Consequences: EXPERIMENT 4

How do things we do change our future?
Can a small deed change our future in a dramatic way?

Of course it can!!

Two years ago I decided to read a book. The author of that book assured that it could change my life if I tried to put in practice the knowledge inside it, so I decided to try.

As I am a very optimistic person, I hoped changes in my life. But now, two years later, I begin to realize how that decision influenced my future. It is fascinating how a little happening drives us to another little one, and another one, and another one... changing the course of our life forever.

Since that moment, I started to pay attention to the consequences of my acts, noticing that every decision we take change our future in a dramatic way.

#EXPERIMENT 4

Do you want to change something in your life?

It is easy! Just take a decision: start taking piano lessons, ask that beautiful girl (or boy) out, read an interesting book, take a long trip, start jogging,...

It is very interesting, because you never know the way in what that decision is going to change your life. But, is that so important? I do not think so. Sometimes we just need to change things out. So, as I said in the earlier post: Just do it!

I'm waiting for your experiences!!

Why don't we try? EXPERIMENT 3

"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we might win, by fearing to attempt"

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

I have just read by chance (chance does not exist) this famous quote and I have not been able to avoid writing about it.

Have you ever seen a very good opportunity? Have you ever felt that was YOUR time to take action and, however, you did not do anything? Why?

I confess to having done the same. Why? Because of the fear. Fear of taking the wrong decision, of disturbing the others. Fear of doing something stupid.

But most of times it has no sense at all!! And I have found an experiment that proves it.

#EXPERIMENT 3

Look at the following picture, taken from www.xkcd.com (a very recommendable site).

This picture gives us a kind of "regret percentage". As we can see, people who did not take action regret 10 times more than those who did. So if you have the chance to do something you want, do it! Maybe you will regret later, but if you don't do it you can be sure you will.

Although I hate the philosophy of the world big companies (always trying to make us think that happiness can be bought with money, and only with money) there is a sentence used by one of them in TV spots that summarize very well this post:

Just do it!

Share your experiments!!

Do you have any interesting, painless experiment you want to share with the rest of the world?

Just write it here as a comment and I will change it into a post (with your name as author, of course)

Collaborate!!

Smile! EXPERIMENT 2

Do you like to smile?

I love smiling and I have just remembered something a teacher told me this summer: "If you smile to somebody (in the street or wherever you are) they will return the smile nine of every ten times."

So let's check if my teacher was right...

#EXPERIMENT 2: SMILE!

Just try to smile while you walk on the street and look at the people reaction. Do they smile too?

Questions: EXPERIMENT 1

The first idea about this blog was to create a place where people could find interesting (and painless) experiments to try. So...

#EXPERIMENT 1: ASK!

Find a person you don't know yet and try to begin a conversation with him/her/it as shown below:

- Hi! What's your name?
- (doubtingly) Hi... My name is #&%
- I must ask you something: Would you like to know the precise date of your death?

Ok, maybe that is not the best question you can ask ;)
Just choose one question of the list and try.
I will do it, I promise :)
And, of course, I will write here the results.

Answers... (1)

As I want you to answer the previous questions, maybe I should do it before.
So these are my answers:




Would you accept twenty-five years of extraordinary happiness if it meant you would die at the end of the period?

Yes, I would. Not only would I win 25 years of "extraordinary happiness" but I also would ensure 25 more years living. I am 24 now, so I would live happy until 49 and then die happy. It is not a bad plan.

For a person you loved deeply, would you be willing to move to a distant country knowing there would be very little chance at ever seeing your family again?

Yes, I would. I love my family, but if I was sure about my feelings (and her feelings, of course) I would be able to move to the farthest place in the world.

Would you willingly have one finger removed if it somehow guaranteed immunity from all major diseases?

Hmmm... Yes. I have ten fingers and only one heart, one brain, one liver,... I can sacrifice one finger to protect the other organs. No problem with that.

Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make one final dash into the house to save any one thing. What would it be?

