Beer googles: the studies
September 15, 2013 1:20 PM Subscribe
‘Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder’: People who think they are drunk also think they are attractive (full-text PDF) is a study that just won the IgNobel Prize for Psychology. Previously, bar-hopping researchers had demonstrated (paywalls, abstracts only) that the "beer goggles" effect affected men and women equally, could last as long as 24 h (for men rating women) and was not selective for opposite-sex faces, that the reduced ability of inebriated people to perceive asymmetry was a potential culprit, that beer goggles were no excuse for having sex with minors because even heavy alcohol consumption does not interfere with age-perception, and even that the effect did not exist at all.
Too late, Ignobles have been awarded already this year!
posted by elpapacito at 1:49 PM on September 15, 2013
posted by elpapacito at 1:49 PM on September 15, 2013
Too late, Ignobles have been awarded already this year!
Not sure if you're joking or not, but the #1 Ignoble prize for this year was about beer goggles.
posted by hippybear at 1:59 PM on September 15, 2013
Not sure if you're joking or not, but the #1 Ignoble prize for this year was about beer goggles.
posted by hippybear at 1:59 PM on September 15, 2013
Why am I imagining the science team from Better Off Ted running this research on a new drink additive that's supposed to make you seem more attractive?
posted by The Whelk at 2:20 PM on September 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 2:20 PM on September 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
hippybear: "Too late, Ignobles have been awarded already this year!
Not sure if you're joking or not, but the #1 Ignoble prize for this year was about beer goggles."
Indeed, as the first line of this FPP actually points out.
MefiGoggles?
posted by chavenet at 2:54 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Not sure if you're joking or not, but the #1 Ignoble prize for this year was about beer goggles."
Indeed, as the first line of this FPP actually points out.
MefiGoggles?
posted by chavenet at 2:54 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
but the #1 Ignoble prize for this year was about beer goggles.
In fact, it's prizes.
As well as the 'beer goggles', there was also:
"PEACE PRIZE: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding."
as well as:
"PROBABILITY PRIZE: Bert Tolkamp [UK, the NETHERLANDS], Marie Haskell [UK], Fritha Langford [UK, CANADA], David Roberts [UK], and Colin Morgan [UK], for making two related discoveries: First, that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up; and Second, that once a cow stands up, you cannot easily predict how soon that cow will lie down again."
and:
"JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: Marie Dacke [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA], Emily Baird [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], Marcus Byrne [SOUTH AFRICA, UK], Clarke Scholtz [SOUTH AFRICA], and Eric J. Warrant [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way.
More prizes here
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:17 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
In fact, it's prizes.
As well as the 'beer goggles', there was also:
"PEACE PRIZE: Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding."
as well as:
"PROBABILITY PRIZE: Bert Tolkamp [UK, the NETHERLANDS], Marie Haskell [UK], Fritha Langford [UK, CANADA], David Roberts [UK], and Colin Morgan [UK], for making two related discoveries: First, that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up; and Second, that once a cow stands up, you cannot easily predict how soon that cow will lie down again."
and:
"JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: Marie Dacke [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA], Emily Baird [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], Marcus Byrne [SOUTH AFRICA, UK], Clarke Scholtz [SOUTH AFRICA], and Eric J. Warrant [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way.
More prizes here
posted by Mister Bijou at 3:17 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
"three participants in anti-placebo condition suspected a discrepancy
between what they were told concerning their beverage and what they were actually given."
Only three? I'm always a bit astonished at studies where participants drink something they are told contains alcohol, but in fact it doesn't. Do most people really have a hard time telling if a beverage has alcohol? Maybe I'm either particularly sensitive to the taste of alcohol, or just have an inflated opinion of my own sensory perception, but it really blows my mind that you could be cold sober and not tell if something really rates as an "alcoholic beverage"...
posted by kanuck at 3:21 PM on September 15, 2013
between what they were told concerning their beverage and what they were actually given."
Only three? I'm always a bit astonished at studies where participants drink something they are told contains alcohol, but in fact it doesn't. Do most people really have a hard time telling if a beverage has alcohol? Maybe I'm either particularly sensitive to the taste of alcohol, or just have an inflated opinion of my own sensory perception, but it really blows my mind that you could be cold sober and not tell if something really rates as an "alcoholic beverage"...
posted by kanuck at 3:21 PM on September 15, 2013
From the Ignobel prize page:
SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE: The late Gustano Pizzo [USA], for inventing an electro-mechanical system to trap airplane hijackers — the system drops a hijacker through trap doors, seals him into a package, then drops the encapsulated hijacker through the airplane's specially-installed bomb bay doors, whence he parachutes to earth, where police, having been alerted by radio, await his arrival. US Patent #3811643, Gustano A. Pizzo, "anti hijacking system for aircraft", May 21, 1972. - See more at: http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#sthash.uslfok9R.dpuf
That is AWESOME.
