think, doesn't it? Heavily.
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