International Law

Bad Research

By Stan

A bit of weirdness and fun with which to end the day.

From Wired:

Dogs know when they’re getting the short end of the stick, according to new research out of the Clever Dog Lab in Austria. When a dog doesn’t get the same reward for doing a trick as another dog, he’s less likely to perform the behavior when asked again.

Obviously I’m in no position to tell this lab in Austria what to do with their money. However, it’s painfully obvious that doing this kind of research on "fairness" or other complex feelings by using dogs is ridiculous and a waste of resources.

Everyone knows that if you are interested in complex behaviors and feelings (e.g. greed, jealousy, stubbornness, sense of entitlement), the perfect research subjects are cats. I know two in particular right here in Beijing that would make good test subjects.

Come one, Austrians. This is all widely known.

Full post as published by China Hearsay on December 09, 2008 (boomark / email).