posted by WidgetAlley at 3:43 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE: The late Gustano Pizzo [USA], for inventing an electro-mechanical system to trap airplane hijackers — the system drops a hijacker through trap doors, seals him into a package, then drops the encapsulated hijacker through the airplane's specially-installed bomb bay doors, whence he parachutes to earth, where police, having been alerted by radio, await his arrival. US Patent #3811643, Gustano A. Pizzo, "anti hijacking system for aircraft", May 21, 1972. - See more at: http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#sthash.uslfok9R.dpuf
That is AWESOME.
posted by WidgetAlley at 3:43 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Finally, a scientific study on my garbled attempt of a pick up line delivered around 1am on my 21st birthday!
"Heyyy... I'm pretty pretty when I'm drunk...wait."
She wasn't amused, (un?)fortunately.
posted by zinful at 3:49 PM on September 15, 2013
"Heyyy... I'm pretty pretty when I'm drunk...wait."
She wasn't amused, (un?)fortunately.
posted by zinful at 3:49 PM on September 15, 2013
I don't take anything for granted about basic assumptions on what should or shouldn't happen when you test people for things that you would never think twice about. I'm constantly surprised at the answers to seemingly binary questions.
Our concrete perception of what we consider reality, speaking strictly in terms of molecular biology rather than abstract "what if this is all a dream, man" musings, the whole process is just a series of intrinsically flawed illusions or computing shortcuts, and the deeper you go, the more questions are raised and you're left with increasingly fewer assumptions to go on.
As it was said best by Bill Hicks...
"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration – that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."
My own irrelevant musings aside, I'm not surprised by people failing to notice they're drunk. I meet people who have failed to notice they're suicidally depressed, or that they have a tumor the size of a baby. People in general are terrible observers of the human condition.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 3:55 PM on September 15, 2013 [5 favorites]
Our concrete perception of what we consider reality, speaking strictly in terms of molecular biology rather than abstract "what if this is all a dream, man" musings, the whole process is just a series of intrinsically flawed illusions or computing shortcuts, and the deeper you go, the more questions are raised and you're left with increasingly fewer assumptions to go on.
As it was said best by Bill Hicks...
"Today, a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration – that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There's no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we're the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather."
My own irrelevant musings aside, I'm not surprised by people failing to notice they're drunk. I meet people who have failed to notice they're suicidally depressed, or that they have a tumor the size of a baby. People in general are terrible observers of the human condition.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 3:55 PM on September 15, 2013 [5 favorites]
People who think they are drunk also think they are attractive
An odd phrasing there: are they drunk or do they just think they are drunk? Anyway, as counterpoint I offer the observation that drunkenness has never made me more convinced of my attractiveness. I've imagined myself funnier than I am, or more interesting, maybe, but never more attractive. That always seems to be a constant. Unfortunately.
posted by octobersurprise at 4:07 PM on September 15, 2013
An odd phrasing there: are they drunk or do they just think they are drunk? Anyway, as counterpoint I offer the observation that drunkenness has never made me more convinced of my attractiveness. I've imagined myself funnier than I am, or more interesting, maybe, but never more attractive. That always seems to be a constant. Unfortunately.
posted by octobersurprise at 4:07 PM on September 15, 2013
Okay, well, that dung beetle navigation thing is amazing and fascinating and I can't wait to get the article.
(Also I love the image of all the biologists bringing their dung beetles into the planetarium for experiments)
posted by gerstle at 4:31 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
(Also I love the image of all the biologists bringing their dung beetles into the planetarium for experiments)
posted by gerstle at 4:31 PM on September 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wait, I thought Beer Googles was the thing that happened when I've had a few too many and I keep posting shit that amuses me over and over around two am on Facebook.
posted by Kitteh at 5:24 PM on September 15, 2013
posted by Kitteh at 5:24 PM on September 15, 2013
As the t-shirts available at any Mexican resort attest, there are 4 Stages of Tequila:
Stage 1: I'm rich
Stage 2: I'm good looking
Stage 3: I'm bullet proof
Stage 4: I'm invisible
posted by islander at 5:32 PM on September 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Stage 1: I'm rich
Stage 2: I'm good looking
Stage 3: I'm bullet proof
Stage 4: I'm invisible
posted by islander at 5:32 PM on September 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Had to look up the Belarus thing. Apparently protesting was made illegal, so people started protesting by doing this slow clap (kind of the opposite intention of this youtube link). So the president made clapping illegal. The police got a little carried away in their arrests, and they even convicted the one armed guy who could easily prove his innocence.
