Today I Will Improve Your Sex Life

I’m reading a great book called “Influence: Science and Practice” by Robert B. Cialdini. It’s full of research and anecdotes about how to influence people. It’s a real eye-opener.

One of the most potent forms of persuasion has to do with people’s innate need to be consistent. Studies show that people will ignore logic and information to be consistent. (In other words, we are moist robots.) According to the research, humans are hardwired for consistency over reason. You already knew that: People don’t switch political parties or religions easily. What you didn’t know is how quickly and easily a manipulator can lock someone into a position.

For example, researchers asked people to write essays in support of a random point of view they did not hold. Months later, when surveyed, the majority held the opinion they wrote about, regardless of the topic. Once a person commits an opinion to writing – even an opinion he does not hold – it soon becomes his actual opinion. Not every time, but MOST of the time. The people in these experiments weren’t exposed to new information before writing their contrived opinions. All they did was sit down and write an opinion they didn’t actually have, and months later it became their actual opinion. The experiment worked whether the volunteers were writing the pro or the con position on the random topic.

Most of the truly stupid things done in this world have to do with this consistency principle. For example, once you define yourself as a loyal citizen of Elbonia, you do whatever the King of Elbonia tells you to do, no matter how stupid that is. And your mind invents reasons as to why dying is a perfectly good life strategy.

This research provides a surefire method for readers of the Dilbert Blog to improve their sex lives. Go down to the local mall with a clipboard and pretend to be doing a research experiment. Offer $1 to attractive people who will write a paragraph describing how incredibly sexy you are. (Based on the research, you should offer a low dollar amount so people don’t think they did it entirely for the money.) Tell participants that the research has to do with handwriting analysis of people who are writing opinions they do not believe. Stop after you get 100 people to do it. That’s less than the cost of one meal at an upscale restaurant.

Give the participants your e-mail address and tell them they can get the results of the research study in a month if they contact you. According to the science, about two-thirds of the people who wrote a paragraph on your sex appeal will strongly believe it a month later, no matter how hideous you are. And a few of those people will remember to e-mail you for the results. You’ll still have to close the deal, but I think we can agree that I just did the hard work for you.

You’re welcome.

[Note: Comcast still hasn't fixed my Internet connection. And TypePad isn't working either, so this might post twice. Or never.]

Comments

[Dorian]

Seriously though, think it will really work? What are your thoughts?

[Dorian]

Haha a very funny posting. I love Cialdini's books, he needs to create a seminar.

[Stag Parties MN]

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[Caine Dean]

If you are tired of getting turned down by women, or looking to sharpen up your game, you are in luck, cause you are about to get laid big time. You are about to walk out your house, find the first beautiful woman you see, drop something on the ground, meet her, then have sex with her. To Find out more : http://www.google-buzz.com/getinthepants/

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[J.A.]

If there IS any problem with us both, caused by my perxxxxxxx mother's behavior, it's our xxx, on which issue you're pls. absolutely free to take 'it' up with me, if there ARE any good food products to improve, whatever 'it's' all about, so that I can more easily find out what, how & when the soon- & better to be done about 'it.'
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[Jenny]

Seems a bit wierd Dilbert, but I will give it a try and see what they write about me and my sex appeal.

[funny videos]

Thats an interesting study...I wonder if this is how some hypnotists work...

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[Shannon]

For those who are single and doesn't have a partner in life, just like myself, i have a poor sex life. At first i was also sad to think that i am alone and i have no one. But then, a friend of mine told me that i should get a sex toy instead. At first a was afraid to buy one. but then again, i did. I bought my first toy online from http://www.xandria-products.com , so that i can get one in a discreet way. At first i was excited and nervous too. I was the best toy i ever bought. From that time on, my sex life is active thanks to my toy. :-)

[andrew]

What you didn’t know is how quickly and easily a manipulator can lock someone into a position.

Regards
Andrew Smith
http://www.vigrxhome.com

[Antique]

Hi. Me very much to like here. I shall advise this site to the friends.
I am sorry for my English. I only learn this language.

[Sarah]

I watched The Secret too. I have to agree, it's really good!!

[sam]

I think it's like the law of attraction (form dvd 'the secret'). Simply put, what you put your attention to, will manifest itself around you. I would like to recommend to you to check it out, it's awesome.

[Pooja P]

so that good ol' saying of first impression holds true in outcomes based on experiments you've mentioned..

[Noumenon]

If you had a link to this study you describe, where people change their opinions to match what they write, it would be awesome and convincing. Without one, it's just something else that reinforces my preconceptions about how humans deceive themselves.

[ditta]

How desperate would you have to be to do that? I mean, seriously.....PAYING people to find you attractive. I'm telling all my girlfriends to watch out for weird, ugly guys with clipboards...Knowledge is power!

[Pierre Anoid]

I laughed. Thanks. BTW when I was assigned my first cubicle I bought the Dilbert TV show on DVD and read your mannagement book. I now don't have a cubilce. Not your fault because my job has little to do with how much we laugh at work.

[Bulbboy]

Thousands of moist robots can pass through my place of work in a day.

Now, just have to find a way to convince them to jot a little on my clipboard.

:D

[The Beautiful Kind]

As a woman who doesn't mind having sex with hot strangers, I just fear I would have trouble FINDING 100 hot people at the mall. But I'll try anything once.

[Bruce Harrison]

Never would have been better.

Your hubris never ceases to amaze me. "Studies show that people will ignore logic and information to be consistent. (In other words, we are moist robots.)"

