Virtual Superpowers Translate To Real Life Desire To Help 56
sciencehabit writes "You don't have to be Superman to help those in need, but you might be more willing to do so if you get a taste of his powers. When subjects in a new study strapped on virtual reality helmets, half of them were given the ability to fly around a simulated city, while the others sat passively in helicopters. Some were allowed to merely explore the city from their aerial vantage points; others were told they needed to find a missing diabetic child and deliver his lifesaving insulin. Regardless of which task they performed, the subjects granted the superpower of flight were more likely to help a researcher pick up spilled pens after the experiment was. The results have researchers wondering if our brains might react to the memory of a virtual experience as though it had really happened. If so, we may be able to use virtual reality and gaming to effectively treat psychological disorders such as PTSD."
VR BS (Score:4, Insightful)
No need for the VR hardware BS, just ask a DM / GM about how their players behave after leveling up. In fact you need a correction factor for "3 dimensional thinking" vs "2 dimensional thinking". Think how cranky Kahn was in ST:2 and his legendary two-dimensional thinking.
I think you need to correct the study for happiness, although how you'd do it without bias is a mystery. Its probably easy to half ass it, like most soft sciences.
People are generally good (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:People are generally good (Score:4, Insightful)
I need mod points (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you for being the first person to state the obvious here.
Oh, and let me paraphrase the summary:
We gave one group of subjects strawberry ice cream cones. We gave a second group dry spaghetti noodles.
Afterward, members of the first group were more willing to do us a favor than members of the second group.
Therefore, we conclude that there is a link between strawberries and altruistic behavior.