Superheroes/villians: Self identifying as 'good' or 'evil' makes you stronger!

Started by DarklingAlice, June 29, 2010, 03:58:13 PM

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DarklingAlice

In the field of cute and quirky science, I came across this:

Harvard Gazette: Strength in naughty or nice.

The basics:
QuoteNew research from Harvard University suggests that moral actions may increase people’s capacity for willpower and physical endurance. Study participants who did good deeds — or even just imagined themselves helping others — were better able to perform a subsequent task of physical endurance.

[...]

Gray’s findings are based on two studies. In the first, participants were given $1, and were told either to keep it or to donate it to charity. They were then asked to hold up a 5-lb. weight for as long as they could. Those who donated to charity could hold the weight up for almost 10 seconds longer, on average.
In a second study, participants held a weight while writing fictional stories of themselves either helping another, harming another, or doing something that had no impact on others. As before, those who thought about doing good were significantly stronger than those whose actions didn’t benefit other people.
However:
Quote
But surprisingly, the would-be malefactors were even stronger than those who envisioned doing good deeds.
No word yet on wether people who think of themselves as 'good' attract plucky sidekicks to compensate for their disadvantadge  :P
For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong.


Trieste

Heh. And then, not long after, "Plucky sidekick? Oh, we have a pill for that now."

Oniya

Quote from: DarklingAlice on June 29, 2010, 03:58:13 PM
No word yet on whether people who think of themselves as 'good' attract plucky sidekicks to compensate for their disadvantage  :P

Yes - however, the people who identify as 'evil' also attract minions.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Wolfy

Evil doesn't need friends. Only Minions.

Heroes need friends to compensate for their weakness.


Thus...come to the Darkside...We have cookies!...Evil cookies!

Chevalier des Poissons

If they were truly evil they would use that $1 to pay someone else to hold the weight for them, and then go home to plot world dominance.
-I have Maro's heart, and I promise to take good care of it-

A & A

Starlequin

Nonsense. Why should I pay someone to perform a task when I can simply hold their beloved goldfish hostage and pocket the money I saved?  >:)
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

Chevalier des Poissons

Quote from: Starlequin on June 29, 2010, 09:54:21 PM
Nonsense. Why should I pay someone to perform a task when I can simply hold their beloved goldfish hostage and pocket the money I saved?  >:)

Because if you do that they might call the Powerpuff Girls  ^-^
-I have Maro's heart, and I promise to take good care of it-

A & A

Starlequin

Bah! I am not afraid of the Powerpuff Girls! Afraid of the Powerpuff Girls is something that I am not! Never is the length of time I shall fear the Powerpuff Girls, and the amount of fear the Powerpuff Girls instill in me is zero! The Powerpuff Girls are weak! They are not strong! Stronger am I than the Powerpuff Girls, because the Powerpuff Girls are not as strong as me! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!

That is my evil laugh. It is mine because I made those sounds of malicious amusement just now, and it is evil because it is mine. It is a sign of my evil, and also my amusement. Tremble in fear at the sound of my evil laugh! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! There! I did it again! I made the laugh that is evil, and that is also mine! <evil and redundant rant fades off into the distance....>
You live for the fight when it's all that you've got.

Oniya

"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Trieste


Lilias

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
~Wendell Berry

Double Os <> Double As (updated Feb 20) <> The Hoard <> 50 Tales 2024 <> The Lab <> ELLUIKI

LIAR

Quote from: Starlequin on June 29, 2010, 11:48:49 PM
Bah! I am not afraid of the Powerpuff Girls! Afraid of the Powerpuff Girls is something that I am not! Never is the length of time I shall fear the Powerpuff Girls, and the amount of fear the Powerpuff Girls instill in me is zero! The Powerpuff Girls are weak! They are not strong! Stronger am I than the Powerpuff Girls, because the Powerpuff Girls are not as strong as me! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha!

That is my evil laugh. It is mine because I made those sounds of malicious amusement just now, and it is evil because it is mine. It is a sign of my evil, and also my amusement. Tremble in fear at the sound of my evil laugh! Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha! There! I did it again! I made the laugh that is evil, and that is also mine! <evil and redundant rant fades off into the distance....>

*giggle*

Writersblockade

It would be interesting to see what good and evil deeds do to a person's brain. I'm getting the vibe that whatever your alignment, those deeds make you feel better. Feeling better means the brain gets a good dose of endorphins, right? Wouldn't that give you a better ability to take the pain of holding the weight? Even if for a little while?

Just a thought.
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