How you can draw that conclusion from that statement completely befuddles me. You're saying, in effect, that the only way to prove we're not "moist robots" is to be totally inconsistent in everything we do? Great logic, Scott.

Let's see -- today I think I'll put on a dress and wear my underwear on the outside. Then I'll get into my car and drive in reverse down the street. Following that, I'll rob a bank and attempt to fly without an airplane.

Sometimes, you amaze me. And not in a good way.

p.s I would appreciate it if all the attractive women who read this post would e-mail me to tell me how much they'd like to have sex with me. Let's see if we can prove Scott wrong! (This is one of those cases where I actually hope you're right.)

[Vishesh Narayen]

Jesus, at which upscale restaurants do you eat? One hundred dollars can feed an average person for 2 weeks, a homeless person for about a month, a poor Nigerian kid for about 6 months, and a broke college student for about 1 year. Save the....college students?

[kamal]

Scott, this will blow your mind. A caller to fast food restaurants posed as a police officer and convinced them to strip employees and do lewd acts. He must've read "Influence."

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20051009&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=510090392&SectionCat=&Template=printart

[Al Sayre]

When someone gives you crap about holding the purse, just tell them "Well, my MAC-10 doesn't conceal well under my shirt...

[Elliander]

I thought this post was very interesting and explained allot personally. I always felt reluctant to write anything that I did not personally believe in (perhaps to protect consistency?) That I would do practically anything to avoid having to do it. But when I can't get out of it, I make fun of it.

I remember the time that I was asked to explain why being in the air force was the best job ever. So I wrote about how easy it would be to kill with detachment. Mass murder mentalities. As well the flyboy type. The teachers didn't like it, and they seriously asked me if I believed what I wrote. I laughed and told them that they were the ones who forced me to write about what I did not believe in. If they wanted me to be serious, then ask me to write about what I seriously believe in.

But darn it, about a year later I was actually considering joining the air force. I never did, but it really is true. Writing about something you don't believe in, even if you are making fun of it while supporting it, does effect consistency.

And now if you'll excuse me, this moist-robot must assume the fetal position as I my organic computer of a brain attempts to justify it's existence.

[miss]

sex seems like a lot of fun i cant wait to have it

[Dave]

The greatest thing about that study is that it doesn't have to be true -- the researchers would believe it a month later anyway!

(Yes, I know, logic doesn't really say that. Shush. Enjoy the moment.)

But this was good... finally, a truly clever post from Scott. I would thank him, but due to his utter lack of response to anything that ever shows up in comments, I suspect he doesn't actually read these comments. I have a sneaking suspicion that he writes these posts up weeks in advance and sends them to a temp service where some recent grad posts them and sorts through the comments to get rid of anything hateful or spam-like.

But I enjoy reading at least 35% of these posts nonetheless.

[NameLess One (or other)]

Wow,

It seems like a large number of readers took their sense of humour chip out, and forgot to stick it back in before reading this.

Moist Robots, Cognitive Dissonance, and freedom of choice?

I got the distinct impression Scott was taking the piss.

Hey I'm doing a psych degree too... but that doesnt mean I need to fill up someones blog comments with ramble about what *I KNOW* about STUFF!

Apparently there's another theory out there that says if you make lots of quasi intellectual comments on people's blogs you might also get laid too. (as well).

Scott I would love to ask you how you filter through all this crap to find interesting comments... but... I'm sure you never read them!

[D Gopal]

Your blog makes me wonder, how many of your blog readers are women? I'm one for example and perhaps that's why I sometimes miss your point? To me having sex with a stranger (even an attractive one) is gross and to have sex with multiple people in general just for the sex (vs. relationship etc.) is even grosser, but maybe that's because I just read an article on how prevalent certain STDs are not just in third world countries but right here in the US. I dunno, maybe it's just me, I still think random sex = yuck and having sex (being able to with a willing partner) is not a big deal to achieve??

[John]

I'm just curious, but I wonder how many people refused to participate, and whether or not these people were included somehow in the survey. Obviously it'd be hard to see if the rule held for people who refused to write something they didn't believe (at least for a relatively low dollar amount), but I can't help but wonder if these people are less prone to this thing than others. I personally try to avoid writing things I don't believe (which has gotten me in trouble in English classes on a few occasions; for some reason the teachers don't appreciate "the author of this book the teacher likes thought x, and x is retarded because ..."), but might for enough money depending on the topic and the money. Interesting survey though, and great practical application.

[HALiverpool]

My wife already thinks I'm sexy and would kill me if I tried that stunt.

[badbadshark]

I gave this a try during my lunch hour.
It is surprising how many attractive women read the Dilbert Blog.
And how hard they can slap.

[QwkDrw]

Does this mean a self-serving college professor with a political agenda may select the topic for a writing assignment with the intent to influence the previously non-existent political opinions of their students? That seems like a lot of work, when all they need do is threaten a lower grade if the student does not write the paper in agreement with the professor's opinion.

A little late to the post, here -- but do you really always believe what you have written, a month later?

[RC]

Just thought I'd let you know that I appreciate your wit and sense of humor, especially when it flies over some peoples heads in the heat of argument. You should be a columnist.

[Yuriy]

Hey, I remember learning about this study (or one very much like it) back in Social Psych! It wasn't a 100% opinion switch though. For example, people didn't suddenly start thinking that Castro was a good person, but they did start thinking that he's not as bad as everyone says he is, etc. Still, it never occured to me to use this for dating!