I don't have special affection for things. Maybe I would save my pictures in order to refresh my memory in the future.

You are given the power to kill people. They would die a natural death and no one would suspect you. How would you use this power?

I think I would never use it... Hmmm... Maybe if someone kidnapped a very loved person or tried to kill him/her... I don't know.

Would you rather be extremely successful professionally, with a fairly ordinary private life - or a very happy private life and only an ordinary professional life?

No doubt about it: a very happy private life and an ordinary professional life. I work to live, I don't live to work. I know that job is a very important thing in life (you spend A LOT of time there) but it is not the most important one.

Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 500 years at any physical age you choose?

Yes!! I don't know why almost everybody answer "No" to this question. 500 years!! With the age you choose!! You would be able to live young for half a millennium!! You would know millions of people, travel to thousands of places all around the world, discover what the future is going to bring,... I know there are some important disadvantages, but I think I would do it.

To be continued...

Questions... (2)

More questions to think about:


If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone?


If a new medicine were developed that would cure arthritis but cause a fatal reaction in 1 percent of those who took it, would you want it to be released to the public?


If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the body or the mind of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want?


If at birth you could select the profession your child would eventually pursue, would you do so?


If you knew there would be a nuclear war in one week, what would do? (you can’t stop it)


If the person you were engaged to marry had an accident and became a paraplegic, would you go through with the marriage or back out of it?


Someone very close to you is in pain, paralyzed, and will die in a month. They beg you to give them poison so they that they can die. Would you?


Given the choice of anyone in the world, who would you want as your dinner guest? as a close friend? as a lover?


What is the worst psychological torture you can imagine suffering? (it cannot involve any physical harm to you)?


You and a person you love deeply are placed in separate rooms with a button next to each of you. You know that you will both be killed unless one of you presses the button before 60 minutes pass; furthermore, the first to press the button will save the other person, but will immediately be killed. What do you think you would do?


Would you be willing to go to a slaughterhouse and kill a cow?


What is the most interesting thing you have done in the last three months?


For $20,000 would you go for 3 months without washing, brushing your teeth, and using deodorant? Assume you could not explain your reasons to anyone, and there would be no long-term effect on your career (you are not choosing one, you would have to go without all three).


Which of these restrictions could you best tolerate: leaving your country permanently or never leaving the country in which you now live?


If you could choose the sex and physical appearance of your soon-to-be-born child, would you do it?


If you died tonight, would you go to heaven or hell? What do you think?


If your friends and acquaintances were willing to bluntly tell you what they really think of you, would you want them to?


Would it disturb you much if, upon your death, your body were simply thrown into the woods and left to rot?


Would you be willing to give up all television for the next 5 years if it would induce someone to provide for 1,000 starving children in Indonesia?


Would you like to know the precise date of your death?

Questions... (1)

Here there are some interesting questions to make you think about yourself and to know others better:


Would you accept twenty-five years of extraordinary happiness if it meant you would die at the end of the period?


For a person you loved deeply, would you be willing to move to a distant country knowing there would be very little chance at ever seeing your family again?


Would you willingly have one finger removed if it somehow guaranteed immunity from all major diseases?


Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make one final dash into the house to save any one thing. What would it be?


You are given the power to kill people. They would die a natural death and no one would suspect you. How would you use this power?


Would you rather be extremely successful professionally, with a fairly ordinary private life - or a very happy private life and only an ordinary professional life?


Would you be willing to become extremely ugly physically if it meant you would live for 500 years at any physical age you choose?


Would you accept a job twice as good as your current one - twice as much income and twice as fulfilling - given one condition of employment: you can never reveal


For one million dollars, would you pick up one, point it to your head and pull the trigger? You get to keep the money regardless of the outcome.


Would you be willing to reduce your life expectancy by five years to become extremely attractive?


If you could take a one-month trip to anywhere in the world, and money were not a consideration, where would you go and what would you do?


Would you be willing to murder an innocent person if it meant ending hunger in the world?