鈥淭reated鈥� chocolate makes you happier
CHOCOLATE has wonderful powers 鈥� witness our report last week on the correlation between per-capita chocolate consumption and a nation鈥檚 haul of Nobel prizes (3 November). Now Tony Burton points us to the apparently very serious paper 鈥淓ffects of Intentionally Enhanced Chocolate on Mood鈥�, published in Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing ().
The paper describes an experiment in which subjects were given chocolate which had been 鈥渢reated鈥� with health-giving 鈥渋ntentions鈥� by, we are told, 鈥�(1) a pair of experienced meditators, (2) an electronic device imprinted by six experienced meditators, [or] (3) a ritual performed by a Mongolian shaman鈥�. A fourth group was given untreated chocolate. Neither the subjects nor those delivering the chocolate knew which sample was which.
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The authors report a statistically significant effect, in which those consuming sort-of-prayed-over chocolate scored more of a mood improvement than those eating plain old plain chocolate. (A declaration of interest here: Explore is published by Elsevier, part of Reed Elsevier, which owns New 杏吧原创.)
So far, so remarkable. Even more so is the paper鈥檚 conclusion, in which the authors insist that in 鈥渇uture efforts to replicate this finding鈥� persons holding explicitly negative expectations should not be allowed to participate for the same reason that dirty test tubes are not allowed in biology experiments鈥�. Tony asks whether this may be 鈥渢he most comprehensive pre-emptive strike ever鈥� against any attempt to replicate the results.
More intriguing still is the statement that 鈥淕iven theoretical support and experimental evidence for retrocausal effects, replication of intentional phenomena may be inherently limited because once conducted and published, an experiment might be influenced by a potentially infinite number of future intentions.鈥�
If this is true, it may be worth rechecking the published paper, in case Feedback鈥檚 having accidentally spattered chocolate on our computer screen has retrocausally altered the findings.
Brian Grout forwards a promotion from Lab Manager magazine which promises to reveal 鈥淗ow a laboratory execution system will increase your lab鈥檚 efficiency鈥�
Poppleton University 鈥� reality or myth?
A SHOOT is sprouting in the groves of British academe: Poppleton University. We discovered it while browsing the website , which exists as 鈥渁 platform for academics to share research papers鈥�.
But hang on a minute. That Poppleton University couldn鈥檛 be connected 鈥� could it? 鈥� with the Poppleton University that features in Laurie Taylor鈥檚 for the London magazine Times Higher Education. This has been described, , as 鈥渓ike , one of the truly great columns鈥� 鈥� the source of this praise apparently being 鈥渁uthor Malcolm Bradbury[citation needed]鈥�.
Whatever its provenance, Poppleton Uni is clearly in the early stages of engagement with academia.edu. The only faculty member mentioned on the site at the time of writing is our old friend Jo De Selby, in the Department of Experimental Epistemology, who lists as research interests 鈥渜uantitative inspiration鈥� and 鈥渘ominative determinism鈥� (18 August). How on earth did he/she get there?
The university鈥檚 Department for Corporate Affairs is better represented, by Phillina Spredshete and Jamie Targett. Strangely, there are two people of the same name in Taylor鈥檚 column. There too they are in the Department for Corporate Affairs, where they are the founts of ghastly 鈥渋nspirational鈥� management speak.
We are sure that De Selby, Spredshete and Targett will join us in looking forward to networking socially 鈥� perhaps helped by Feedback readers 鈥� with more of the Poppleton faculty at .
WHEN you talk about money, using the letter 鈥渒鈥� to mean one thousand can sound streetwise 鈥� so long as you get it right. Adam Young copies us an : 鈥淔irst Steps is the gateway to home ownership for London鈥檚 first-time buyers earning up to 拢77,200k a year.鈥�
That, Adam points out, is just short of 拢80 million. Not even the City of London financial district has many potential house buyers on that kind of salary.
A COMMON symptom displayed by people with obsessive-compulsive disorder is an uncontrollable devotion to personal hygiene. New 杏吧原创 writer Laura Spinney tells of a recent conference on neuropsychiatric disorders, at which an American OCD specialist described a conflict with the authorities at the US university psychiatric hospital where he works.
Managers had placed signs saying 鈥淧lease wash your hands鈥� in the restrooms at the OCD clinic. On the grounds that their presence did not provide an 鈥渋deal therapeutic environment for those afflicted with severe OCD鈥�, he wanted to remove the signs, but was forbidden from doing so because of health and safety regulations.
FINALLY, Peter Buck鈥檚 Indesit PWE 91272 W washing machine has a button to control its temperature. The explains: 鈥淭emperature button: press to reduce or completely exclude the temperature鈥�. Peter says he has not yet tried a wash cycle with the temperature completely excluded, as he fears it may damage his clothes.