[Neep]

When reading through your description, my first thought was "That's me!" I argue points I don't believe in. But alas, I then realized it's normally just to argue, not to hold with consistency. That's one of the benefits of having a horrible memory. I can't remember my past stance, so I make up a knew one each time... preferably opposite of whoever I'm talking to.

[alexei]

listen scott, wats up with cats? u say u love urs and were exteemly sad wen one died but u put them on the list of top ten evils (quite rightfully). explain yourself!

[passerby]

$100 for a meal! I have never paid than much for a meal in my life even I have eaten at fancy restaurants and expensive hotels on a company expense account. I guess what I consider an upscale restaurant or an expensive hotel are different to what is on your mind. I cant even think of any place were I live that would have nerve to rip of a customer that much. But then I live in Northern Ireland, guess we just dont have as many suckers, sorry - incredibly rich people, prepared to waste that much on one meal. Do you drink a lot of expensive wine during your meal to make it cost that much? What are the prices like at your restaurants?

[Stephen East UK]

This was truely Inspired....Im off with my clip board to get some hot loving.....in the name of science ofc ;)

[schelf]

please bury comcast and all other cable monopolies in the strip. please!

[Bertram Henze]

People who write down an opinion that's not their own are idiots in the first place - the rest is not surprising; it's like handing someone a gun, telling him to aim at his own head and press and promising that it's not loaded.

I'd hate to deal with those people, let alone to have sex with them. And they are therefore not attractive, no matter what they look like.
And all I'd be is a better idiot.

Bertram

[Zzyzxmo]

Bah! Fools will bite off on anything and worry it to death like a terrier with a rat!
They have no respect for true genius.
Many are envious of you because (now that you have achieved yours) and they are still waiting to achieve some modicum of self-satisfaction.
Achieving greatness requires being able to think, and believing in yourself to be able to do it while acting on that thought.
Success! By thinking affirmatively that you were going to stir controversy; you wrote something and were able to get over 100 other moist robots to respond!

[Jim Clark]

This reminds me of a favorite paragraph from an Emerson essay:

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day. — 'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.' — Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.

[Marina-cat]

A woman's point of view...
If a guy came up to me and suggested I should comment on how sexy he is... I would laugh so hard I would probably break something...
Obviously if getting laid is your main objective, there are some women that for 100 bucks do that kind of thing...
If your objective is to have sex more than once... please just try some old fashioned "be yourselfness"
Or maybe it's just that I'm European and we do things differently here...

[ifan]

gen

[ifan]

I will have seks with your wife
I will have seks with your wife
I will have seks with your wife

[Ed]

Organism Survives 100 Million Years Without Sex
http://science.slashdot.org/science/07/03/22/039256.shtml

[elliot]

it could just be that most people in that experiment are complete idiots... I might be a moist robot, but if I am then I'm a well-programmed moist robot. I can't say that for most people in certain particular countries at this particular point in time. Oh sure, I guess a lot of countries are teeming with people that are just as poorly progrmmed... probably mostly 2nd and 3rd world countries that don't have much in the way of an education system, or much in the way of any systems. Some would argue that the education system in the U.S. is under-funded. I would argue that it's way over-funded... So... I'm just saying... just because a given group of people is proven to be a bunch of moist robots doesn't prove that this is the natural default state of people.

[Mav]

I've read Cialdini's book but more recently had a chance to read Kurt Mortensen's "Maximum Influence". It has newer information and good studies. I liked it.

[TSB]

Oh, that people *were* consistent. Makes me question the credibility of the study...

[jerry wolfe]

I don't know that it's possible to improve my sex life as I'm in a same sex marriage, ever since we got married, it's the same sex each time.

http://boskolives.wordpress.com/

[Divyansh Sharma]

namaste scott,

i am a regular reader of ur blog, and found this post very interesting, i'll try to get my hands on this book... and try the "seXy" experiment....

anyways i would also like to recommend that you add a ratting like system to ur blog, like digg or something, so that we can applause good posts n comments....

just a thought....

namaste

[LA Guy]

[ Comcast still hasn't fixed my Internet connection. ]

Get a Sprint Wireless card. They work great, (at least everywhere I've been) the only slow connection was Carmel. In some places, like Las Vegas, it is really fast.

http://www.sprint.com/business/products/products/pcsVisionPlan_tabA.html

[Shell]

I seem to recall one of your blog entries concerning free will (the lack thereof) where those who did believe in free will were to write something to the effect of you being "the greatest" (poor summation, this... and I choose not to do the research).

Has it worked?

And it took me a bit, but I think I finally understand what you were getting at. I'm like a river... still waters run north to south... or something.

[mike]

Ah .. I see you've found the cure for a woman's sex drive...

weddig cake.

[heynoni]

The evidence of this theory is clear.

Mr. Gates wrote "Microsoft Works", and he obviously thinks it does.

[Lickspittle]

The reason people are irrationally consistent is that they identify with the argument. The argument makes up who they are. To disidentify with the argument would then be tantamount to either losing a part of oneself or becoming more unknown to oneself, both disturbing developments.

The interesting question then becomes why do people feel the need to identify with an argument. I think it's because most people are lost to themselves, that is, their true nature. You find yourself by being natural, spontaneous and free-spirited, and by being around people who are the same. In this state it will feel ridiculous to harbor the need to cling to arguments to bolster your identity.

[mantis]

Hi Scott.
You might be interested to know that this book is already on the mandatory reading list of the seduction community.

Neil Strauss, aka "style", aka "the best pickup artist in the world" mentions it in his book "The Game: Inside The Secret Society of The Pickup Artists". It was recommended to him by one of his mentors. Mystery, I believe.

