Yesterday I posted this….
Imagine that you are in a room with 100 people. They are all the same age and sex as you, and are from roughly the same background. In walks a driving instructor. He is going to test the driving skills of everyone in the room, and will give each person a score that reflects their skill and safety.
Do you think that you would be placed in the top half of the group?
As a few of you pointed out, this is a standard question used by psychologists to measure unrealistic optimism (sometimes called optimistic bias). The majority of people tend to think that they are above average when it comes to anything positive, such as driving skills, interview technique or sense of humour (roughly 95% of people say that they have an above average sense of humour!).
Researchers are not quite certain why this happens. It might be that we all like to think well of ourselves, or might be that we only usually see our own behaviour and do not realise that other people are just as good!
Either way, it affects us. Take, for example, the issue of climate change. If we all think that our carbon footprint is lower than average, we might end up thinking that it is everyone else that has to change.
What thinks you? Were you an unrealistic optimist yesterday?
On a completely different front, the new poster campaign for 59 Seconds kicked off in London yesterday. Here is an example of the type of thing that is out there….
I have started a caption competition for the pic that is in the middle row, far right. Winner gets a free copy of the book. Feel free to enter!
July 2, 2009 at 7:33 am |
Caption: “I get no kick from plantain, That bitter fruit doesn’t thrill me at all, So tell me why should it be true, That I get a kick out of you?”
July 2, 2009 at 8:22 am |
“Changing your life takes less than a minute. In 59 seconds a dodgy photo of you clutching a banana is all over the Internet.”
July 2, 2009 at 8:22 am |
Caption. Looking at the prompter the man exclaims “Are you * #$@ing kidding me. HA HA HA. 59 seconds is a long time!”
July 2, 2009 at 8:28 am |
Caption: “♪♫ I did it myyyyyyyyy waaaaaaaaaay!♪♫ “
July 2, 2009 at 8:31 am |
”When you said ”Wanna try role play to spice things up?” I was imagining something a little less….. yellow…”
July 2, 2009 at 8:37 am |
“I’ll sing for 20 seconds and then eat this in the next 39″
July 2, 2009 at 8:53 am |
I don’t think I was unrealistically optimistic yesterday. I see lots of people driving while talking on their mobile phones (despite it being illegal). I’m certainly safer than them. I see lots of people who are completely unaware of what is going on around them. I’m certainly safer than them. I see lots of people driving far too close to the car in front. I’m certainly safer than them.
I do often drive faster than I should – as fast as my little 1.2 Polo will allow, anyway. But only ever on dual carriageways and motorways – I rarely break any speed limits in 30/40/50mph zones. So I’m not 100% safe by any means, but I still think I would be classed in the top half rather than the bottom.
Having said that it wouldn’t really be a fair test anyway, as no-one would drive with the instructor the way they would drive normally.
July 2, 2009 at 9:35 am
Gareth is spot on, also if the average is the mean then at least 49 people in a room of a hundred must be better than Mr average so for 49 people they are absolutely spot to say they are better than average!
July 2, 2009 at 8:57 am |
The reason why I think that most people think they’re above-average drivers is that there is no one agreed-upon metric for how good a driver someone is.
One person may be a safe driver. Another may be a courteous driver. Yet another might be a law-abiding driver. Yet another might be good at getting out of difficult situations (e.g. getting bogged when off-road, or reverse parking).
Whatever I think constitutes “good driving”, I will try to cultivate that in my own driving. Hence, it may well be true that everyone may be an above-average driver, the catch being that each driver is measured by their own metric.
July 2, 2009 at 9:00 am |
Caption entry: “Are you absolutely sure this is in Prof. Wiseman’s new book?”
July 2, 2009 at 9:03 am |
Caption: Oh….it WAS just a banana in your pocket…
July 2, 2009 at 9:29 am |
Caption: “Wow, with it’s non-slip surface and the way it’s perfectly shaped to fit my hand, this banana must be a nightmare for atheists…”
Wait, no, that’s way too unrealistic…
July 2, 2009 at 9:30 am |
This new joystick certainly makes Donkey Kong a lot more fun!
July 2, 2009 at 10:01 am |
I think Foygl got in early and took the best line.
July 2, 2009 at 10:08 am |
“Phew! What a relief! That thing’s been stuck up my left nostril for weeks!”
I already have a copy of Richard’s book. Couldn’t resist ordering it, despite the massive pile of reading matter at the side of my desk. Just a couple of observations about the poster: firstly, why do bananas make people so happy? Secondly, I assumed that there were more women than men on the poster when I first saw it. After reading the comments I went back to look at the poster and realised that there were actually more men. Is this anything to do with the fact that the women are grouped to the left and we read from left to right? Or am I just a bit daft?
