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Science Section => Science General Discussion => Topic started by: Cavebear on September 11, 2017, 12:40:19 AM

Title: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2017, 12:40:19 AM
I read today in National Geographic September 2017 that rats put in gaudy-colored and noisy cages reacted like gamblers in casinos with loud noises and flashing lights.

They chose to select levers that offerred the biggest pellet payoffs but the smallest chance of winning.

Apparently, their brains work much as ours do in that way. 

Hurray, we are the equals of rats...
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 11, 2017, 01:30:10 AM
Rats!  Gambled away my life savings again ;-(
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 11, 2017, 01:58:57 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 11, 2017, 01:30:10 AM
Rats!  Gambled away my life savings again ;-(

"Bet" you didn't actually.  You just said that to make a bad joke.  As usual.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 12, 2017, 12:30:46 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2017, 01:58:57 AM
"Bet" you didn't actually.  You just said that to make a bad joke.  As usual.

And you took the bait again, bear-fish.  No, I never bet more than $20 total on a visit to a casino.

In the experiment, did some of the rats turn into "Dirty Rats" aka mouse mafiosi?  Can't gamble without the Mob taking its cut!
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 14, 2017, 04:32:09 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 12, 2017, 12:30:46 AM
And you took the bait again, bear-fish.  No, I never bet more than $20 total on a visit to a casino.

In the experiment, did some of the rats turn into "Dirty Rats" aka mouse mafiosi?  Can't gamble without the Mob taking its cut!

You missed it.  $20 down a rat hole is still $20 into the pockets of the mafia.  SUCKER!
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 14, 2017, 07:11:35 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 14, 2017, 04:32:09 AM
You missed it.  $20 down a rat hole is still $20 into the pockets of the mafia.  SUCKER!

You are the Mafia, we all are.  Capishe?
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 14, 2017, 08:43:48 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 14, 2017, 07:11:35 AM
You are the Mafia, we all are.  Capishe?

You have a sick view of society.  I am not mafia and hope they all die.  I desire a legal and orderly society grounded in rational thought and good business providing goods that are wanted and affordable.

Try that one on for size.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 16, 2017, 09:18:06 AM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 14, 2017, 08:43:48 AM
You have a sick view of society.  I am not mafia and hope they all die.  I desire a legal and orderly society grounded in rational thought and good business providing goods that are wanted and affordable.

Try that one on for size.

Yes, the Don wants society to be orderly, and all the people who borrowed from the loan shark, to pay their debts.  It is emotionally disturbing to have to break people's legs.

No, this society isn't what I want either.  But as an anthropologist studying ape people, I have to call it as I see it.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Gawdzilla Sama on September 16, 2017, 09:19:11 AM
I never gamble, I play poker.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 16, 2017, 09:55:32 AM
Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on September 16, 2017, 09:19:11 AM
I never gamble, I play poker.

But did she like it?  Did her husband like you doing it? ;-)
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Unbeliever on September 17, 2017, 02:36:22 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 11, 2017, 12:40:19 AM
Hurray, we are the equals of rats...
I prefer the company of rats to that of humans. At least rats don't yak it up constantly. And rats laugh when you tickle them.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 17, 2017, 04:26:02 PM
Quote from: Unbeliever on September 17, 2017, 02:36:22 PM
I prefer the company of rats to that of humans. At least rats don't yak it up constantly. And rats laugh when you tickle them.

You can find an entire world in the London sewer ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLJxoJM_ZbY
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 19, 2017, 03:30:23 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 16, 2017, 09:55:32 AM
But did she like it?  Did her husband like you doing it? ;-)

See?  That's what makes me sick of you.  You made a discussion on "gambling" into a weak sex pun of "stick her".  You have so much more potential than that...
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 23, 2017, 05:44:05 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 19, 2017, 03:30:23 AM
See?  That's what makes me sick of you.  You made a discussion on "gambling" into a weak sex pun of "stick her".  You have so much more potential than that...

I am reacting to the brilliant material I am given.  I do puns, not full up slapstick.  Every performer (and all the Internet is a stage) has to rely on the magical dynamism between the performer and the audience.  So I salute your performance too, go break a leg ;-)
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Sorginak on September 24, 2017, 09:24:13 AM
I've never gambled.  Was never my thing.  I've never even bought lottery tickets or scratch offs. 
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 24, 2017, 01:21:20 PM
Quote from: Sorginak on September 24, 2017, 09:24:13 AM
I've never gambled.  Was never my thing.  I've never even bought lottery tickets or scratch offs.

