Ring a Bell And I'll Salivate

mosch writes "Humans have been trained to yearn for ice cream in the same way as Pavlov's fabled bell. I won't be impressed until they can make a healthy human male yearn for a nice healthy vegan dinner."

Comments

Vegans

[Anonymous Coward]

I won't be impressed until they can make a healthy human male yearn for a nice healthy vegan dinner.

What about a healthy human male yearning for a nice healthy vegan? ;-D

Re:Vegans

[bad_fx]

Pfah, as everybody knows those Vegans are way too stringy. And so little meat on their bones... It really takes a master chef to prepare a half decent meal from one of them.

ISR, Bell Rings YOU

[Lije Baley]

Just how did Pavlov get the bell to crave ice cream??
And you call yourselves editors...

Kill Vegans ...

[zangdesign]

The only good Vegan is a dead Vegan. I remember back in The Big War, this cadre of those blasted three-eyed bastards from Vega was ... what? We got Earthians wantin' to be Vegans?

Great Malda's Ghost! What is this world coming to? Don't those poor misguided Earth children know anything about the Vegans at ... vegetarians?

Vegetarians?! What? What kinda damn philosophical movement names themselves after three-eyed bastards from space? Damn! Damn!

At what point was this doubted?

[ip_vjl]

Humans can be trained to crave food in response to abstract prompts just like Pavlov's dogs, reveals new research.

Maybe I'm out of touch - but at what point was it even questioned whether or not conditioned response worked on humans? Sure we've got a lot more going on that might "override" the stimulus, but conditioned response just seems to be one of those very primitive reactions that would still be with us.

Re:At what point was this doubted?

[cpeterso]

Humans obviously can NOT be conditioned like animals. Humans are not animals; they are the keepers of Our Lord's Earth. Humans were perfectly designed by the Grand Creator Lord Jesus On High. Let us pray that He will deliver us from those heathens in Alabama who are stealing our constitutional rights to free (as in beer) speech and freedom from illegal religions.

Re:At what point was this doubted?

[JanneM]

Yep. There is one fun exercise a class can do to a teacher if they want:

Decide on some desired behavior (the typical example would be standing by the door, and/or standing with the back towards the class). Then, whenever the teacher does something that is a bit like the desired behavior - moves a step or two towards the door, for example, some people should perk up a little, smile a little more and show a little more interest in what the teacher says. If the teacher moves away from the desired goal, do the opposite - lose concentration, look less happy and so on.

_If_ the class does this unobtrusively, so the teacher does not conciously notice something going on, you are likely to have that teacher finishing up the class standing next to the door, talking over his shoulder.

In social animals, such as humans, the most powerful reinforcer of them all is social interaction. It works far better than any other rewarding stimulus.

Consider yourself impressed.

[tordia]

I won't be impressed until they can make a healthy human male yearn for a nice healthy vegan dinner.

As a healthy male vegan, can consider yourself impressed.

I generally yearn for food from one of Chicago's many vegan-friendly restaurants than my own concoctions, but that says more about my cooking abilities than anything else.

Some other, more well-known, healthy male vegans:

• Jack LaLanne (Fitness guru) (vegan)
• Dave Scott (five time winner of the Ironman Triathlon) (vegan)

Re:Consider yourself impressed.

[eclectric]

I also offer http://www.famousveggie.com/peoplenew.cfm for your consideration.

It's rather like claiming a healthy married male is incapable of resisting the temptations of other beautiful women. It sells short our sex.

i wonder how much commercials

[Unknown Poltroon]

contributes to the obesity problem in america? The constant programming every 5 minutes that food makes you happy? Reminding you to eat ever 5 minutes? How does that affect your brain?

Vegans

[sidmystic]

I can't stand eating vegans ... tend to choke on their self-righteousness.

Re:ah... so it begins...

[Experiment 626]

I think part of it is backlash against the militant vegetarians who try to impose their beliefs on others. The non-vegetarians do not want want to hear all about "meat is murder", the conditions in a slaughterhouse, or the plight of the cow they ate for lunch. The vocal minority of vegetarians' self-righteous attitude and proselytizing causes them all to be viewed by suspicion by some people, much as some people react towards Christians.

Of course, there are other factors as well. In American society, men tend to eat a lot of red meat, whereas salads and vegetables, being more popular among female diets, are sometimes viewed as "chick food". While these are not a universal correlation (men eat some salads, women do eat hamburgers), the topic post's reference to males' dislike for vegan foods clearly plays to this tendency. Deviation from societal norms leads to occasional abrasiveness and ridicule, particularly when it comes to behavior that is deemed unmanly. If I showed up for work on Monday with a pink Hello Kitty t-shirt, the other guys at work would probably tease me.

Level 5 vegans?

[JasonMaggini]

I always think of the Simpsons:
"I'm a level 5 vegan, I don't eat anything that casts a shadow."