...how I can prove 100% that any system reliant on rationality is doomed to fail when presented to humans.
So, my building is right next door to a Tesco supermarket. As in, you walk out the door, walk 10 metres, then turn right and take a step forward, and you're in in.
On the first floor of my seven story building is a vending machine. In it, you can buy bottles of coca-cola for the princely sum of £1.40, for 500ml.
In Tesco, you can get 1.25 litres for £1.
Yet, in the vending machine, which is actually harder to get to than the Tesco (due to the security checks and outlay of the building), people will still buy the more expensive bottle with less volume, as evidenced by the lack of bottles in there.
Mitigating factors: the machine does have a cool robot arm thing which it collects your drink with.
Contra mitigating factors: once you've seen it once, it's not actually that cool.
Conclusion: humanity is stupid, and desperately requires a patch to remedy this cognitive security flaw.
Quote from: Cain on December 07, 2011, 06:26:27 PM
Conclusion: humanity is stupid, and desperately requires a patch to remedy this cognitive security flaw.
Newsfeed.
I think that I've described this once IRL as going out of your way to be lazy.
The Tesco has cheaper soda, with more volume. But that means I have to leave the building, all the way out there. I'm already in the building, and I don't want to leave it for just a soda. I'll go to the vending machine, which is in the building.
But the one in the building is actually much harder to get to. You're using the lift to go down anyway, it takes an extra second to hit the bottom floor, then walk straight out.
Whereas the vending machine is in a common room, which is situated almost equal walking distance away and requires two additional security checks to get past.
Physical distance does not equal psychological distance. "In the building" is always farther away, psychologically, then "next door."
Conclusion: Sell chips and candy from your room at a markup, make fortune.
Quote from: Luna on December 07, 2011, 06:38:21 PM
Physical distance does not equal psychological distance. "In the building" is always farther away, psychologically, then "next door."
Conclusion: Sell chips and candy from your room at a markup, make fortune.
This.
Quote from: Cain on December 07, 2011, 06:32:43 PM
But the one in the building is actually much harder to get to. You're using the lift to go down anyway, it takes an extra second to hit the bottom floor, then walk straight out.
Whereas the vending machine is in a common room, which is situated almost equal walking distance away and requires two additional security checks to get past.
That's why it's going out of your way to be lazy. You end up doing more work due to laziness.
Quote from: Nigel on December 07, 2011, 06:47:32 PM
Quote from: Luna on December 07, 2011, 06:38:21 PM
Physical distance does not equal psychological distance. "In the building" is always farther away, psychologically, then "next door."
Conclusion: Sell chips and candy from your room at a markup, make fortune.
This.
Yeah. I think part of it is that people are accustomed to thinking of space primarily in 2 dimensions, and neglect the up and down bit, since elevators and such are relatively recent inventions.
I can think of a couple of reasons/circumstances why the machine might be a rational choice. But you're probably right in that they're just stupid.
(I suppose the vending machine bottles are chilled and the Tesco's aren't. The vending machine is available 24/7, Tesco's closed at night. Sometimes a 500ml bottle is more convenient to carry than a 1.25L one)
Oh and there's also the (very small) possibility that they're extremely clever: most vending machines have diagnostics codes or logic flaws allowing one to get the merchandise from them for free or reduced price. This is of course extremely unlikely :) [sometimes it's as simple as one of the identical choices being priced lower, sometimes there's a complicated sequence of coins, change, money back, buttons, that somehow fucks up the device's logic and causes it to give back more change than it should]
Oh and is this the place where all your foreign students live, too? Maybe some of them are from a country that have a coinage that's nearly the same weight/size of some GBP coin?
But yeah they're probably just stupid :)
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
That's what I was thinking. The big bottles are kind of a waste of money unless it is going to be consumed in one sitting. They go flat fast. Though, that said, vending machine prices do tend to be inflated so I would suspect that the store would have a better price on even those smaller 500 mL bottles. Usually, the more convenient your options the costlier the items are.
Buy a 6-pack of smaller bottles. Or a case.
Big bottles only go flat fast if you don't close them hard enough.
I know exactly what you're saying Cain. And yes, people are dumb. :lulz:
Cain: PT Barnum & Canada Bill Jones.
There are no exceptions.
