1304 Heavy Thoughts

Sometimes scientists do the darndest things.
Like recently, psychologists at MIT figured out we give more weight to things that weigh more. The heavier it is, the seriouser we take it.
An interesting thing to find out. Put aside for a moment that we also found out that Massachusetts Institute of Technology has soft sciences like psychology. What is amazing is that they validated what we already know from our language.
Here’s what they did. They determined that feelings can be altered by tactile output and stimulation. Well hit me over the head and get my attention! Really?
In mock job interviews, they figured out that the interviewer viewed applicants more seriously if the interviewer held a heavier clipboard. Light clipboards made for light impressions.
(So if you want to impress a potential boss, print your resume on heavier paper.)
They also found that comfort plays a role. Car buyers were more likely to hang around and haggle if they were in comfortable chairs, more likely to buy and get it over with if they were in hard wooden ones.
The psychologists also concluded this helps explain the development of such metaphors as I’ve had a “rough” day, and making a “weighty” decision.
Well duh. That’s what a metaphor is—using a physical thing to invoke the framework of a feeling. If you ask me, these psychologists are mental lightweights. Us common folks have known for years how language structures our perceptions and our reality.
We’ve been carrying that serious load of knowledge for a long time. Ever since the sixties at least, when some nameless mental giant uttered that immortal phrase about carrying the weight of existence.
“That’s heavy, dude...”
America, ya gotta love it.