Science Says Virtual Superheroes Could Make You A Better Person

[Aleksandros]

A very interesting article.  Will see how my attitude is affected overall the longer I'm away from our beloved City.

http://www.themarysue.com/virtual-superheroes/

[TimtheEnchanter]

@_@ .... whoa.

[Kistulot]

A part of me wants to say that the helecopter isn't really accomplishing anything you don't usually do. You're getting around using a vehicle, which (most) people do anyway.

Flying puts the power on you, and having power gives opportunity, and hope, which makes people more positive.

[JaguarX]

Science says alot of things. Some contradiction to each other.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Science says alot of things. Some contradiction to each other.

Yeah, but this has nothing to do with diets.  :P

[FatherXmas]

We're heroes, it's what we do.  :'(

[Kistulot]

Science says alot of things. Some contradiction to each other.

And some are still accurate while contradicting eachother.

Science. It doesn't care if it makes sense. It only cares if it can be proven (for better or worse! :D).

[TimtheEnchanter]

Science. It doesn't care if it makes sense. It only cares if it can be proven (for better or worse! :D).

:o Wow, it's just like lawyers!

[Kistulot]

Lawyers are just Dark Scienticians who also get to decide when they're growed up enough (Judges) what other people get to prove against!

It's like knowing you'll hit God at level 55! Much like Dragonite.

[JaguarX]

Yeah, but this has nothing to do with diets.  :P

lol.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Alright, they're swaying the results of this. Part of it may be their fault, but part of it may also be that the journalist is just really bad at choosing the right way of wording things.

First of all: It sort of makes sense that someone who is flying under their own control would be more alert to their surroundings than someone who is 'just along for the ride.' I noticed long ago that I'm terrible at remembering how to get from point A to point B in a car if I try to learn it while being driven there. Only after driving there myself, did the route ever stick in my memory.

Second: And this conclusion is actually just as interesting to me as theirs. People were given the CHOICE of whether to fly on their own, or ride in a helicopter. The only way to fairly arrive at their conclusion would be to randomly give people one experience or the other, and then see how they react to the pens. Could it still mean that flying on your own makes you more altruistic? Sure. But it could also mean that people who would prefer to have superpowers (or are more interested in experiencing fantasy), are more inclined to go out of their way to help someone.

[Mister Bison]

If I can cross-reference this to another study (named "Experiments with altruism in children and chimps" (very interesting video you should all watch)), and if I'm allowed to speak my mind freely, I'd like to think that altruism is 90% opposite to pragmatism. In that, pragmatists don't believe in flying a-la superman, so they're going to choose the helicopter because the other choice is childish to them, but they also care most about what can directly benefit them, so are not going to get out of their way to help someone else, like an altruistic will. Children are altruistic by nature, it's just pragmatism that eats at this altruism (earlier than not. Some children are arses very very soon, sadly).

Now, as Tim would suggest, what would be very interesting is how much altruistic you can make a person if you force him to get superpowers, and experience that dreamy childish side we could all have.

[Colette]

Again, the closure of City of Heroes was a crime against culture.

So... how about other MMOs, where you kill people and pillage their stuff?

[TimtheEnchanter]

If I can cross-reference this to another study (named "Experiments with altruism in children and chimps" (very interesting video you should all watch)), and if I'm allowed to speak my mind freely, I'd like to think that altruism is 90% opposite to pragmatism. In that, pragmatists don't believe in flying a-la superman, so they're going to choose the helicopter because the other choice is childish to them, but they also care most about what can directly benefit them, so are not going to get out of their way to help someone else, like an altruistic will. Children are altruistic by nature, it's just pragmatism that eats at this altruism (earlier than not. Some children are arses very very soon, sadly).

Well, puberty probably doesn't help humans at all in that regard either. After those early years of altruism, suddenly the hormones try to turn us into Neanderthals, telling us that everything is a "mine is bigger than yours" contest, and that we have to be self-centered egomaniacs to boost our chances of reproducing.

[houtex]

The thing that I keep asking about that is...

If playing a Hero would make you more likely to be Heroic... would playing a Villain make you more likely to be Villainous?

/Ah yes, spin.   Watch one of them MSFoxNN stations run a story like that...