Ever wondered if a situation arose in which you could inflict a great deal of pain on another human being for no apparent reason, would you take it?
50 years ago an experiment was conducted by Stanley Milgram, measuring the willingness of participants to obey an authoritative figure dressed in white coat that instructed them to illicit shocks on another human being, called the learner.
Basically, the participant was told to shock a man if he failed to answer a series of questions correctly, with the shocks getting severer with each incorrect answer. Now, what must be pointed out is that the learner was in on the game and was in reality not privy to the shocks. Still, the experiment found 65% of people involved were willing to administer the 450- volt shock despite exclamations, shrieks and a real belief that the learner was suffering.
When I first read of the experiment I remember feeling surprised; however, I must admit I thought the experiment was a product of the time. I’ve always believed the experiment was only successful because it was undertaken in the ‘60s when society was largely more submissive than today.
This week, that theory has been proven irrevocably wrong.
On Wednesday night, a French television programme was aired featuring a similar type social experiment. In “The Game of Death” participants believed they were contestants on a pilot game show. The game involved zapping a fellow contestant if he/she got questions posed wrong.
In a radical turn of events and a personal blow to my ego, 80% of contestants administered 460- volt shocks after being spurred on by the game- show host.
This would suggest that today’s society has a far greater chance of being influenced by outside factors than the 1960’s. Further, Milgram’s experiment was conducted by a stern lab -technician, whereas the ring- leader on Wednesday night was a giddy glamorous game- show host. Before you protest on the grounds that the selection of contestants may have been bogus consider that audience members, also believing the game to be real, spurred on the contestant to administer shocks, exclaiming: “Punishment”.
I guess today’s society could be influenced by television to a far greater extent than one is comfortable admitting.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
TigerGADE
Gatorade may have dropped Tiger Woods after numerous illicit affairs became public knowledge but that didn’t stop his face appearing on 100 bottles of the energy drink in Denver, Colorado.
Pop art is most certainly not dead and the newest guerrilla artist is particularly miffed by a certain multi- millionaire- golfer being dropped from yet another endorsement deal.
100 bottles of Gatorade were branded with a unique label featuring a picture of Tiger Woods, his wife and the caption ‘Unfaithful’ over the weekend.
It seems that Gatorade were not happy with all the free publicity and the artist or friend of the artist, Jason Eric Kay, has been arrested and could face a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Not one to shy away from the limelight, Kay, sent a letter to the manufacturer offering to go on tour placing his labels on Gatorade bottles worldwide. As if that wasn’t enough to land the 38 year old in hot water he actually printed his email address on the offending labels.
Apparently the reason for the AHEM bold move was an attempt to imitate the style of pop art legend Andy Warhol. There are certainly similarities to be made. One of Warhol’s most famous paintings was a repeated image of 100 green Coca Cola bottles.
Andy Warhol’s 100 green bottles of coke can be viewed as a comment on our consumer society.
Warhol famously said of the painting “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, and you know it.’’
So what exactly was Kay supposed to be showing? That everyone can drink Gatorade and in turn become a rich golfer with a string of extramarital affairs. Oh the similarities between Kay and Warhol are uncanny.
If this prank does nothing else it may make billion dollar companies think before they drop Tiger Woods again.
Pop art is most certainly not dead and the newest guerrilla artist is particularly miffed by a certain multi- millionaire- golfer being dropped from yet another endorsement deal.
100 bottles of Gatorade were branded with a unique label featuring a picture of Tiger Woods, his wife and the caption ‘Unfaithful’ over the weekend.
It seems that Gatorade were not happy with all the free publicity and the artist or friend of the artist, Jason Eric Kay, has been arrested and could face a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Not one to shy away from the limelight, Kay, sent a letter to the manufacturer offering to go on tour placing his labels on Gatorade bottles worldwide. As if that wasn’t enough to land the 38 year old in hot water he actually printed his email address on the offending labels.
Apparently the reason for the AHEM bold move was an attempt to imitate the style of pop art legend Andy Warhol. There are certainly similarities to be made. One of Warhol’s most famous paintings was a repeated image of 100 green Coca Cola bottles.
