HCR Update from Mark Sanna: Shock the Monkey

Would you rather: a) Spend some time alone with your thoughts; or b) Receive an electrical shock from a 9-volt battery? A recent study found that, left alone in a room for 15 minutes with a shock-administering device, 67% of men and 25% of women chose to zap themselves rather than do nothing. The average number of shocks was about three, though one man jolted himself 190 times, or every 4.8 seconds. “I suspect our results say more about the limits of the human mind than they do about contemporary society,” said Timothy Wilson, the lead author.