Read Part 1
”How much are you craving sex right now?”
”Uhm”, the woman looks a bit startled. ”A bit?”
”And food? Do you want food right now?”
”Yes. Absolutely. I could eat a whole pizza right now.”
Satisfied, Dr. Lemoine makes a mark in her notes.
”Perfect. Carry on please.”
”What about my pizza?”, the woman asks. ”I’m really hungry.”
”Food will be provided later. But my assistant here has something else for you.”
The assistant steps forward and hands the woman a Gameboy. She looks at the device with a skeptical expression.
”I haven’t seen one of those in ages. Probably a decade. Don’t you have anything more recent?”
”I’m sorry, but we have 31 participants. Giving each of you a Wii would exceed our budget.”
The woman mumbles something Dr. Lemoine doesn’t understand and turns the Gameboy on.
”Tetris?”, she says. ”Seriously?”
”Just play it.”
”It’s not like there’s anything more exciting to do around here.” The woman sighs and starts playing. The game’s signature melody fills the room. Dr. Lemoine and her assistant leave, heading towards the room with the last test subject.
”I think I’m having a headache”, Dr. Lemoine exclaims, rubbing her forehead. ”I can’t stand hearing that melody anymore. How can anyone concentrate with that constant noise?”
”I like it”, the assistant says. ”Better than what we did last week.”
”We don’t talk about last week”, Lemoine says. ”Just the memory gives me a headache.”
The assistant falls silent and they enter the last room.
”Finally!”, the man in there calls out. ”I was wondering how much longer I would have to wait! Can I have something to eat? And a cigarette? I could really use a cigarette right now.”
Without saying anything, Dr. Lemoine takes some notes, nods towards her assistant and leaves the room. He can explain the procedure and she can spare herself of that horrible sound. One more week. Only one more week until …
One week later, the results are in.
”They all exhibit decreased cravings? In all areas?”
”Well, the average decrease is 13.9% but yes, all cravings decreased in all test subjects. And that consistently during the whole week. It seems to be a constant effect and not just because they’ve been doing something new.”
Dr. Lemoine shakes her head. It was hard to believe that a simple game could have such a huge effect on a person’s mind. Then again, who could concentrate on food or sex when tortured with that constant music? How can you imagine the taste of a great feast when you’re trying to fit weirdly shaped blocks into each other?
”I hope our next topic is a bit less annoying”, she says. Her assistant wordlessly agrees.
Disclaimer: The “Bullshit Research” series is based on actual scientific papers. While the results are accurate, the way of testing and the people involved are fictional.
Source:
Playing Tetris decreases drug and other cravings in real world settings
News Article about it because the paper is behind a paywall
Picture taken from pixabay.com
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