Andy Warhol’s 100 green bottles of coke can be viewed as a comment on our consumer society.
Warhol famously said of the painting “What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, and you know it.’’
So what exactly was Kay supposed to be showing? That everyone can drink Gatorade and in turn become a rich golfer with a string of extramarital affairs. Oh the similarities between Kay and Warhol are uncanny.
If this prank does nothing else it may make billion dollar companies think before they drop Tiger Woods again.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Major cuts, public uncertainty and mass opposition; B- DAY IS UPON US.
Few were surprised at Wednesday’s Budget, we had all expected major cuts in the severest budget since the Celtic tiger. Public sector, child benefit and dole payment cuts had all been outlined and very much opposed in the weeks prior to B-day. Still, the reality of Wednesday cuts deep.
Many public sector worker wages are being reduced by 4%+ and sacrifices will have to be made. For many Christmas will be a daunting period and this is very real.
The fact that child benefit is to be cut across the board is strange and unusual. The very practice of offering the rich and highly paid the same benefit as the poor or average joe is a joke. The Government has said that means testing is virtually impossible but surely an institution with access to an abundance of information on each citizen and has the means to means- test and allocate college grants can do the same for child benefit. The suggestion that this is impossible is naïve.
Probably, the greatest shock was that nothing was being prepared for graduates. There is no certainty that recent graduates will have a job. Rather, they are being forced to re-train, as what? No one is sure, or take a cut in social welfare. In fact these graduates look set to face an up- hill battle. Not to mention being combined with a totally new pool of graduates if and when the economy picks up.
The Government had to make some severe choices given the state of the economy but a lot more has to be done.
Many public sector worker wages are being reduced by 4%+ and sacrifices will have to be made. For many Christmas will be a daunting period and this is very real.
The fact that child benefit is to be cut across the board is strange and unusual. The very practice of offering the rich and highly paid the same benefit as the poor or average joe is a joke. The Government has said that means testing is virtually impossible but surely an institution with access to an abundance of information on each citizen and has the means to means- test and allocate college grants can do the same for child benefit. The suggestion that this is impossible is naïve.
Probably, the greatest shock was that nothing was being prepared for graduates. There is no certainty that recent graduates will have a job. Rather, they are being forced to re-train, as what? No one is sure, or take a cut in social welfare. In fact these graduates look set to face an up- hill battle. Not to mention being combined with a totally new pool of graduates if and when the economy picks up.
The Government had to make some severe choices given the state of the economy but a lot more has to be done.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Twilight- the madness continues
Twilight- the madness continues
With the recent release of The Vampire’s Assistant, True Blood and Daybreakers it seems the Vampire craze is set to continue its hold over the world and leading the pack is the Twilight saga. So did its second instalment, New Moon, leave us thirsty for more or running to the nearest coffin for cover?
The sheer volume of shows programmed at Storm Cinemas Naas, a total of 29 a week, not to mention the screening of the first enstalment prior to New Moon on its opening night did not prepare me for the madness I was to endure. Arriving at the cinema was surreal, hundreds of girls dressed in Twilight t- shirts were prone to screaming ‘team Edward’ or ‘team Jacob’ at a given moment and the fact that we had to queue for half an hour before entering the theatre didn’t seem to phase them one bit. Unfortunately, this was the most intriguing part of the movie experience.
One of the main faults is the extent with which the movie keeps to the original novel. The movie is slow paced and can be little enjoyed by those un- familiar with Stephanie Myers’ novels. The film is inconsistent, at one point we see Vampire Alice drive to Italy from America; the action is minimal, the entire action is confined to a single scene that looks Matrix esk and heartthrob Rob Patz is absent for most of the film apart from a few comical ‘visions’ of him thrown in to keep Twihards happy. Further, Our protagonist Bella is completely defined by her love for her Vampire Edward, which leaves the Bellla stale and lifeless. Once Edward leaves, Stuart is forced to play a one- dimensional character who does little besides mope and pout. Anyone who has had the pleasure of watching ‘Into the Wilde’ will realise that this banality is more to do with Myers’ lifeless prose than Kristen’s acting ability.
