#really cool stuff imo

[mjalti]

“What are some interesting psychological experiments?”

Venustraphobia, the fear of attractive women.

This experiment, one of the many, was actually tested by me.

I had read an article explaining how supposedly uncommon phobias are common. One of these examples were the fear of attractive women, and in general people. This had sparked my interest and the next day in school I started to plan down how to test if this was true or in better words, how common is this phobia, and after the experiment was over- assuming it succeeds- answer one question I was most interested in,

What's the most common range of scale that this phobia exists on if this proven to be true/common?

You still with me? Basically, what does level of attractiveness must it take for the average person to start acting accordingly so? And is it unconscious?

When were boarding the train and we choose to sit in a particular seat away from a particular random person and happen to be nearer to another randomly, did the person's attractiveness effected our decision unconsciously and if so, how long does it take for our conscious brain to catch on? Or what circumstances does it need for it to catch on? And how subjective is beauty anyway?

Bear with me if you've managed to reach this far.

I needed an attractive person, a very attractive person. Not any attractive person though, they needed to look a certain way. I chose intelligent (attractive people are mostly associated with intelligence) and more importantly sophisticated, someone's who looks like they've got their shit together.

I observed our school for any one who might fit the standards required but I was immediately out off. They’re too young for my liking. So the next day before school I went to a nearby university and, as creepy as it sounds, just observed the people walking in to attend their classes. When one girl got my attention.

She looked very feminine and like she had her shit together. She had medium length dark brown hair, light grey eyes, a nice body, a slim nose, small full lips and a very full set of eyebrows.

Everyone's 10/10. Don't fight me with one.

Before you knew it I was hesitant on approaching her, I even reconsidered what I doing and almost played out of part before I snapped out and kept repeating to myself the word venustraphobia until I reached her. I'm brilliant with words and persuasion so it wasn't too long before I got her to agree happily blushing crimson.

Later that week, during the experiment, I had her sit down on a fairly popular bench on near the boys block school premises to see how many people would sit next to her. Two scenarios, one dressed elegantly but still approachable and one in casual clothes.

Shockingly only several people (7–9) sat on her row of the bench for the entire 30 minutes while she was sitting there in casual clothes. You have to put this in consideration, normally a couple dozen people sit on a single row each.

She left and the people who were standing next to her sat down a few moments she got up and walked a bit. It filled up with a bunch of teenage year 12 boy and younger soon after. (I feel like age matters)

Wow. It affected almost everyone.

The next with elegant clothing was even better. When I located her somewhere else, even less people sat near her.

I interviewed some of the boys who sat when she got up some questions which answers satisfied me. I thanked them and left.

The results, are not out. Obviously it takes more than one experiment to come to a conclusion but I'm no scientist and I have a lot of homework and little time on my watch anyway. I might complete it in the holidays and get a bit if professional advice and help but in the meantime, it was fun to shoot. I made a new friend and also her day (she said year).

(x)

[mjalti]

“What is it like to be a supertaster?”

I’m a supertaster. I was tested with PTC, after which I had to flush out my mouth under the tap for a solid five minutes to keep from vomiting.

I used to get so angry when I’d ask someone if what they were eating had a particular ingredient in it and they’d say “no” or “I’m not sure” and it would be the first thing I’d taste when I took a bite. It took me a long time to realize that we weren’t all the same in our ability to taste.

Survey-style tests for supertasting always ask about whether or not you like beer, coffee, or Brussels sprouts, which I think can be a bit misleading. These may not be the favorites of a supertaster, but they aren’t so foul you can’t develop a tolerance and even an enjoyment of them. After I discovered that cilantro didn’t taste that way because it had actual soap on it I grew to tolerate it.

I think there are much more subtle and telling cues. Here’s my experience:

I only eat chocolate bars wrapped in foil because wax paper liners or paper wrapping make the chocolate taste like soap.

I can’t eat off paper plates without tasting the paper. Styrofoam is worse.

I can’t stand canned juice because the taste of the metal can ruins the flavor.

I don’t eat popsicles or ice cream pops because I can taste the bitter flavor of the wooden stick on the first bite.

I don’t eat mustard because it “stains” my tongue and I still taste it days later. I can taste even the smallest quantity of mustard in any food.

I won’t eat a pastry that has shared a refrigerator case with anything savory.

About 80% of the time the butter restaurants put out for the bread has picked up “flavors” from being stored in their refrigerators and tastes awful to me.

I don’t eat ice cream that has gums (carrageenan, guar, etc.) in it because I can taste the gum and it tastes sort of like yucky beans.

I avoid most food colorings, especially red, because they have a bitter taste that even tons of icing sugar can’t hide. (I never eat red M & M’s.)

I love peas because, although most people consider them bland, I find them to be incredibly sweet and packed with flavor.

(x)