Your application was a crude but not entirely inaccurate way to use the "weapons of influence" that Cialdini talks about.

The same principle can be used to improvise "yes ladders" that can further the seduction process.

I like to take the process further and create "compliance ladders".

You are welcome to get in touch if this intrigues you and you want to know more.

[Kent]

This is how I get my cat to eat dinner!

[Neurofreak]

Scott,
I am flattered to find that both you and I enjoyed the same author: Cialdini. Could you do a blog post sometime soon giving a reading list discussing some of the most influential books to your... life philosophy? (I could say career, but who gives a damn about that. I want to know what makes you tick, Scott Adams.)

I've been literally compiling a massive reading list, and trying to read 1+ book a week, and have done nothing but 4+ star books off of amazon. It's turning out well so far (that's how I found Cialdini's book).

[Okgenuine]

Sounds like something the guy made up to sell his book. I'll have to hunt that book down and check it out, since I generally like theories, even if they're suspect. If there was an easy way to get out of our own 'nuttiness', all of our problems would be over. That was a good post, imo, until I got to the word 'hideous', which I thought was a little mean, but I couldn't stop laughing. Oh, the paradox of humor.

[Arby]

What happened to the simple old days where man sees woman, man wants woman, man bops her over the head with a club and then drags her by the hair to his cave without much thinking involved. Oh, I forgot, we are civilized now and don’t do that anymore. Good thing. Now the man, with his best foot forward, dazzles, wine and dines her and then drags her off to his cave, ahh… place. Not much new under the sun.

[Billy B]

So your sex life has gone to hell has it?

And you think a book will improve it?

Ha, ha, ha.

You are living with an American woman.

You monkeys can be very amusing.
Billy B

[PaS]

wait until you get to the chapters about the Friendly Thief and Reciprocity.... there are many other way you can improve your sex life...

[Paul O]

drjdouglas, below, has confused correlation with causation in the discussion of the two bridges, with possibly catastrophic results.

As described, it is entirely possible that those who chose the higher bridge are more adventurous and thus more predisposed to ask someone out when given the opportunity: that a pre-existing, non-tested condition leads to both the selection of bridges and the calls for a date.

Similarly, it is possible that those who call "for the results" in Scott's test are predisposed to liking you. But since finding MOTAS is the goal, such motivation doesn't matter. That is, the increased social interaction with the suggestion of future interaction could be the cause, rather than the written paragraph. But who would care?

[Sean]

So what you are saying, is that if I were to write a book about future predictions, and used as an example of the ever changing nature of science, that evolution may be wrong, then I would become convinced that evolution is wrong. And then, having commited to the idea that evolution is wrong, I would be unwilling to change my opinion, even to the point of misreading articles that clearly support evolution as infact supporting my position.

Does that senario fit with Robert B. Cialdini's research?

[rd]

sweet you should care :)
but here i just have to exercise my recreational complainer's rights
1. the survey is too laborious for basic asocialites, and only mall conversation possible i thought "-debit or credit? -credit. -sign."
2. what is hideous, may be hideous for one, for another - attractive, matter of tastes
3. most of all, what's just sex - that, just physiology, bodily movements without love
4. opinions change all the time involuntarily, without writing or other conscious exercise, impulsively
which is natural hence good for us, masses
evil is what, manipulation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mongol/303467619/

was it too much, mean complaints? but even moist robots have to resist manipulation, right?
plus, just like to tease easily amused-annoyed typepads ;P

[D. Mented]

SOooo unnecessary!
I had a co-worker (since retired) who had a simple system that worked.
Honesty.And liking women.
He was a welder, and travelled out of state if there wasn't a lot of work in his home state, so he saw a lot of the country. If he wanted female companinship, he'd approach a woman he was interested in and say something along the lines of "I'm not in town for a long time, and I'm not looking to settle down, but you look like lots of fun; I'd love to show you a good time if you're interested."
He got friendly refusals, and delighted acceptances. No tears when it was time to leave, either. He said the only problem he got was from men he hung out with getting upset because they couldn't stand the thought of a man being honest with women. ("You can't tell a woman that!" I just did, and I'm none the worse for it!" etc.) The women were all happy to meet an honest man.
This guy is not a movie star. Looks like Yosemite Sam...Short, bandy legged, 'interesting' face. What's damn near irresistible is that he's honest and direct, and he honestly likes women.
You'd be surprised how many heterosexual men really don't like women at all (or maybe not so suprised, considering the sex-robot responses)
Lucky for my peace of mind, he's happily married (since the age of fifty) and really not interested in other women, because he's my father's age, but I'd catch myself thinking "he's just as cute as a little terrier dog, he is..."
Some men just don't realise how obvious it is that they don't like us...They'll come up pestering for sex with an attitude of "God damn it, why don't you just strip and screw me and go away? I can't stand to listen to a word you're saying, I don't want to spend a minute with you if I'm not getting my willie wet, I really despise you, now give me what I want!" But they think if they don't say these things out loud it won't show on their faces or in their body language, or their thunderingly fake interest in the topic of conversation, or maybe they think we want to get naked with a man who doesn't like us.
If that sounds like you, work out more; you'd have to be built like Vin Diesel to get laid with that attitude...Oh, and start saving money for your robot.
D. Mented

[Ken]

I see this all the time during negotiations. You throw in a bunch of things you don't care about, just to have something to give up, when you need to start the horse trading. However, someone will inevitably become enthusiastic about something that was originally a throw away item and start to really fight for it. We call it "falling in love with your own sh#t".