Apparently they've also arrested a deaf mute for shouting out political slogans, so I guess there's a history of this.
A Swedish artist dropped teddy bears with parachutes over Belerus in protest of human rights conditions in the country. As a result the over-reacting president fired two generals for not protecting the Belarus airspace against the 'intrusion'.
posted by eye of newt at 5:53 PM on September 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Apparently they've also arrested a deaf mute for shouting out political slogans, so I guess there's a history of this.
A Swedish artist dropped teddy bears with parachutes over Belerus in protest of human rights conditions in the country. As a result the over-reacting president fired two generals for not protecting the Belarus airspace against the 'intrusion'.
posted by eye of newt at 5:53 PM on September 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
islander: "As the t-shirts available at any Mexican resort attest, there are 4 Stages of Tequila:
Stage 1: I'm rich
Stage 2: I'm good looking
Stage 3: I'm bullet proof
Stage 4: I'm invisible"
For me, there's a stage 5 - I am a sexy, charming GOD among men, but in a nice, pleasant, only in my head way. Potential partners are too blinded by my awesomesity to approach me. Their loss...
posted by Samizdata at 6:37 PM on September 15, 2013
Stage 1: I'm rich
Stage 2: I'm good looking
Stage 3: I'm bullet proof
Stage 4: I'm invisible"
For me, there's a stage 5 - I am a sexy, charming GOD among men, but in a nice, pleasant, only in my head way. Potential partners are too blinded by my awesomesity to approach me. Their loss...
posted by Samizdata at 6:37 PM on September 15, 2013
As the t-shirts available at any Mexican resort attest, there are 4 Stages of Tequila:
Are those the four-panel T-shirts that feature Garfield? If so, point of historical interest, they were selling the same ones in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea in 1982. Itaewon being the red-light district that 'serviced' American troops stationed at the massive U.S. military base close by.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:40 AM on September 16, 2013
Are those the four-panel T-shirts that feature Garfield? If so, point of historical interest, they were selling the same ones in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea in 1982. Itaewon being the red-light district that 'serviced' American troops stationed at the massive U.S. military base close by.
posted by Mister Bijou at 12:40 AM on September 16, 2013
An odd phrasing there: are they drunk or do they just think they are drunk? Anyway, as counterpoint I offer the observation that drunkenness has never made me more convinced of my attractiveness. I've imagined myself funnier than I am, or more interesting, maybe, but never more attractive. That always seems to be a constant. Unfortunately.
I'll jump in to support this with my anecdata. There are two mental states that I usually forget or am somewhat unaware of experiencing until I examine why I'm thinking certain things about my appearance. For example, if I'm looking in the mirror considering that I really am looking a bit flabby and god my arms are too big and is that cellulite? I think it's cellulite, after a bit of time trying to figure out why I suddenly look so awful, I'll realize that it's about 4 days before my period and, surprise! PMS time! Hormones are fucking with my brain! Similarly, catching a glimpse of myself in a bathroom mirror and observing how incredibly hot I look and wow I totally nailed my eye makeup tonight and that HAIR, olinerd, your hair looks fabulous, well, it takes a few seconds of slow reflection to realize that I've passed from "pleasantly outgoing" into "drunk" territory.
posted by olinerd at 1:17 AM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'll jump in to support this with my anecdata. There are two mental states that I usually forget or am somewhat unaware of experiencing until I examine why I'm thinking certain things about my appearance. For example, if I'm looking in the mirror considering that I really am looking a bit flabby and god my arms are too big and is that cellulite? I think it's cellulite, after a bit of time trying to figure out why I suddenly look so awful, I'll realize that it's about 4 days before my period and, surprise! PMS time! Hormones are fucking with my brain! Similarly, catching a glimpse of myself in a bathroom mirror and observing how incredibly hot I look and wow I totally nailed my eye makeup tonight and that HAIR, olinerd, your hair looks fabulous, well, it takes a few seconds of slow reflection to realize that I've passed from "pleasantly outgoing" into "drunk" territory.
posted by olinerd at 1:17 AM on September 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up
...supposing the cow is alive.
posted by ersatz at 6:24 AM on September 16, 2013
...supposing the cow is alive.
posted by ersatz at 6:24 AM on September 16, 2013
'I've never gone to bed with a lesbian, but I've woken up with a few'
posted by judson at 7:15 AM on September 16, 2013
posted by judson at 7:15 AM on September 16, 2013
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