If you're walking by a wall covered with graffiti, are you also more likely to litter? The Broken Window Theory, crystallized in a 1982 article in The Atlantic by political scientist James Q. Wilson and criminologist George L. Kelling, posits that the environment has a significant effect on whether people engage in antisocial behavior. But there's been little empirical research on just how "broken windows" lead to social disorder and crime--until now. In a series of cleverly designed experiments reported in a paper published online by Science this week (www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1161405), researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands found that if people see one norm or rule being violated (such as graffiti or a vehicle parked illegally), they're more likely to violate others--such as littering, or even stealing. In one setup, for example, the experimenters attached useless fliers to the handles of bicycles parked in an alley that had a sign on the wall forbidding graffiti. There was no trash can in the alley. The experimenters covertly watched how many people tossed the fliers on the pavement or put them on another bike rather than pocketing them for disposal. On another day, they set up the same condition in the same place, except with graffiti on the wall. The results were striking: When there was no graffiti, a third of 77 cyclists tossed the flier away. But more than two-thirds littered after the graffiti was applied. In another experiment involving a €5 note left sticking out of a mailbox, 13% of subjects pocketed it when the mailbox was in a clean environment, compared with 23% when there was trash around. Auditory cues can also set the scene for disorder. Four out of five cyclists littered their fliers when they could hear illegal firecrackers being set off, whereas barely half did so when it was quiet. Kelling commends the experiments as "very tidy." He says that most earlier studies "dealt with correlation rather than causality" but that there is growing evidence for the broken window effect. A Harvard University study, reported earlier this year, found that scrupulous "situational prevention" in troubled neighborhoods in Lowell, Massachusetts--in particular, added policing and cleanup--was more effective than social services or law enforcement in maintaining order. The study demonstrates that disorder in the environment has a generalized effect, says social psychologist Robert Cialdini of Arizona State University, Tempe. That finding suggests government agencies can expect a big payoff from what he calls "relatively minor efforts, let's say, to keep the streets clean." Cialdini says his research has found that people's pro-social behavior can be calibrated to quite a fine degree and is shaped not only by what they see but also by what they believe to be true. For example, many hotel bathrooms have signs advising visitors that reusing their towels is good for the environment. On any given day, he says, about 38% of guests will reuse their towels. But the percentage rises to one-half if guests are told that a majority of the hotel's guests reuse their towels. "And if we say, 'The majority of guests in this room' reuse towels, we get even more [participation]," says Cialdini.

Clever, make the image small so no scrolling required. What you lose in impact you gain in ambush. Clearly I'm up against a master...

Well heck, I meant to make Ngonge flinch, not hide under the table

A flash animation of the above

There's a well-known phenomena in which the more a person gets suckered in to a con, the more they will commit. Basically, say I tell you to give me $20 and in return I will give you $100. Then next week I tell you there's been a problem yada yada and that I need an additional $5 and I will give you $125 back. Most people will reason that if they give up now, then they've lost $20. Obviously, the $5 they risk now is worth less than the $20 already committed. Then next time I ask for $20, now you will feel like a real !diot if you don't try to recoup your $25, so you might as well play again. This snowballs and you finally end up spending much more than you would have originally won, all in an attempt to save that original pittance.

You need to check more often Or you're not GMT-compliant Or you're not a troll

Markay gaarto 4:56 PM bay kala yaacaan the Brits.

^Is it the anti-gravity chip? Nothing will ever induce me to buy Apple products. Damn hipsters ruined it for everyone.

If he wanted guarantees, he should have married one of the girls he already deflowered (LOL). Or is that too logical a solution? What is Juus Gareen System @ Nuune? Somehow I expected RedSea in here, giving graphic but largely irrelevant advice

Oh to be precise, this is Neeko, Somali dance. Sort of watered down mapouka. Seriously? That's a watered down version of another dance? :eek:

See that really just made me curious about anatomy. I wonder if you can do the same trick through the ear canal And I never too you for a sadist. Wait 'til middle age kulahaa. Dude, 3 years is a long time!

Yeah I don't understand the scoring either. Obviously it's rigged in some way, I've never gotten a score of 28% on anything :mad:

TP, Is there a cure for SISSY? Reaching middle age maybe? But no, Ngonge is afraid of snakes, specially when they do this: Revenge is sweet. Sorry to all the bystanders

Funnily enough that doesn't really do it. Only the boy with the too-many joints and making the violated-kitten sound terrifies me to the depth of my skeptic's soul.

Of course not, Ngonge. Why would a mere screen capture from a silly horror movie scare the bejesus out of me in broad daylight? It's not as if I swore off horror movies after watching The Grudge, or came home that night, moved the bed to the farthest wall from the door, and slept with my back against said wall? What kind of scaredycat do you take me for anyway? And it's not like I typed all that with my eyes closed in case of accidentally catching a glimpse of the creepy brat.

I hate you Ngonge.

I have to admit I thought I was immune to Funny Internet Stories but I cracked up when he sent the picture with that stumpy 8th spider leg.

The International Space Station is looking rather defenseless. Car ha soo kor maro Africa

Isn't that practically Madagascar? Maybe the pirates waa lagu cariiriyey their usual haunts, so they have to range further out for prey. I imagine nearer to home the ships are well-defended. Pretty incredible either way.

Gosh, everyone is sneezing or sniffling today. I took the flu shot but I don't wanna catch a cold

At ease GJ. Must go to a boring seminar now, I wish one could troll those things too. But free pizza doesn't hurt...

LOL. Well done Adam. Hello trollers. Xaad haaysaan? I'm assuming the first SOL shift is winding to a close. Where my North American peeps at?

Che, that's a great story. Still I can't help seeing your protagonist in Ngonge's outfit

Be rich, or eat as if you are.

^Dammit!