Science!: Locust Swarms and Shoplifting

[Lauren Admire]

Science!: Locust Swarms and Shoplifting

Inside: If you're a shoplifter, chances are you're probably a jerk, too.

Read Full Article

 

[Jared]

Lady gaga will stay in anyones head though, lol, her music is pretty catcy for the most part

 

[Krakyn]

I was in the 97th percentile on the Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and I've shoplifted when I've felt that the establishment was gouging me, like when I was being charged $50 for an 8gb SD card.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I might print that shoplifting part out and give it to my old boss. She's head of security in our store now.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I was in the 97th percentile on the Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and I've shoplifted when I've felt that the establishment was gouging me, like when I was being charged $50 for an 8gb SD card.

Which was excessively priced due to the fact that it had a high shrinkage rate.

 

[Nincompoop]

Swidbert Ott... Swidbert Ott... Hmmm... I just can't stop thinking about that peculiar name.

I am a musician, and I generally have songs I like stuck in my head. But, I always have some song or melody stuck. Every single time I perform mundane tasks where I am able to hear inside my head I have something stuck. I honestly have never caught myself being silent. So, when I'm not thinking, I am apparently singing...

It probably makes more sense asking yourself something than stating something. If you state something, you move on. If you ask something, you don't really have the answer, and put some thought into it. The more we think about things, the more prone we are to either do it, or do something related to it.

No real comment on the last piece, except the usage of "agreeableness". Are you sure that's a word? =S.

Good article, but nothing that really was my coppatea. I prefer electronic or theoretical physics breakthroughs and stuff like that.

__
My current earworm is Sin With A Grin by Shinedown.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

Great. Now I can't stop humming the Inspector Gadget theme.

*dum-da-dum da-da-dum*

 

[Baneat]

" Ott and his team have found that a locust's brain swells to nearly 30 percent of its original size when in swarming mode."

Is it just me that can't make any sense of this sentence at all?, It grows, to 3/10ths of what it was?

 

[gigastrike]

Wake me up...befooore you go-go. Don't leave me haaaangin' out like a yo-yo...

 

[CrystalShadow]

Interesting, as always, though the first article is a little... Messed up gramattically.

a locust's brain swells to nearly 30 percent of its original size when in swarming mode.

This is a self-contradictory statement, since it implies something gets bigger, but then claims it's 30% of it's original size. (1/3).

It should either be 'swells by nearly 30 percent'
or 'swells to 130 percent'.

In any event, don't know why I feel the need to point that out.
It's all very interesting, but then it usually is.

 

[Formica Archonis]

Interesting, as always, though the first article is a little... Messed up gramattically.

Also has the construction "makes them join up with his buddies". Since the only individual male mentioned is the researcher, it makes me think he's friends with locusts or perhaps supervillains with insect powers.

Shoplifting: My main experiences with shoplifting were:
1) Being stuck in the bus seat behind a pair of teenagers discussing where the best places to shoplift from were. They were generally loud and obnoxious and annoying, even ignoring the topic matter.
2) About 20 feet where I am now, a shoplifting incident became a knifepoint assault and robbery when the shoplifter was caught by a salesperson. Said robber also took a few moments to terrorize a woman with two young children on his way out the door.

So if a scientific article says shoplifters are jerks, I'm not going to disagree. If anything, I'd say it was being too polite.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Kudos Lauren, I now have ALL those songs stuck in my head.

 

[ItsAPaul]

Why are surveys with less than a few thousand people under their belt taken seriously?

 

[carpathic]

Sure, I just HAD to see the inspector gadget theme song.

DOH!!!!

 

[The Random One]

I never had any of those songs stuck in my head... except for the Inspector Gadget theme song. It's amazing how theme songs get stuck in one's head - probably because they need to be catchy and their composers aren't given much time/freedom to work on them. I remember watching Pokémon for years with the TV muted during the theme song to prevent that.

Also, scientists may call it earworm, but to me it'll always be called 'humbug'.

Locusts are like the opposite of the Incredible Hulk. Now there's a superhero idea. 'You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry!' *brain starts to bulge*

The thing about self-affirmation is interesting to say the least, and I will definitively try it. I mean, will I try it at all?

Re: shoplifters: I'd say that people who are antisocial and disorganized are less likely to lie to hide the fact that they shoplifed.

been caught stealiiiing
when I was five
I enjoy stealing.
it's just
as simple as that
well, it's just
a simple fact
when I want something,
I dooooon't want to pay for iiiiiit

 

[thiosk]

NUMP DA DUMP PA DUM INSPECTOR GADGET

Actually, i've had the theme from this show in my head ALL DAY.

 

[gmacarthur81]

I was in the 97th percentile on the Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and I've shoplifted when I've felt that the establishment was gouging me, like when I was being charged $50 for an 8gb SD card.

No where in the article did it say they weren't smart, though possibly getting a criminal record for any sort of theft isn't too bright no matter what any test says.

They are also unpleasant, antisocial, disorganized and unreliable.

See.

 

[Krakyn]

I was in the 97th percentile on the Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and I've shoplifted when I've felt that the establishment was gouging me, like when I was being charged $50 for an 8gb SD card.

No where in the article did it say they weren't smart, though possibly getting a criminal record for any sort of theft isn't too bright no matter what any test says.

They are also unpleasant, antisocial, disorganized and unreliable.

See.

Analysis shows that those who were emotionally unstable, outgoing and lacking in agreeableness, intellect and conscientiousness were more accepting of the idea of shoplifting.

Way to read. I highlighted the important parts for you.

I'm also quite agreeable. Not so much conscientious.

 

[Logic 0]

Well now I can warn shopkeepers about who to watch out for.

 

[Ravek]

I was in the 97th percentile on the Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and I've shoplifted when I've felt that the establishment was gouging me, like when I was being charged $50 for an 8gb SD card.

What exactly do you suppose your anecdote is statistical evidence of?