Twitter has been agog with a story which began when a daughter wanted some baked beans and her father, John Roderick —a.k.a. "Bean Dad"—told her to open a can and heat some up. But the
Sideswipe: January 07: Opening a can of beans on Twitter
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Ana Samways
Card's international detour
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A reader writes: "We were in Auckland in November and sent a birthday card to a relative in Nelson. We wondered why she hadn't received it on time as we allowed about a week. She finally received it exactly two weeks later and to our amazement it had been stamped by the Swiss post office in Zurich. Funnily enough we actually handed it to the collector as he was clearing our local post box as it was right on 5pm and we were pleased we made it. I have to say in these trying times of Covid a fortnight isn't bad to go from Auckland via Zurich to Nelson ."
Smoke gets in your eyes
Idea: In an experiment, a person in a room is filling out a questionnaire when smoke starts coming under the door. What do you do? You would get up and leave, tell someone in charge and do so without hesitation, right? Now imagine the same situation, except that you are with several other people who don't seem to care about the smoke. What do you do now?
Results: When alone, 75 per cent of people reported the smoke almost immediately. However, when two actors were present, who were working with the experimenters and told to act as if nothing was wrong, only 10 per cent of the subjects left the room or reported the smoke. Nine out of 10 subjects actually kept working on the questionnaire, while rubbing their eyes and waving smoke out of their faces. We seem to rely heavily on the responses of others even against our own instincts. If the group acts as if everything is OK then it must be, right? Wrong. Don't let the passivity of others result in your inaction.