Quote from: Hoopla on December 07, 2011, 07:52:10 PM
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
But... they're cheaper. Even if you only drink the same amount of soda as is in the smaller bottle, it's still a better deal.
Unless they go flat in the time it usually takes you to drink 500ml?
Quote from: Beardman Meow on December 08, 2011, 02:49:41 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on December 07, 2011, 07:52:10 PM
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
But... they're cheaper. Even if you only drink the same amount of soda as is in the smaller bottle, it's still a better deal.
Unless they go flat in the time it usually takes you to drink 500ml?
Drink faster.
Then you can belch the entire song "God Save the Queen".
Quote from: Beardman Meow on December 08, 2011, 02:49:41 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on December 07, 2011, 07:52:10 PM
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
But... they're cheaper. Even if you only drink the same amount of soda as is in the smaller bottle, it's still a better deal.
Unless they go flat in the time it usually takes you to drink 500ml?
These ARE teenagers. If they take long enough to drink a large bottle of soda for it to go flat, I'd be worried about them.
Quote from: Beardman Meow on December 08, 2011, 02:49:41 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on December 07, 2011, 07:52:10 PM
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
But... they're cheaper. Even if you only drink the same amount of soda as is in the smaller bottle, it's still a better deal.
Unless they go flat in the time it usually takes you to drink 500ml?
The bourgeois don't know how to drink soda. They also don't know how to walk to the store. That's where you went wrong.
This "ml" and "500" integer that you talk about are also foreign to them, perhaps you could speak in terms of "how big does the bottle appear to be?". And, "how far does it seem to be away from my pie-hole?"
Quote from: Beardman Meow on December 08, 2011, 02:49:41 AM
Quote from: Hoopla on December 07, 2011, 07:52:10 PM
The 1.25L bottles go flat fast. If you live by yourself and only drink soda on occasion, the smaller but more expensive bottle is the better bet. Flat soda sucks balls.
But... they're cheaper. Even if you only drink the same amount of soda as is in the smaller bottle, it's still a better deal.
Unless they go flat in the time it usually takes you to drink 500ml?
This. Along with the fact that I'd probably drink the flat soda anyway rather than dump it out and there probably wouldn't be much left anyway.
Quote from: Cain on December 07, 2011, 06:32:43 PM
But the one in the building is actually much harder to get to. You're using the lift to go down anyway, it takes an extra second to hit the bottom floor, then walk straight out.
Whereas the vending machine is in a common room, which is situated almost equal walking distance away and requires two additional security checks to get past.
But if they walk out the front door, chances are they'd forget what they'd gone out for, RIGHT?
:lulz: :lulz: :lulz:
I bring in a 2 liter bottle every Monday to work for the week. It still has fizz on Friday. I am not going to pay a dollar every day for a soda when I can get a 2 liter for 79 cents.
Quote from: Khara on December 09, 2011, 03:29:21 PM
I bring in a 2 liter bottle every Monday to work for the week. It still has fizz on Friday. I am not going to pay a dollar every day for a soda when I can get a 2 liter for 79 cents.
Wait... You still have soda by Friday? :?
2L / 5 days = 400ml per day = 2 maybe 3 glasses per day. I don't buy cola very often but when I do, it doesn't last me that long :) :)
Quote from: Luna on December 09, 2011, 03:32:09 PM
Quote from: Khara on December 09, 2011, 03:29:21 PM
I bring in a 2 liter bottle every Monday to work for the week. It still has fizz on Friday. I am not going to pay a dollar every day for a soda when I can get a 2 liter for 79 cents.
Wait... You still have soda by Friday? :?
Quote from: Triple Zero on December 09, 2011, 03:35:26 PM
2L / 5 days = 400ml per day = 2 maybe 3 glasses per day. I don't buy cola very often but when I do, it doesn't last me that long :) :)
I pour a cup to go with my lunch, sometimes it is my lunch HA HA. But yeah, I'm back to drinking coffee all day again, I only do the soda for something cold to go with my sammich at lunch.
I used to drink a 2 liter a day, had to stop that shit. I make it last.
Apparently, Americans have been buying less cola over the past decade.
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/09/9251474-americas-favorite-sodas-americans-are-losing-their-taste-for
Quote from: My Lady is a Cantaloupe on December 09, 2011, 03:42:28 PM
Apparently, Americans have been buying less cola over the past decade.
