Flaming foxes, free fun, and funny faces
I think it's really asinine for webmasters to force users to download a new web browser before they deign to let them view their crappy blog. Maybe I'm just one of those touchy-feely web designers who thinks that websites should be universally accessible, deprecate nicely, and shouldn't push agendas for a browser that has only 10% market share. Disclaimer: I use/enjoy Firefox and appreciate the developer base/standards compliancy. Hell, I run Linux, so no lectures on the supremacy of free software. But cutting out 80% of the browser market so you can do some funny CSS tricks / educate the werld is elitist and inconsiderate.
So Shannon's sister Ashley (from another dad.... and another mom) stayed with us over the weekend. It's AMAZING how much stress is off our shoulders now that the apartment is finally livable - even though it took an all-nighter to get it done. At a loss for activities (and money), we were trying to think of things to do together. Our present occupation consisted of going to the beach, burying me up to my neck in sand, sculpting boobs onto my chest, and a towering sand-penis near my crotch. After soaking up the disturbed stares from little children, another idea soon presented itself: Let's take a camera around town, and ask people to make silly faces for it! The best amusement, after all, is other people.
Our "cover" was pretending to be anthropology students from the local community college, doing a study on dignity. We would promise that the results would not be published (a pity, or else I'd have a gallery up here in a hot minute). Armed with Shannon's Canon (heee) we headed to the mall.
At first it was pure amusement, but eventually our cover story became a self-fulfilling prophecy: we started noticing definite compliance patterns. 100% of the kids (20 and under) agreed to make silly faces, even when their parents didn't. The majority of those selected (nondiscriminatory as to age/gender, as long as they looked over 25) were intently interested as we explained our story, but the moment they heard "silly faces", immediately made an "oh god" face, laughed nervously, and appeared extremely uncomfortable.
A smaller percentage, which we didn't count, declined due to either being in a hurry or reflexive dismissal of a group of kids who say they're college students. We eventually had to prepend "we don't want money!" to our schpiel before some would actually listen.
The stats? Out of 25 people surveyed, only SIX - barely even 25% - agreed to make some form of silly face. The experiment was interesting because the request was very simple, very unobtrusive, and would not affect the outcome of their social life or dignity in any way. After the experiment we considered the possibility that the presence of the camera might have skewed our findings, but then remembered that on some occasions it was hidden behind my back during our introductions, with the exact same result. Regardless, our future social experiments shall take place with only a clipboard.
Things we learned from the experiment:
- Looks really can be deceiving. The jolliest/most jovial-looking subjects we cornered often flat-out refused us, and the most prim-looking visages immediately broke out in goofiness at our behest. Some even seemed happy to, like they'd been waiting a long time for such an opportunity.
- People have WAY more illogical pride than you'd think. A surprising amount of subjects responded immediately with "oh, I don't do that." Don't do what, EVER make a silly face? Grandpas, mothers of two, and businessmen alike pretended that they'd never stuck their tongue out at the mirror before.
- Old people rock. One of our interactions with a grandpa went as thus:
Us: ...and so we're doing a study on dignity --
Man: Oh, don't worry, I don't have any.
Us: Uh... Perfect! Then would you mind... making us a silly face?
Man: *Immediately puffs out his cheeks and crosses his eyes.*
Us: Rock.
- It didn't seem to matter who the people were with, or what they felt the others would think of them - singles, couples, and groups all reacted the exact same way: Immediate displeasure upon hearing the words "funny face".
We're thinking of going back in a couple weeks, and asking random people to pick etween me and one of the girls and give one of us a hug. We'll be measuring compliance, dignity, personal space measurements, and which gender makes them more comfortable. (I expect to be thoroughly avoided.)
Can anyone else think of some fun social experiments?
So Shannon's sister Ashley (from another dad.... and another mom) stayed with us over the weekend. It's AMAZING how much stress is off our shoulders now that the apartment is finally livable - even though it took an all-nighter to get it done. At a loss for activities (and money), we were trying to think of things to do together. Our present occupation consisted of going to the beach, burying me up to my neck in sand, sculpting boobs onto my chest, and a towering sand-penis near my crotch. After soaking up the disturbed stares from little children, another idea soon presented itself: Let's take a camera around town, and ask people to make silly faces for it! The best amusement, after all, is other people.
Our "cover" was pretending to be anthropology students from the local community college, doing a study on dignity. We would promise that the results would not be published (a pity, or else I'd have a gallery up here in a hot minute). Armed with Shannon's Canon (heee) we headed to the mall.
At first it was pure amusement, but eventually our cover story became a self-fulfilling prophecy: we started noticing definite compliance patterns. 100% of the kids (20 and under) agreed to make silly faces, even when their parents didn't. The majority of those selected (nondiscriminatory as to age/gender, as long as they looked over 25) were intently interested as we explained our story, but the moment they heard "silly faces", immediately made an "oh god" face, laughed nervously, and appeared extremely uncomfortable.
A smaller percentage, which we didn't count, declined due to either being in a hurry or reflexive dismissal of a group of kids who say they're college students. We eventually had to prepend "we don't want money!" to our schpiel before some would actually listen.
The stats? Out of 25 people surveyed, only SIX - barely even 25% - agreed to make some form of silly face. The experiment was interesting because the request was very simple, very unobtrusive, and would not affect the outcome of their social life or dignity in any way. After the experiment we considered the possibility that the presence of the camera might have skewed our findings, but then remembered that on some occasions it was hidden behind my back during our introductions, with the exact same result. Regardless, our future social experiments shall take place with only a clipboard.
Things we learned from the experiment:
- Looks really can be deceiving. The jolliest/most jovial-looking subjects we cornered often flat-out refused us, and the most prim-looking visages immediately broke out in goofiness at our behest. Some even seemed happy to, like they'd been waiting a long time for such an opportunity.
- People have WAY more illogical pride than you'd think. A surprising amount of subjects responded immediately with "oh, I don't do that." Don't do what, EVER make a silly face? Grandpas, mothers of two, and businessmen alike pretended that they'd never stuck their tongue out at the mirror before.
- Old people rock. One of our interactions with a grandpa went as thus:
Us: ...and so we're doing a study on dignity --
Man: Oh, don't worry, I don't have any.
Us: Uh... Perfect! Then would you mind... making us a silly face?
Man: *Immediately puffs out his cheeks and crosses his eyes.*
Us: Rock.
- It didn't seem to matter who the people were with, or what they felt the others would think of them - singles, couples, and groups all reacted the exact same way: Immediate displeasure upon hearing the words "funny face".
We're thinking of going back in a couple weeks, and asking random people to pick etween me and one of the girls and give one of us a hug. We'll be measuring compliance, dignity, personal space measurements, and which gender makes them more comfortable. (I expect to be thoroughly avoided.)
Can anyone else think of some fun social experiments?