July 2, 2009 at 11:01 am
Bananas are brilliant. They have a wrapper, they’re yellow and curvy and they taste great. Contrary to popular belief, they are never full of spiders. What’s not to like?
July 2, 2009 at 10:13 am |
Caption: I love to masticate.
July 2, 2009 at 10:21 am |
“For my next song I’d like to sing you a number from a group we all know and love; Bananarama!”
July 2, 2009 at 10:30 am |
“You mean this isn’t Britain’s Got Talent?”
July 2, 2009 at 10:52 am |
The new stylish eco-friendly iPhone is made from biodegradable materials, is solar-powered and is ergonomically designed to optimise the position of the earpiece and microphone to enhance the user experience. The cutting-edge voice-recognition-feedback technology completely eliminates the need for any buttons or display.
July 2, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Oh my God, I laughed so hard!
July 3, 2009 at 1:51 pm
yes! Give this man a book
July 2, 2009 at 11:24 am |
Oh yeah!
The Creationists’ Nightmare give me great Comfort!
July 2, 2009 at 11:25 am |
(That should have been)
Oh yeah!
The Creationists’ Nightmare gives me great Comfort!
____________________
My Kingdom for an Edit!
July 2, 2009 at 11:32 am |
Sometimes a banana is just a banana.
July 2, 2009 at 11:34 am |
lol -)
July 2, 2009 at 12:06 pm |
Brian tried to look like he was enjoying training for his new job at the Playboy mansion.
July 2, 2009 at 1:15 pm |
Caption:
Oo my little pretty one, pretty one
When you gonna give me some time, Banana?
Oo you make my motor run, my motor run
59 seconds till it’s time, Banana
July 2, 2009 at 1:17 pm |
OK. Game over. R J Teer just won.
July 2, 2009 at 1:25 pm |
caption – “I’d like to thank all the little people behind my success. The banana farmers. The monkeys…”
July 2, 2009 at 1:34 pm |
Caption: *taptaptap* Is this thing on? I just flew in to be here tonight, boy are my arms tired!
July 2, 2009 at 1:43 pm |
“♪♫ I can eat this banana in less than 59 seconds! ♪♫”
July 2, 2009 at 1:54 pm |
Greg brought colour back to a grey world with the magically Midas Plantain
July 2, 2009 at 2:06 pm |
“Life is just like a Banana, not all straight but with a slight curve.”
July 2, 2009 at 2:18 pm |
“If this is my banana, where’s my microphone?”
July 2, 2009 at 2:37 pm |
“Of course this is for that gorilla I spotted!”
July 2, 2009 at 2:43 pm |
“Bubbles still has to be fed”
July 2, 2009 at 3:36 pm |
Caption: “♪♫ Badder than old King Kong and meaner than a junkyard dog! ♪♫”
July 2, 2009 at 3:39 pm |
And now, for my next trick…!
July 2, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
Just pull the arm, and money drops out?
July 2, 2009 at 3:46 pm |
Norman Bates held it like this?
July 2, 2009 at 3:56 pm |
Change your life! Come out of the closet!
July 2, 2009 at 3:58 pm |
“Boop boo be do be do banana phone”
July 2, 2009 at 4:22 pm |
“By the power of Grayskull!”
Only 80s kids are going to get that reference
July 3, 2009 at 2:21 pm
And it was a lame one.
July 2, 2009 at 4:26 pm |
Enjoy bananas.
The white, the yellow part too.
Monkeys are so cool.
July 2, 2009 at 8:43 pm |
Caption: “And then I was like, ‘If you can’t find it, grind it!’ ”
Also, are we allowed to enter more than one caption?
July 2, 2009 at 9:57 pm |
My God! If this is my banana and not my microphone, then what the hell did I eat for breakfast!
July 2, 2009 at 10:31 pm |
Or
Darren suffers from a rare genetic disorder strangely called Where’s-My-Banana?itis. Because of this disorder, he is unable to differentiate between a banana and a microphone. However, apart from the occasional embarrassing moment, Darren is able to live a normal life.
July 2, 2009 at 11:38 pm |
Brian’s camouflage almost worked, except he couldn’t keep from LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF AT A BANANA.
July 3, 2009 at 12:08 am |
It was every motivational speaker’s worst nightmare. Geoff was half-way though giving his seminar, “Being prepared is 110% of the Battle” to a room full of corporate executives, when he realized he had been speaking into a banana the entire time.
July 3, 2009 at 2:14 am |
James was about to learn his first lesson about eating a banana. Always peel the banana before eating it.
