I Gotta Get A Grant II : The Sequel
From http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/jonahgoldberg/2006/05/12/197117.html comes a report of another band of intrepid researchers, boldly spending untold amounts of money to study things that are glaringly obvious to those of us who grew up back before this country turned into Bizzaro World...
"The study by psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 men and measured the testosterone levels in their saliva. Then the men were divided and given separate tasks. One group was asked to take apart and reassemble a large handgun and then write down instructions on how to put it together. The other group was asked to do the same with the game Mouse Trap.
Afterward, those who handled the gun showed a jump in testosterone levels. Subjects were then asked to drink a cup of water with hot sauce in it and then prepare a similar drink for someone else. Those who handled the gun were more likely to add more hot sauce than those who didn't. This means, according to the paper, that "handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression."...
No shit Sherlock... I get a charge just THINKING about my guns, my P90 .45ACP in particular... Read "Garden Blogging", most of my garden is chile peppers, so you know I dig the hot stuff... I have every variety of Tabasco Sauce in my cupboard... Hell I've even heard of guys who toss one off lubed w/ hot sauce while they look at gun mags... (I said I've HEARD of them, I've burned Bobo too many times by accident after slicing peppers to intentionally "Kick it up a notch"...)
The story comes from the New York Times, so it's slant is "guns are bad", but being a Pre-Bizzaro Child, I know better. Guns are tools, just like hammers, it is PEOPLE who put them to good or evil. Even after the added testosterone dump of running thru a couple of hundred rounds, field-stripping and cleaning and re-assembling my P90, and doing half a dozen Hot Shots, straight up, (no pussy water in my Tabasco) I still have no desire to go out and randomly shoot someone. (I admit, sometimes the desire to DELIBERATELY shoot some asshole waste of oxygen who desperately deserves it is a bit hard to choke down)
"Anyway, every day we hear about new studies "revealing" what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations. A few recent headlines: "Fat kids become fat adults, says new study," "Housewives not as desperate as singles over 40, a new study finds," "Drowsiness, inattention play big role in car accidents, study finds." Every few months, newspapers breathlessly report that - surprise! - men and women are different, children are impressionable, and poisons are bad for you. What next? "Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased"? or "Running with scissors inadvisable, Mayo Clinic reports"?
Folk wisdom has more scientific rigor than we give it credit for. Your grandmother didn't need a double-blind study to tell you that you should wash your hands after you go to the bathroom. And I don't need some paper to tell me that a man will get a small hormonal buzz from getting to play with a gun while the guy next to him is stuck with a lame board game."
It's funny... the deeper we get into the "Information Age", the stupider people seem to get...
"The study by psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., enrolled 30 men and measured the testosterone levels in their saliva. Then the men were divided and given separate tasks. One group was asked to take apart and reassemble a large handgun and then write down instructions on how to put it together. The other group was asked to do the same with the game Mouse Trap.
Afterward, those who handled the gun showed a jump in testosterone levels. Subjects were then asked to drink a cup of water with hot sauce in it and then prepare a similar drink for someone else. Those who handled the gun were more likely to add more hot sauce than those who didn't. This means, according to the paper, that "handling a gun stirs a hormonal reaction in men that primes them for aggression."...
No shit Sherlock... I get a charge just THINKING about my guns, my P90 .45ACP in particular... Read "Garden Blogging", most of my garden is chile peppers, so you know I dig the hot stuff... I have every variety of Tabasco Sauce in my cupboard... Hell I've even heard of guys who toss one off lubed w/ hot sauce while they look at gun mags... (I said I've HEARD of them, I've burned Bobo too many times by accident after slicing peppers to intentionally "Kick it up a notch"...)
The story comes from the New York Times, so it's slant is "guns are bad", but being a Pre-Bizzaro Child, I know better. Guns are tools, just like hammers, it is PEOPLE who put them to good or evil. Even after the added testosterone dump of running thru a couple of hundred rounds, field-stripping and cleaning and re-assembling my P90, and doing half a dozen Hot Shots, straight up, (no pussy water in my Tabasco) I still have no desire to go out and randomly shoot someone. (I admit, sometimes the desire to DELIBERATELY shoot some asshole waste of oxygen who desperately deserves it is a bit hard to choke down)
"Anyway, every day we hear about new studies "revealing" what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations. A few recent headlines: "Fat kids become fat adults, says new study," "Housewives not as desperate as singles over 40, a new study finds," "Drowsiness, inattention play big role in car accidents, study finds." Every few months, newspapers breathlessly report that - surprise! - men and women are different, children are impressionable, and poisons are bad for you. What next? "Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased"? or "Running with scissors inadvisable, Mayo Clinic reports"?
Folk wisdom has more scientific rigor than we give it credit for. Your grandmother didn't need a double-blind study to tell you that you should wash your hands after you go to the bathroom. And I don't need some paper to tell me that a man will get a small hormonal buzz from getting to play with a gun while the guy next to him is stuck with a lame board game."
It's funny... the deeper we get into the "Information Age", the stupider people seem to get...
Labels: Get A Grant - The Series
posted by MOMinuteMan at 12:37
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