However, there are some redeemable qualities, particularly the character development of Jacob Black. Taylor Lautner comes into his own in this film, proving the directors were right to keep him on. Watch out for the scene in which he answers Edward’s phone call, adding an interesting twist.
In all, true Myers’ fans will adore this movie, not to mention those of us who like the occasional shirtless hunk, which this film is riddled with.
With the recent release of The Vampire’s Assistant, True Blood and Daybreakers it seems the Vampire craze is set to continue its hold over the world and leading the pack is the Twilight saga. So did its second instalment, New Moon, leave us thirsty for more or running to the nearest coffin for cover?
The sheer volume of shows programmed at Storm Cinemas Naas, a total of 29 a week, not to mention the screening of the first enstalment prior to New Moon on its opening night did not prepare me for the madness I was to endure. Arriving at the cinema was surreal, hundreds of girls dressed in Twilight t- shirts were prone to screaming ‘team Edward’ or ‘team Jacob’ at a given moment and the fact that we had to queue for half an hour before entering the theatre didn’t seem to phase them one bit. Unfortunately, this was the most intriguing part of the movie experience.
One of the main faults is the extent with which the movie keeps to the original novel. The movie is slow paced and can be little enjoyed by those un- familiar with Stephanie Myers’ novels. The film is inconsistent, at one point we see Vampire Alice drive to Italy from America; the action is minimal, the entire action is confined to a single scene that looks Matrix esk and heartthrob Rob Patz is absent for most of the film apart from a few comical ‘visions’ of him thrown in to keep Twihards happy. Further, Our protagonist Bella is completely defined by her love for her Vampire Edward, which leaves the Bellla stale and lifeless. Once Edward leaves, Stuart is forced to play a one- dimensional character who does little besides mope and pout. Anyone who has had the pleasure of watching ‘Into the Wilde’ will realise that this banality is more to do with Myers’ lifeless prose than Kristen’s acting ability.
However, there are some redeemable qualities, particularly the character development of Jacob Black. Taylor Lautner comes into his own in this film, proving the directors were right to keep him on. Watch out for the scene in which he answers Edward’s phone call, adding an interesting twist.
In all, true Myers’ fans will adore this movie, not to mention those of us who like the occasional shirtless hunk, which this film is riddled with.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Horrendous child benefit cuts
By any ones’ estimation December’s budget shall be interesting.
The Government has threatened to cut child benefit by 20- 25%. This is hardly surprising considering the state of the economy. However, what is surprising is that this is to be a straight- cut, across all households. It is unreasonable to suggest that poorer households should suffer as great a cut as richer ones.
The Sunday Tribune, 25/10/2009, quoted a senior source ‘You can forget about taxing or means testing it.’ Efforts of this nature are proving ‘horrendously complicated.’ Horrendously complicated? Both the social welfare system and allotment of student grants are based on means testing systems. Of course these have no doubt proven imperfect but are preferable. The only thing that is horrendous is that a means- test- system had not been introduced earlier. It makes as much sense to give houses of unequal wealth the same assistance as it does to reduce in equal amounts
The Government has threatened to cut child benefit by 20- 25%. This is hardly surprising considering the state of the economy. However, what is surprising is that this is to be a straight- cut, across all households. It is unreasonable to suggest that poorer households should suffer as great a cut as richer ones.
The Sunday Tribune, 25/10/2009, quoted a senior source ‘You can forget about taxing or means testing it.’ Efforts of this nature are proving ‘horrendously complicated.’ Horrendously complicated? Both the social welfare system and allotment of student grants are based on means testing systems. Of course these have no doubt proven imperfect but are preferable. The only thing that is horrendous is that a means- test- system had not been introduced earlier. It makes as much sense to give houses of unequal wealth the same assistance as it does to reduce in equal amounts
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Outcry over Stephen Gaetly article spurs highest number of complaints over a single article in BPCC history
Over the weekend, the British press complaints office was so overwhelmed with complaints, a hefty 21,000, against Moir’s Stephen Gaetly article that it crashed for several hours. While readers and critics alike were right to use this forum as a response to the unequivocal ‘gay-bash’, the cynic in me feels that it probably only served to highlight this article and thus drive traffic to the daily mail website. Moir herself seems to understand this, adding fuel to the fire with her statement “ I think it is mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones” The fact that her statement was un- remorseful and claimed that assertions such as “The circumstances surrounding his death are more than a little sleazy” and “Another real sadness about Gately’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy- ever- after myth of civil partnerships” are not homophobic will only succeed in fuelling the outcry further and driving even further traffic to the website.