But do you drive or cross the street?  Taking your life in your hands ;-)
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Sorginak on September 24, 2017, 01:24:08 PM
Quote from: Baruch on September 24, 2017, 01:21:20 PM
But do you drive or cross the street?  Taking your life in your hands ;-)

I don't drive, and I make certain to look both ways before crossing the street.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 25, 2017, 12:17:41 AM
Quote from: Sorginak on September 24, 2017, 01:24:08 PM
I don't drive, and I make certain to look both ways before crossing the street.

If the techno-idiots are serious about driverless cars, I will stop driving too ;-(
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Sal1981 on September 25, 2017, 08:14:41 AM
I don't gamble with money, for the most part. It's a long story but when I was a wee lad I lost everything gambling with cards. I don't even buy lottery tickets or the like.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 25, 2017, 01:32:24 PM
Quote from: Sal1981 on September 25, 2017, 08:14:41 AM
I don't gamble with money, for the most part. It's a long story but when I was a wee lad I lost everything gambling with cards. I don't even buy lottery tickets or the like.

You have to carefully mark the cards first ;-)
Rule 1 .. The House always wins
Rule 2 .. Be the House
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on September 28, 2017, 04:23:55 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 23, 2017, 05:44:05 PM
I am reacting to the brilliant material I am given.  I do puns, not full up slapstick.  Every performer (and all the Internet is a stage) has to rely on the magical dynamism between the performer and the audience.  So I salute your performance too, go break a leg ;-)

I offer a bana peel.  Obviously not a whole one.  Step on it.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 28, 2017, 07:28:23 PM
Quote from: Cavebear on September 28, 2017, 04:23:55 AM
I offer a bana peel.  Obviously not a whole one.  Step on it.

I bet you smoked them, back in the day when that was a fad ;-)
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: trdsf on September 28, 2017, 09:51:41 PM
I'd kind of like to visit the new(ish -- it's been open several years now) casino they opened on the west side of town, but I'm in absolutely no hurry.  Set aside a couple hundred dollars to lose and get the curiosity out of my system and probably never go back again.  That's what my dad did -- he always wanted to see Vegas, set himself a hard limit of $500 and no more gambling when it was gone, and did exactly that with my brother-in-law's dad.  He had a ball, and hasn't been back in the 20+ years since that single trip, nor had any interest in going back.

I do play the lottery once in a while.  Maybe once or twice a month I feed five bucks into the machine and buy one MegaMillions, one Powerball, and one Lucky for Life ticket.  If I hit the $3 prize on any one of them, I'm happy, and if I win nothing, I'm not surprised.  I can do the math, after all.  I'd say most of the fun of the lottery is fantasizing what you'd do with the winnings, but really, that's 100% of the fun.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Baruch on September 29, 2017, 07:09:31 AM
Quote from: trdsf on September 28, 2017, 09:51:41 PM
I'd kind of like to visit the new(ish -- it's been open several years now) casino they opened on the west side of town, but I'm in absolutely no hurry.  Set aside a couple hundred dollars to lose and get the curiosity out of my system and probably never go back again.  That's what my dad did -- he always wanted to see Vegas, set himself a hard limit of $500 and no more gambling when it was gone, and did exactly that with my brother-in-law's dad.  He had a ball, and hasn't been back in the 20+ years since that single trip, nor had any interest in going back.

I do play the lottery once in a while.  Maybe once or twice a month I feed five bucks into the machine and buy one MegaMillions, one Powerball, and one Lucky for Life ticket.  If I hit the $3 prize on any one of them, I'm happy, and if I win nothing, I'm not surprised.  I can do the math, after all.  I'd say most of the fun of the lottery is fantasizing what you'd do with the winnings, but really, that's 100% of the fun.

The lottery, was invented in France, in the early 18th century, by Seniore Casanova, an Italian con man and lover.  It was a big success, but he was fired not long after, because he was caught with his hand in the till.
Title: Re: Creatures Of Compulsion
Post by: Cavebear on October 01, 2017, 07:41:53 AM
Quote from: Baruch on September 28, 2017, 07:28:23 PM
I bet you smoked them, back in the day when that was a fad ;-)

No, never had a bana (oops) peel.  Bananas on the other hand for popular.  But never smoked one of those either.  Not trustable data on those...

Just to mention:

Total provisional count of drug overdose deaths in the US for the 12-month period ending in December 2016: 63,940.
  Attributed to synthetic opioids (excluding methadone): 18,160
  Attributed to heroin: 15,547
  Attributed to natural and semi-synthetic opioids: 14,530
  Attributed to cocaine: 10,456
  Attributed to psychostimulants with abuse potential: 7,596
  Attributed to methadone: 3,393

Note no marijuana deaths.  Or by smoking banana peels.