[Mr. Clean]

but unlike in the situation where people have no previous opinions, the people already have an opinion of how attractive you are as soon as they see you. i win.

[Madmarleyboro]

First off...love your blog. And to those who thinks it jumps from subject to subject, from one day to the next. Oh well.

I doubt if I could write about the same subject everyday....I'd probably be in left field by the following Thursday myself.

To consistency, reason, repetition, and the mind forming "bridges" to get disorder, back to order. As well, as you stating upfront, "How to improve your sex life".

Seems the answer hidden in all of it, is to just get married. The sex life is now a given (even if you only got around to the consummation...at least now you had sex in your life.

It's consistent...it is after all the same partner. And "reason", determining your actions over consistency.

Well, you'd know best now to ignore reason (since up to the point of marriage & consistency.....the sex life was haphazard at best, when following your own reason, whims or free will at all).

How to improve one's sex life. Get married. You can still complain about the sex life after the marriage, but at least it's now a milestone of new consistency, with no reason why at all.

[ShirtBloke]

Actually, you could save yourself a lot of time and effort and just get a $100 hooker.

[Noah Vaile]

Democrats it is. Two to one.

[Wolfger]

That's scary... I was already thinking about doing something very similar before Scott even mentioned it.

[Adonai Elohim]

You know what's funny? I just checked my ebook collection and I downloaded that book at the end of oktober 2006. I never came around to actually reading it, but now I will make some time to do so (especially since I have the intention to get a job soon).

[Omni]

"For example, researchers asked people to write essays in support of a random point of view they did not hold."

Could you possibly give either a URL for this or some names of researchers so that I can look it up? (I'm not doubting you, I want to learn more about this and the psychology behind it.)

[bottlestop]

Another book to read that supports this information, and your stance on free will is caled "Stumbling on Happiness". Its not the easist read, sort of like a published thesis. But he makes some interesting points on how the brain "fills in the blanks" in various situations as a coping mechanism.
One interesting item is that healthy people will spend more to prevent becoming disabled then diabled people will spend to become healthy.

[Monique]

Sorry Scott but you can't improve my sex life unless you and the mrs want to come visit the club ;)

[Theo Bee]

"Give the participants your e-mail address and tell them they can get the results of the research study in a month if they contact you"

What, no sex for a month?

Of course there is the time proven method.

Stand on the footpath and ask every passing female if she wants to have sex.

You get a lot of slaps in the face but you get a lot of sex too.

[Jason Allen]

Dick wrote "'Studies show that people will ignore logic and information to be consistent.' You have just described liberal Democrats. And the reason minorities vote for them. And attack anyone that does not agree with them as having self-hatred. (e.g. a black person that does not support Jesse or Al, must hate blacks and being black.)"

Actually, I think he described Republicans. You know, those people who stick by Bush and Cheney no matter how many scandals they find themselves in the middle of.

[Jeff Wagner]

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde.

[Dick]

"Studies show that people will ignore logic and information to be consistent."

You have just described liberal Democrats. And the reason minorities vote for them. And attack anyone that does not agree with them as having self-hatred. (e.g. a black person that does not support Jesse or Al, must hate blacks and being black.)

[donal]

While traveling alone on the Paris Metro, an ex-girlfriend was approached by a normal type of guy and politly asked if she would like to have sex with her. She answered no (I hope) but she did ask the guy if this was something which bore fruit.
He claimed that when he wanted sex he simply went down to the underground and just kept on asking pretty ladies if they wanted to partake. He said he very rarely had to ask more than 5 women.
Fact or fiction ??? A hell of a lot quicker than asking 100 chicks to write essays and waiting a month!

[garethkeenan]

"makes gaydar look like mole-vision"

CLASSIC.

[Ken E]

wow, its already WORKED....Thanks Scott!

[jim]

"remind me never to eat in an 'upscale' Kansas restuarant then. $17 a person is upscale there?"

Dude. I live in Kansas. Upscale is a steak and a beer. We go more for quantity and quality here than paying for atmosphere. Go figure.

I just checked the menu of the best steakhouse here. $30 for a blackened prime rib steak (cooked extra rare, of course). That comes with salad and side. Add a couple of Guiness and a good tip and you're still talking under $100 for two people. Yum!

[mel]

As a former worker for Comcast, I can assure you that your internet connection is important to them and they will get around to in the next 6 or 7 months, do a half assed job at fixing it, charge you for fixing it, and your connection will last for about 6 days. Please come again...

[Mark]

An interesting idea. But the pros have broken down the method of attraction step by step.

Here's my list of the top books to read on the subject:
http://www.seductionbooks.org/blog

[Beaker]

So that's why writing affirmations works!

[Dilbert's Rabbi]

I have always had this nagging discomfort when reading this blog and its respondents. I have finally figured it out... there is a smug attitude on the part of MANY people toward ANY people who believe in absolutes... and these relativists are absolutely certain they're right to be smug.

Of course, that's just my opinion and since I'm expressing it in response to this blog, none of you can be sure whether or not it is my GENUINE opinion AT THIS MOMENT, or whether it may or may not be my opinion a few months from now. Thanks for the forum, Scott!!

[Karl N]

There's kind of a disconnect between what you do and what your brain thinks you're doing. For instance, if you smile simply for no reason (try it), after a second you will start to think that you're happy about something.

Similarly, I tried writing down "Comcast is great and they give me super service" (my home internet is also down), and then I noticed I felt a little better about them, which then immediately caused me to write "Nevermind, Comcast sucks!" so I could nullify the experiment.

