Friday, May 05, 2006

just flip the switch and get it over with. now!

From a study reported on CNN.com:
Participants were told [when an electric shock] was coming, how strong it would be, and how long the wait for it would be, from 1 to 27 seconds.

Later, participants were given choices: Would they prefer a medium jolt in 5 seconds or 27 seconds? What about a mild jolt in 20 seconds vs. a sharp one in 3 seconds?

When the voltage was identical, the volunteers almost always chose the shortest wait. But those Berns dubbed "extreme dreaders" picked the worst shock if it meant not having to wait as long.
The study shows that dread itself is painful, so much so that about a third of people (the "extreme dreaders") will trade actual physical pain for less dread-based psychological pain. There's no way I'd participate in an electric shock study, as just sitting there getting hooked up to the machine would drive me crazy, but I know I would be an extreme-extreme-dreader.

Speaking of electric shock, I had an idea for a short short fiction story the other day, but the backstory required some kind of quirky way for a character to get electrocuted in front of his true love. I couldn't think of anything charming enough and so am stuck. Let me know if you have any ideas.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Easy. Character loves a priest. Character murders someone (many someones?). Priest/lover attends electric chair execution. In fact, that's the whole story.

jeremy said...

I did think: "They say you shouldn't cry over spilt milk, but it's different if the milk forms a puddle where your boyfriend is standing barefoot, trying to clear a piece of stuck bagel out of the toaster with a knife. Then you can cry for weeks and nobody complains."

Anonymous said...

Just use the report story: experimenter invites true love to be a volunteer. True love chooses the extreme volt/short wait. Things go horribly wrong. Sociologist , incidently looking for ssf plot, stumbles upon scene, then ............

Tonya said...

That's an interesting study. It reminds me a little of what it was like in law school back in the day when profs would terrorize students.

You knew that if you were called on in class, you'd likely be humiliated. But, you never knew whether you'd actually be called on. Some people took the strategy of volunteering to answer a question just to have the expected humiliating experience over and done with.

Anonymous said...

Maybe struck by lightening while adjusting the satellite dish?

Anonymous said...

how about falling into a whirlpool tub lit with many scented candles as he carried some kind of electrical gadget (bose cd player?).

Anonymous said...

Sucked into a kitchen sink disposal unit and zapped by a crossed wire. Hapless lover can't think whether to call plumber or electrician.