Cracked Podcast Notes

Hostage negotiators---

The power of yes primed vs no primed questions
Two examples:  "Do you like money?"  (an obvious manipulation) vs "Do you like leaving money on the table?" (a less obvious one, that might seem obvious based on pride)

The problematic effect of why questions....
The helpful tactic of how and what questions







Movie Effects on the Real World

Harry Potter---- owl pets
Movie places-------place stereotypes
Foreign movie people------ people stereotypes

The CSI effect---- Juries are demanding lots more evidence than they used to
What a scientist says about science-------  automatically taken as true
Slipping on a banana peel--- Has this ever actually happened?   People often try to fake b. peel accidents

Why are Versaci and Armani suits so popular?   Partially because G. Gecko dressed like that.   His wardrobe was completely a random choice.

There is no such thing as an anti-war movie.   War looks exciting at all times.
Mario Puzo made up the term "Godfather"

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Colors-
Baker-Miller pink is connected to drunk tanks.   It pacifies us.
The color of pills has an unreasonable effect on us
Impulsive red.
Russian language study of blue


Podcast #22 Bad ideas that control the world
The Structure of English makes it easier to blame people.
The Peltzman Effect-- changes that decrease risk, cause humans to increase risky behavior.   Anti lock brakes let to more crashes.   
English Language's encoded tendency toward blame
episode 22 36 minutes in
Police Lineups Do not Work
           Describing a face increases witness confidence
           Confidence from the witness during testimony is one of the most important factor's for a jury.
           Having a witness look through a book with a large number of photos of felons is better.
                         (this relates to the racist "they all look the same to me" effect too)
Speedbumps Kill
          There are very few car accidents in neighborhoods at low speeds that hurt/kill people.
           There are a number of life or death medical issues that require ambulance rides.
           Ambulances must slow down to go over the bumps.    Multiplying out the number of medical emergencies which require ambulances, the number where a few minutes are the difference between life or death, and the actual amount an ambulance slows when hitting a speed bump, many many people die.

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Real life conspiracies

The conspiracy to kill streetcars
The business plot (smedley butler)
Dropping 300000 mosquitos on Georgia
Releasing bacteria in cali


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We have an addiction to competence

The peltzman effect- why safety devices don't work.   Humans have a comfortable level of danger.  When something gets safer, we push the envelope.

the flynn effect- people are getting smarter

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The Health Podcast

Obesity is pretty incurable without surgery.  The relapse rate is higher than heroin.

The dairy industry led to government programs to encourage use.
The only time US obesity dipped was the mil rationing years
Taco Salad has "salad" in it
Bran Muffin has "Bran" in it (but it's cake)
Vitamin water has vitamins in it, but it also is worse than a soda

Dual product lines---
Healthy stuff, then you deserve the bad stuff we sell



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White People and Their Racist Ideas

This American Life episode about teachers and expectations sounds awesome.  Look it up.
"School is the absolute worst place to learn about racism."
He interviews some minority podcasters from Denzel Washington is the Best Actor of All Time, The Read, and Is this Racist?

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Why You Have No Idea What You Look Like

Given a set of slightly altered photos of ourselves and one real one, most people fail to pick out their actual face.
Michael Jackson is a good example because he had the power and ability to do whatever he wanted.

Freud has mostly stupid ideas.   The one good idea that he had was the idea of therapy, having a total stranger hear the true details about your life and give a response.  

We are literally the worst at judging ourselves....

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Cracked- tipping points
Predictions about the future
tequila
helium
chocolate/cocoa
seafood
car culture in america

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The Memory Podcast-
Source Amnesia  (the need for works cited pages)
Elizabeth Loftus  (she is the source of my red van example)

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Actor auteur theory

Tom Cruise runs in all his movies
Brad Pitt eats in all his movies
Tom Hanks pees in all his movies
            Gump, Castaway, The Money Pitt, A League of Their Own

Most superstar-focused movie posters show alarming common elements.
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Notes from the Cracked De-Textbook

Cool language facts
Aborigine Super Scouts  pxii
Russians with a super sense of blue pxii

Crows hold a grudge p30
 Shakespeare was a sick dude  p44

Training montages fuck up our expectations

Caffeine, Going green, Magnets, Facial Expressions can turn you into a dick  p184
Most people survive plane crashes  p198
The Peltzman Effect, why safety improvements don't save lives p206

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Unknown podcasts

Movies have a weirdly specific format
Certain things happen at 15 minutes, 60 minutes, et cetera....

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Bad Ideas That Control the World

Police lineups
               lineups don't work
               photos of felons do
               describing the face increases witness conficence
               confidence from the witnesses during testimony is one of the most important factors for juries
Speed bumps
               the delays they cause kill lots of people each year.....    paramedics take too long to get to
                hospitals
                there are VERY few accidents in neighborhoods of a serious nature.   They are seen as much
                more tragic, so they get the priority


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LBJ

He was a womanizer.  He taped everything.   He loved to talk about his balls.   He peed on a secret service agent.   He really, really wanted to be president

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7 ways to get free stuff from companies just by lying (this is the title of the video about complaint letters)