Re: Way OT: Adam Smith and Software Markets

["Frank J. Lhota" <NOSPAM.lhota.adarose@verizon.net>]

<tmoran@acm.org> wrote in message news:%UBba.57202$qi4.39112@rwcrnsc54...
> Hyman Rosen <hyrosen@mail.com> wrote:
>    So you don't believe in subliminal suggestion or other experimental
> observations?  I suppose observational evidence in favor of one computer
> language over another should also be ignored.  Sheeeesh.

What experimental observations? Keyes may have written some very
entertaining books, but he is not a Psychologist, or a scientist of any kind
for that matter. Keyes has yet to perform a rigorous, controlled, double
blind experiment to test his theories. Others have properly tested the
"Subliminal Seduction" theories, and the results have been consistently
negative.

For example, there is the conjecture that the unconscious mind can read a
text message flashed on a movie or television screen for such a brief period
of time that the conscious mind will not detect it. Presumably, this theory
was proved when a movie theater in Pasadena CA flashed the words "Eat
Popcorn" on their screen, and found that their popcorn sales tripled. Or was
that theater in Niagara Falls NY? Or was the message "Drink Coke"? I have
heard this and other variations of the story. We're dealing with an urban
legend here. There are serious questions as whether this event ever
happened, much less whether this is a valid experiment.

There are ways to perform a double blind experiment to test this conjecture.
For example, you could make two prints of a film, one with the quick flash
message, and one without the message. You show the two prints to two
separate audiences, and measure the audience responses to see if the message
had any effect. Neither the audiences nor those making the measurements
should know which print has the hidden message.

This double blind experiment has been done, and the results were that the
behavior of the audience that saw the hidden message did not differ
significantly from the control audience. It appears that when a messages is
too quick for the conscious mind to read, it is also too quick for the
unconscious mind. I should also point out that modern Psychology has moved
away from the whole conscious / unconscious dichotomy.

In matters or pseudo science and cranks, I usually refer people to the web
site of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the
Paranormal (CSICOP). Their URL is http://www.csicop.org. They have debunked
Brian Wilson Keyes and his "Subliminal Seduction" ideas in the past, but
that was several years ago, and unfortunately they don't have any Keyes
items on the site right now.