July 3, 2009 at 2:38 am |
If only Hitchcock was creative with a banana – ‘Psycho’ could have also been a comedy hit…
July 3, 2009 at 4:19 am |
In Soviet Russia banana…
a) … peels you!
b) … slips on you!
c) … splits you!
July 3, 2009 at 4:20 am |
Jerry wasn’t sure but he believed claims that banana’s spines could be adjusted by holding them like this was another bogus claim made by Chiropractors.
July 3, 2009 at 4:22 am |
“What do we call the act? We call it ‘The Aristocrats’!”
July 3, 2009 at 6:48 am |
“Thank you ladies and gentlemen, you’ve been a great audience. I’ve been Bob Johnson, and presumably will continue to be.”
July 3, 2009 at 9:02 am |
“lol… this is a strange looking carrot”
July 3, 2009 at 10:00 am |
“He’s just lucky this psychology book isn’t based on Freud”
July 3, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Great chuckle out of this one!
July 3, 2009 at 10:28 am |
“Everyone’s doing silly things with the Banana, why not me?”
July 3, 2009 at 10:31 am |
Now gimme some toothpaste and I’ll show you how I brush my teeth.
July 3, 2009 at 11:37 am |
“Try it – you’ll like it”
July 3, 2009 at 1:53 pm |
My two-year-old son gave me this caption: “Have a banana”
I like it. Simple and to the point.
July 3, 2009 at 2:11 pm |
Caption: “♪♫ Help me if you can I’m fellin’ down
And I do appreciate you bein’ curved
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me ♪♫”
July 3, 2009 at 2:20 pm |
Think ‘banana’ – peel the world!
July 3, 2009 at 2:23 pm |
“It’s peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly time!
Peanut butter jelly time!”
July 3, 2009 at 5:04 pm |
“A demonstration of Freud’s famous ‘Banana Envy’ theory”
July 3, 2009 at 5:07 pm |
I have a second entry
“Behold; the Atheist Nightmare”
if you are unfamiliar with this, google “Ray Comfort Banana”. Trust me, it is worth it.
July 3, 2009 at 5:33 pm |
In Arnie Sch…egger voice
“Hasta Banana”
July 3, 2009 at 7:54 pm |
“Hello Dragon’s Den, here’s my new invention, the banana microphone”
July 3, 2009 at 8:15 pm |
Caption: “I don’t have to take the peel off first if I don’t want to.”
July 4, 2009 at 6:38 am |
Remember, if you shake a banana wait at least 59 seconds before peeling it or the contents will explode.
July 4, 2009 at 8:03 am |
Caption: “Oh whoops…can’t peel the banana from this side, haha.”
July 4, 2009 at 11:17 am |
Caption:
“You want me to what? Where?”
“Is this thing on?”
“I’m not fat, it’s the horizontal strips.”
“A chimp and a creationist walk into a bar..”
July 4, 2009 at 2:09 pm |
“Daylight coming in 59 seconds and me wanna go home!”
July 4, 2009 at 9:50 pm |
“You’ll put me on the cover of a book!? Hahah!”
July 5, 2009 at 6:26 am |
“No banana! I swear the mandarin was already unpeeled when I walked in!”
July 5, 2009 at 7:35 am |
Oy! I got the reference in first! (See above).
Priority is patent in patent law!
July 5, 2009 at 2:12 pm |
Caption:
Bananas: appealing to creativity
July 5, 2009 at 11:00 pm |
‘i think i’m using the wrong end’
July 6, 2009 at 2:32 am |
“I think banana, therefore I am bananimal!”
July 6, 2009 at 10:46 am |
I’m updating my entry:
“Try it, you’ll like it – 59″
I hope the reference is known. I don’t feel like explaining it in public.
/Per
July 6, 2009 at 4:51 pm |
Hallelujah! It’s rainning man!
July 7, 2009 at 3:49 am |
This is 23 Acacia Road, and this is Eric.
Now *that’s* an obscure reference. I barely even get it, and I wrote it.
July 7, 2009 at 3:51 pm |
“Bananas: Making people happy with just one grip.”
July 8, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
“If I squeeze hard enough, it’ll pop into my mouth like Popeye’s spinach”
July 11, 2009 at 9:42 pm |
When life gives you lemons, make bananas!
July 12, 2009 at 11:45 pm |
Caption:(well, julie melano was hinting at it)
“I peeeeled it my way”
July 13, 2009 at 12:05 am |
^^^
Darn! If I had thought of that one, Kevin, I would’ve won for sure!
July 21, 2009 at 12:16 pm |
“Wow, I’m thinking so far out of the box now that I’m actually going to eat this banana upside down and with the skin still on!”