But I did figure out a way to mentally nullify this as well. While smiling, or writing something of praise, if you say to yourself "I am doing this just to prove I can" then that gives you sufficient reason to not adopt the feeling. It worked for me.

I consider these things interesting quirks of the way we're built. The important thing is that you can control them if you pay attention.

[jeny]

im reading this for my social psyc class... lovely!

[drjdouglas]

Two related pieces of research that you can manipulate to improve your sex life:

1). We use our bodies to determine our emotions. Young men had microphones taped to their chests so they could hear their own heartbeats. They were then shown slides of young ladies and asked to rate their attractiveness. When their heartbeats went up, they found the ladies more attractive. This, despite the fact that they weren't hearing their own heartbeats--it was prerecorded. They were manipulated into thinking they were more attracted to random slides by the researchers.

2. Same principle, and surprisingly similar to Scott's proposed study: An American university campus somewhere apparently has two bridges: one low wide concrete bridge over a slow-movin' ole man river; and a high, unstable, Gorge of Eternal Peril bridge, over fast-moving water. A young woman approached young men in the middle of each bridge, asked if they would take part in a study, and gave them her phone number. The dependent variable was how many of them misused her number to call her up and ask her out. Those on the high, unstable bridge did so more frequently--they misinterpreted their physiological anxiety symptoms as being attraction.

Therefore, to make someone think you're attractive, take them to a scary movie or onto a roller coaster. Get their blood moving.

[Rick Oliver]

The classic experiments in cognitive dissonance involved having two groups write an opinion on a subject contrary to their personal opinions. One group was paid to write the opinion, and the other group was not (or maybe one group was paid a lot and the other group was paid some neglible amount). Those who were not paid showed a greater tendency to change their personal opinions to be more in line with the position they were asked to support in writing. This isn't exactly news in the area of human psychology. I think I learned about it in Psychology 101 back in the early 70s.

Cognitive dissonance can explain many apparent discrepancies in human logic and behavior, such as how a majority of respondents to a national poll can indicate that they feel very strongly that there is a problem with the public education system in this country while also indicating that they feel very strongly that there is nothing wrong with the particular public schools their children attend.

[DK]

actually, in any three consecutive elections, most people would switch party at least once (in the US, more in multi-party systems). But don't let my information get in the way of your being consistent.

[A guy]

Tell participants that the research has to do with handwriting analysis of people who are writing opinions they do not believe. Stop after you get 100 people to do it. That’s less than the cost of one meal at an upscale restaurant.

Give the participants your e-mail address and tell them they can get the results of the research study in a month if they contact you.

Are you kidding me, as a guy you should know that it would take more than a buck and the lure of a science experiment to get women to stop shopping. If you want to conduct the experiment, you should look for a different venue.

That's the opinion I actually do not hold, but will if you check with me in about 3 to 4 weeks.

[Borg Warrior]

Scott, your plan would work, but needs some refinement. I'm going to assume that only a guy would do something like this, so:

Rather than do the canvassing yourself, hire an attractive female to do the research for you, using your picture as the subject of the essay. The reason is simple. Attractive females have a "dork on the make" radar that makes gaydar look like mole-vision. But they generally trust other attractive females.

Coach your "researcher" to admit to each subject that "gee, actually he is kinda cute", thereby adding social proof to the force of the essay. After the essay is written, have the "researcher" get the name and email address of each subject in order to win a $10 gift certificate as an additional "thank-you" for participating.

Use the names and email addresses to research the subjects, learn what interests them, and winnow out the not-so-hot. Email the short list and have the "researcher" invite each one (on different dates and times) to a restaurant to pick up the gift certificate.

When the "subject" arrives, explain that the "researcher" was called away on an emergency and asked you to drop off the gift certificate for her.

During the conversation, confess that you're totally clueless about the purpose of the researcher's project. When the subject laughingly explains it to you, your faux embarrassment becomes the ice-breaker.

Let the conversation develop, then use the research you did on the web to exhibit compatible interests and to suggest that she meet you to do something that's "mutually" interesting. (Note: do not call it a date.)

Based on my long experience with dating, market research and sales, that plan, though a bit baroque, would actually work. The one problem (and it's a problem with your simplified version as well) is that if you're emotionally savvy enough to pull off such a complex deception, you're probably savvy to pick up girls without such an elaborate hoax.

But it would work.

[Erik]

I am going to have to try this on my teenage son (no, not the sex part!), to try to convince him that he is not the complete idiot that he is turning out to be. If I can keep him out of jail (after this current stint, I mean), and get him to be cooperative, helpful, polite and productive, that would be even more useful than getting me laid. Since getting laid led to the teenager in the first place...

[Fuzznsmoo]

Fabulous - my kind of book. I suspect this tendency for consistency follows the proverbial bell curve. I have a good friend who is very intelligent and seemingly quite rational. But he believes in things that one would never expect. He's clearly at the far end of the bell curve.

[XenonXavior]

*waves hand* You will write about why these aren't the droids you're looking for.

[DML]

BTW, kiddies, powerful advice here: To get people to do what you want/need them to do, make them think that they thought of the thing first (or would have eventually thought of it). Don't give "orders". Let them think that what you wanted them to do was an inevitable result of their innate brilliance.

[DML]

Is this how you landed Shelly? :)

[Ian]

"I'm hoping that was for a family of six to eat at an upscale restaurant"

remind me never to eat in an 'upscale' Kansas restuarant then. $17 a person is upscale there?

