would u rather ruin a kid’s birthday party or steal an old lady’s purse
Ruining a kid's birthday causes deep, memorable emotional trauma. While stealing from an old lady causes financial loss and a violation of physical safety.
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I'm quite aware of the general outcomes. But thank you for providing the accompanying explanatory notes. I was concerned I might struggle to determine why having one's purse stolen would be unpleasant.
The existing difficulty with your question, however, is that you've omitted the only part that would make it worth considering. Why am I doing either? What exactly do these actions accomplish? Contrary to popular belief, I don't actually spend my days selecting victims according to whatever seems amusing at the time.
If both actions are equally purposeless, then neither is particularly appealing. One produces a distressed child. The other produces a distressed elderly woman. Neither outcome is especially informative in isolation. If, however, they serve a larger objective, then my answer changes. If I were studying the effects of fear, humiliation, loss, social embarrassment, or perceived vulnerability under those respective conditions, I could construct a reasonable argument for either. Possibly both.
The child would provide useful observations regarding expectation violation, emotional investment, and the disruption of a personally significant event. The elderly woman would provide useful observations regarding vulnerability, security, autonomy, and perceived loss of control. Entirely different demographics. Entirely different stressors. Though from a research perspective, it's actually a rather poorly designed comparison. I'd need more participants before drawing any meaningful conclusions.
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