Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Expectations May Alter Outcomes Far More than we realize.

WSJ Column from some years ago.

"British Philosopher Bertrand Russell was only half joking when he described the powerful effect that nationality of a scientist can have on lab rats. Animals studied by Americans rush about frantically, with an incredible display of hustle and pep, and at last achieve the desired result by chance," he wrote in 1927. "Animals observed by Germans sit still and think, and at last evolve the solution out of their inner consciousness."

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