I've no idea how Scotts restuarant rates in scale, but if we're talking Chez TJ, Sent Sovi, even Le Papillon in the bay area you aren't getting out of there for less than $100 a person if you drink anything other than water.
They're upscale but I doubt they're the most upscale if you start to include San Francisco restuarants in the mix.

[LA Clay]

It does give a whole new meaning to "Moist Robot"

[Matt]

After you finish that book, here's another choice to pickup at your local library: "How to Lie with Statistics".
Yes this is a real book. The University of WI Platteville Library had a copy a few years back, probably been destroyed since as any good politician or "scientist" would want to get rid of it. What is meant by "most"? Could be anything.
Example from any drug company commerical:
"Emerging research may suggest....". Well, of course it does. Not much point doing reseach unless it suggests something, and since it's not done yet, well the outcome is sort of open then isn't it?

[Lise]

That explains why many lawyer's briefs are so painful for me to write. It hurts my brain to have my opinion changed so often.

[Dramenbnejs]

Well, if someone gets 100 people of oposite sex to answer such a question, than surely he will get someone (into his bed).

Scott, some of your jokes are pretty sophisticated...

[JOHN THE BAP]

Ferris Bueller flashback:
Q: Who invented asexual reproduction?
A: Your wife.

[Rick Miller]

Hmm...

If I go around telling other people that my wife mistreats me, or worse, writing about it in a journal, I'll tend to believe that and maybe even ignore the good things she does.

I thought that maybe keeping a journal and then burning it would be cathartic, but now I'm thinking otherwise. Time to start a new journal; a good one.

Thanks for yet another clue, Scott.

[LA Clay]

This will only increase my chance of divorce, thanks for nothing Scott.

By the way I helped with the theft of a comic today. I figure the royalty of one strip is probably in the range of 1-2 cents, where should I send the check?

[Mishlai]

Interesting post Scott. Also, you get a lot of retarded comments on this blog. I don't know how you can bare to read them all every day.

[Jessie]

This is probably the principle behind teachers' having traditionally made students write repeating lines on the chalkboard as punishment, something I have never understood. Bart Simpson, then, must be in the minority exception.

[Frank Paine]

Hi, Scott. I suspect that the tendency to consistency is actually a variation on the theory of cognitive dissonance, which has been around at least since I was in high school in the early 1960s. The basic notion is that psyche doesn't like discrepancies between choices of value judgements, and so retroactively adjusts the value judgements to bring them in sinc with choices actually made--or into consistency, in your terms. The original experiment, I believe, was done by some folks on the Stanford University faculty, and written up in the Scientific American in (probably) 1961 or 1962. On the basis of that, I designed and executed another experiment that drew the same conclusion. Very interesting, because among other things, it suggests that the grass is NOT greener on the other side of the fence.

Keep up the good work...Frank Paine

[Hacker Kitty]

so maybe in a couple of months i'll start believing i would fall for that? :-P

That's not really true for me, I'm hopelessly contrary, as is one of my best friends. In seriousness we agree on a lot of things, but every time we discuss something, one of us will take up the other side of the argument just for the hell of it... and yet my views havnt really changed simply from saying the opposing argument... but sometimes because you think out the other side properly, not quite the same thing

I think it would work though, for something i hadnt formed a strong opinion on yet. As a strongly opinionated kind of girl, there's not many topics left. erm... I'm still neutral on whether i like beanfeast or not...

Or maybe it just works on the in-duh-viduals

[IQgryn]

Maybe that's why your daily affirmations work so well?

[Paul O]

... So I go down to the mall, and boy is it busy down there! Why aren't these people at work?, I ask myself ... then I notice almost everyone has a clipboard ... :)

[Beaker]

If we are such a consistant species, why are your posts so inconsistant? For a day or two, they will be either witty and/or insightful, and the next, they will be utter drivel.

Perhaps I'm just being consistant in my own view, and no matter how hard anyone tries, I'm not going to change my view without a damned good reason.

[Misanthropic Scott]

I'll come back later after I've taken the time to think about how I want to contradict this scientific research. You see I really want to imagine that I am not so easily fooled. So, I need to write up a really good reason why this particular piece of researh was done really poorly.

Then, in a month or two, when I actually believe the opinion I put down I'll be much happier. I won't have sex with 67 semi-randomly chosen women. But, I wasn't really looking for that anyway. I'll just be happier than I would be if I believed this.

[IcyBee]

Perhaps you could try writing down how great you think Comcast and TypePad are. Then they will be working to your satisfaction in mere months time!

[Peluka]

Scott,
I suggest you read Bernard Aronsons's "Cognitive Dissonance". You'll find a gold mine on this matters, full of experiments made and incredible conclusions.
No matter is a college book, I found it fascinating when I came across it while studying.

[Paul]

I can tell you how to fix your high speed internet. See if Verizon has a FIOS cable in your neighborhood and switch to their system. It is flawless. I run a Macintosh computer as well! No prob.

[Joshua]

Thanks to retrocausality, I have already done this. Good news, it worked, bad news, I have chlamydia from a tryst that I can't remember because it happened "back in time"

[Matthew Kovich]

All the best techinique falls into my hands AFTER I get in a committed relationship.

At least I know if this relationship falls through that I have Scott Adams as my long-distance wingman.

[Joe Canuck]

Some random thoughts on consistency and reason.

The preference of consistency over reason has survival value. Reason works on paper, but we never have access to all the variables in real life. Suppose you are standing on the street and you see this pygmy dressed in bright orange. You have never seen a pygmy dressed in bright orange before. You have no reason to suspect that he means you any harm. So you are surprised when he comes over to you and kicks you in the shin. After the first pygmy leaves, second similarly dress pygmy come up to you and kicks you in the shin.