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/09/9251474-americas-favorite-sodas-americans-are-losing-their-taste-for
Yeah I don't drink it very often at all anymore.
Every once in a while, I like to have a Coke. Usually a Mexican Coke from Don Pancho.
I wonder just how much of an effect the enormous market for energy drinks can account for the decrease in cola sales.
They're owned by the same people anyway, arent they?
Secret for keeping those 2 liter bottles from going flat: Squeeze until the soda's up in the neck, then cap tightly. Less exposed suface = less fizz leakage.
I don't drink it any more either, though. It makes you fat as fuck.
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on December 09, 2011, 05:23:31 PM
I wonder just how much of an effect the enormous market for energy drinks can account for the decrease in cola sales.
Probably quite a bit. I don't like those much either though. I'm not as big on sweet tasting stuff as I used to be.
Honestly, the most common things I drink are coffee (nature's energy drink!), water, beer, and whiskey. Anything else is an infrequent thing.
I like fizz in my drinks. I would drink seltzer with lime if it were caffienated. As it is, that is what I drink after work so I can sleep.
When they had the fizzy green tea with citrus for about 3 weeks, it was awesome. Then it just disappeared. :sad:
Surprisingly they have found that people who stop drinking regular soda and start drinking diet actually gain weight. I drink regular soda, that aspertame shit will kill you.
Quote from: Khara on December 09, 2011, 05:48:23 PM
I like fizz in my drinks. I would drink seltzer with lime if it were caffienated. As it is, that is what I drink after work so I can sleep.
When they had the fizzy green tea with citrus for about 3 weeks, it was awesome. Then it just disappeared. :sad:
Surprisingly they have found that people who stop drinking regular soda and start drinking diet actually gain weight. I drink regular soda, that aspertame shit will kill you.
Aspartame tastes nasty anyway. I don't know why people even bother with diet.
Quote from: Khara on December 09, 2011, 05:48:23 PM
I like fizz in my drinks. I would drink seltzer with lime if it were caffienated. As it is, that is what I drink after work so I can sleep.
When they had the fizzy green tea with citrus for about 3 weeks, it was awesome. Then it just disappeared. :sad:
Surprisingly they have found that people who stop drinking regular soda and start drinking diet actually gain weight. I drink regular soda, that aspertame shit will kill you.
I saw a PBS piece on the seltzer water industry. Seltzer apparently required glass bottles to keep, so we're not even drinking "soda" a.k.a. soda-shop-flavored-seltzer-water. They even claim the *fizz* is different quality: http://www.pbs.org/pov/seltzerworks/
Quote from: Telarus on December 10, 2011, 05:34:40 AM
Quote from: Khara on December 09, 2011, 05:48:23 PM
I like fizz in my drinks. I would drink seltzer with lime if it were caffienated. As it is, that is what I drink after work so I can sleep.
When they had the fizzy green tea with citrus for about 3 weeks, it was awesome. Then it just disappeared. :sad:
Surprisingly they have found that people who stop drinking regular soda and start drinking diet actually gain weight. I drink regular soda, that aspertame shit will kill you.
I saw a PBS piece on the seltzer water industry. Seltzer apparently required glass bottles to keep, so we're not even drinking "soda" a.k.a. soda-shop-flavored-seltzer-water. They even claim the *fizz* is different quality: http://www.pbs.org/pov/seltzerworks/
Jarritos makes a soda water that is superior in flavor and bubbliness to any soda water I've ever had, including the made-on-the-spot soda water I used to make for Italian Sodas at the espresso bar I used to work at.
Just watched that piece; it's not that seltzer requires plastic bottles to keep, it's that plastic bottles can't handle the higher pressures that glass can handle, so soda in plastic bottles isn't as highly carbonated. The bottles the delivery companies used to use had valves in them so that you didn't release all the pressure when you poured a serving, so the remaining water stayed bubbly, much like the Isi soda water bottles that most places that sell Italian sodas use.
I think the reason the Jarritos is so good is because it's bottled in 12-oz glass bottle under high pressure. It's by far the best commercial soda water I've found.
Also because it's made by Jarritos, and pretty much all of their sodas are amazingly awesome.
Quote from: Fuck You One-Eye on December 12, 2011, 03:12:30 AM
Also because it's made by Jarritos, and pretty much all of their sodas are amazingly awesome.
They really are superior sodas.