Investigator Joe Damal, joedamal@mciworld.com, leads an investigation at the Minciu Sodas laboratory of the hypothesis:

Violence Does Not Alter Thinking

I want to answer the question What affects our thinking?  It is clear that violence can affect behavior, but does this mean it also affects our thinking, our values, our morals as well? My goal is to identify the factors that do affect thinking and show that violence is not one of them.  Here is my plan:
  1. Gather Data: What's Effective. Conduct outreach amongst youth to gather from them examples where their thinking was affected.
  2. Gather Data: What's Useful. Encourage youth to participate in activity to control their thinking, and afterwards, ask them what works.
  3. Discussion: What's Useful.  Invite youth to come together with masters of various disciplines and share their knowledge of what is useful in controlling thinking.
  4. Analyze: What's Effective. Sort through what affects thinking, and attempt to structurally describe the results.
  5. Analyze: What's Useful.  Sort through what is useful in controlling thinking, and attempt to structurally describe the results.
  6. Compare: Effective vs. Useful. Relate what affects thinking with what is useful in controlling thinking.
  7. Conclude: Is Violence Effective or Useful?  Conclude whether or not violence affects thinking or is useful in controlling thinking.
I much appreciate your help in pursuing this investigation!  Please write to me, Joe Damal, at joedamal@mciworld.com.

Gather Data: What's Effective.

 

Gather Data: What's Useful.

 

Discussion: What's Useful.

 

Analyze: What's Effective.

Morality  It's wrong.  It's a sin.  I wouldn't want anyone to do that to me.  I don't want to hurt.  It is a game that I don't want to participate in.

Potential  Avoiding a dead end where nothing changes, and moving to a trend which brings me opportunities.

Future  There are consequences, good or bad, that involve my interaction with other people and that I can't size up because they are not immediately apparent.

Comfort  Optimization of comfort - pleasure, time, pain, money, aesthetics, etc. - when there are two options.

Realization  Somebody showed me.  Something is put right in front of me.

Authority  Somebody said or implied I should or shouldn't.  Avoiding punishment.

Commitment  Keeping my word.  Financial obligations.  Being true to myself.

Adventure  Given the option, doing new things to open things up.

Analyze: What's Useful.

 

Compare: Effective vs. Useful.

 

Conclude: Is Violence Effective or Useful?