Now a third pygmy comes along. What should you do? In the absence of any data to the contrary, assume that there is no reason to believe that this guy has anything against you? Or expect the pattern, which you have painfully observed, to continue?

[synapticmisfires]

I thought I picked up on something here, perusing the comments I see that rockbert beat me to it. A tendency to act "illogical" is hardly proof that someone is a robot.

I suppose that this is simply a fundamental difference from your [Scott's] definition of free will to that of myself and others who have disagreed with you. I would consider people having the ability to change their behavior greatly based on environment to be akin to free will, you seem to consider that since people do not choose their initial environment, and "choice" is considered a function of environment and pre-existing preference, both impossible to influence for oneself, there is no free will. There really isn't that much of an argument here over the facts of the matter, merely over the name of it. The free will debate that has occassionally dominated this blog is, I believe, largely just semantics.

[Tim Shepard]

Your Jedi Mind Tricks do not work on me.

[pdwalker]

You are a tremendously humorous man.

[Screech]

I now understand why I need to stick my finger into a wall socket every night! I am a moist robot!

With any computer, garbage in, garbage out. So if we read nothing but trash....well, we can fill in the rest.

[Loser of guitar picks]

Hey, this ties in to your affirmations theory.

[CLB]

[Once a person commits an opinion to writing – even an opinion he does not hold – it soon becomes his actual opinion]

Seems the brain isn’t quite in control. We already know the foot can find its way into the mouth without any thought! ;)

[wired]

First of all, my supreme nut case, if you do this, you'll never know which women already found you attractive without the shenanigans. Some women- no names mentioned, actually like your type as is, and are repelled by the desperate mind games. Some of them are attractive. As I understand it, sex with women who are the right type is more pleasurable.

Secondly, you are making me think of all the lovely exercises we do in primary, secondary and post secondary school. Our so-called "education". Which is why the more informed among us call it "regurgitation". It's called a government approved text book.

Last but not least, who the heck would want to sleep with a perfect stranger from a mall?! Especially a stump dumb one like that? "Duh- you thure are thexy…" (Truth is, most people are so sheepish, they'll want to hump you just for having the courage to approach them with confidence. And it's all because of those dumb text books.)

[Doug (old Army Corporal)]

This has nothing to do with being a robot and everything to do with thinking. When you write you are forced to think logically about a topic. If you are against national health care, yet must come up with a favorable argument then you might prove to yourself that there is a logical reason for such a program and thus become a believer.

The reason people refuse to change is because thinking requires to much effort.

[ND]

Regarding your cited experiment: Has it occurred to you that, since the subjects were free to adopt any position on whatever topic they were asked to write about, they were, in fact, writing down opinions that they already harbored.

People very seldom have absolutely no opinion on a subject. If the subject isn't important to them, they may have a very weak opinion. However, if asked to give an opinion, a preference will emerge.

My point is that the fact that the subjects retained the opinions that they wrote down doesn't necessarily prove that the opinions were created by the act of writing. The opinions were already there. The act of writing them down simply crystallized them.

[alexei]

ive reached a stage where ill try anything. goodbye £100 :(

[alexei]

ive reached a stage where ill try anything. goodbye £100 :(

[Crikey]

Offer $1 to attractive people
get 100 people to do it.
That’s less than the cost of one meal at an upscale restaurant.

Boy, Id' hate to go to your restaurant.

[kelli]

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

[janitordave]

"Most of the truly stupid things done in this world have to do with this consistency principle. For example, once you define yourself as a loyal citizen of Elbonia, you do whatever the King of Elbonia tells you to do, no matter how stupid that is. And your mind invents reasons as to why dying is a perfectly good life strategy. "

OK...so that explains all these Bush supporters!

[~*.*~]

The book is available at my library; I'm checking it out today. In the meantime, would you consider writing a blog entry supporting Creationism?

[Ross Byers]

This is 100% true. I am a stubborn, stubborn git, and that is exactly why.

[Shawn]

lol

wow. Just wow.

[John Moore]

So, say, 90% of the people reading this post will believe your opinion, and 100% of the induhviduals. Didn't Bertrand Russell exclaim that 95% of people don't think at all. What happened to your finely tuned BS filter? Didn't it scoff at a book that just gave anecdotes and secondhand information about "soft" research (humanities/business/psychology) instead of hard data? Most people probably don't understand Newton's Laws or gravity. Even though cars are much safer, the death rates from car accidents didn't come down until mandatory seat belt laws went into effect, and they've probably gone back up because people feel safer in SUVs which are twice as dangerous as cars.

[Brad Hutchings]

If anyone tries this experiment and it doesn't go so well, step over to one of those nail shining kiosks, and see how an expert applies this. Funny thing is, she's probably never read Cialdini. BTW, a great read -- I keep a copy in my nightstand and open it often.

[Mike B]

Brilliant!

[morry]

I wonder what would happen if you wrote out positions for both sides? would they cancel out?

[Brian Bjork]

I hope people actually try this and let us know the results next month.

[St. Chris]

I have a copy of Cialdini's "Influence" -- really good stuff. Great description of humans' hard-wired susceptibility to specific types of influence, with tips on how to counter those influences (or use them for all your nefarious purposes).

[German]

Don't make me put my right sock on first, Scott.

[robert b]

If you have the balls to ask 100 women to write a paragraph about how sexy you are even for research. You really should not have any problem getting laid.