Removing bandages from a Gaza victimMike was listening to this lecture by behavioral economist Dan Ariely on the hidden reasons we think it’s OK to cheat or steal. Now, I didn’t listen to the lecture, but that answer is pretty apparent: cheating and stealing can give reproductive advantages when done successfully, so a genotype that allows for a moral code that allows you to cheat and steal when you won’t get caught is likely to be selected for. That may or may not be what this guy said, but that’s what makes sense to me.
More interesting is the little story Ariely tells about bandages and pains. Apparently, he was pretty badly burnt sometime in his pants and had bandages all over his body. When it was time to take them off, the nurse told him the best way to do it was to remove them quickly, so he’d have a lot of pain, but for a short period of time. He agreed to that, but then went on to research what was the best way to deal with the pain of removing bandages. He made a series of experiments (I wonder how he got approval to do those, given the amount of pain he must have inflicted on his willing participants), and found out that that was not the best way to deal with the pain of taking off bandages. The best way is:
-Start with the bandages in the most painful areas, so the pain will decrease over time.
-Remove bandages more slowly, lower pain for more extended periods is actually easier to bear than a lot of pain at once.
-Take a break between removing bandages, so you can rest from the periods of pain.
It all makes sense to me, and next time I have to remove a bandage or a band-aid, I’ll try his recommendations.