Further, it is interesting that the complaints only caused advertisers to pull their ads from that given page. Meaning that they did not want to hurt the papers’ revenue but also, did not want to be associated with the negativity surrounding the article. I would have thought any one would have been jumping at the chance to advertise on the page spurring so much traffic.
I would recommend reading Charlie Brooker’s article http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/16/stephen-gately-jan-moir
Further, it is interesting that the complaints only caused advertisers to pull their ads from that given page. Meaning that they did not want to hurt the papers’ revenue but also, did not want to be associated with the negativity surrounding the article. I would have thought any one would have been jumping at the chance to advertise on the page spurring so much traffic.
I would recommend reading Charlie Brooker’s article http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/16/stephen-gately-jan-moir
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The sham that is Dublin airport
A couple of friends and I had the pleasure of visiting Dublin airport last Friday. We had decided to fly Ryanair and spend Î60 less on our Edinburgh trip. In a further attempt to keep costs down, and like the majority of passengers on our flight, we had decided to side- step the ridiculous luggage charge and carry ours on flight. Now, the Dublin airport website says that the allowance for carry on luggage is … At no point was my bag or anyone else’s weighed but those carrying little wheelie bags had to put them into a stationary box of 55cm x 40 cm x 20cm.
The woman in front of me was able to put her bag into the compartment but as she had to thug hard on the bag to get it back out she was charged the Î30 to put the bag in the under compartment. Surely if the bag fit into the slot it met the airlines’ requirements. Further, this rather time- consuming and painful experience was left to the optimum moment when we were boarding the plane.
Also, the fact that the baggage requirements apply solely to items brought in to the airport is ridiculous. That is, that I can only pack a maximum of 10kg but can purchase as much shampoos, aerosols, razors, clothes etc etc at the airport without affecting my carry- on allowance. Is it just me or does this sound like an elaborate ruse to increase airport purchases.
On, our way back we were sure all bags would be heavier as we had purchased an exceptional amount for such a short trip and were ready to take clothes out of the bags and onto ourselves if deemed necessary. To our disappointment Edinburgh airport’ staff did not way anything and all our plotting and planning became redundant.
My advice, travel from anywhere but Ireland, but if you absolutely must travel from Dublin airport be sure to chose a non- discriminatory, double strap rucksack type.
A couple of friends and I had the pleasure of visiting Dublin airport last Friday. We had decided to fly Ryanair and spend Î60 less on our Edinburgh trip. In a further attempt to keep costs down, and like the majority of passengers on our flight, we had decided to side- step the ridiculous luggage charge and carry ours on flight. Now, the Dublin airport website says that the allowance for carry on luggage is … At no point was my bag or anyone else’s weighed but those carrying little wheelie bags had to put them into a stationary box of 55cm x 40 cm x 20cm.
The woman in front of me was able to put her bag into the compartment but as she had to thug hard on the bag to get it back out she was charged the Î30 to put the bag in the under compartment. Surely if the bag fit into the slot it met the airlines’ requirements. Further, this rather time- consuming and painful experience was left to the optimum moment when we were boarding the plane.
Also, the fact that the baggage requirements apply solely to items brought in to the airport is ridiculous. That is, that I can only pack a maximum of 10kg but can purchase as much shampoos, aerosols, razors, clothes etc etc at the airport without affecting my carry- on allowance. Is it just me or does this sound like an elaborate ruse to increase airport purchases.
On, our way back we were sure all bags would be heavier as we had purchased an exceptional amount for such a short trip and were ready to take clothes out of the bags and onto ourselves if deemed necessary. To our disappointment Edinburgh airport’ staff did not way anything and all our plotting and planning became redundant.
My advice, travel from anywhere but Ireland, but if you absolutely must travel from Dublin airport be sure to chose a non- discriminatory, double strap rucksack type.
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