A Rather Sobering Experiment

So, there was I was, minding my own business and browsing along on Wikipedia (which I tend to make a habit of, when I started reading about cognitive dissonance for no particular reason. A few clicks later, a came across this article. Go ahead, read it, then come back when you wipe the cold sweat from your brow.

The set up a fake prison with respondents on a prison study. Some were slated to be guards, some slated to be prisoners. There were very few rules, the most notable of which was that you shouldn't physically harm the prisoners if you're a guard. What followed was pure horror: Guards humiliated and psychologically tortured the prisoners. Early on, the prisoners staged a revolt. Eventually, 2 had to leave early because of severe psychological stress, and the experiment was cut short because an outsider began to question the morality of the study.

This study is a strong example of human nature, and our desire to fit within our respective groups. Things spiraled out of hand because of the lack of controls and the fact that the person conducting the experiment was also a participant. But, it shows what happens when people are left to their own devices, with only vague instructions, specifying the need to make life uncomfortable to the imprisoned. It's suggested that some of the behaviors seen at Guantanamo Bay were similar to what was seen in this experiment.

It's also chilling reminder of this statement (I forget who said it first): Power corrupts; Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Truer words have not been spoken.

Reviews of things that suck: KCl

Summary:

OK, SO! My ex was deeply offended when I stated that I did not like the salt free ketchup. I now know why.

Instead of salt, the ketchup uses a substitute: Potassium Chloride. Innocuous, food safe, but dangerous if you're on a potassium sparing diuretic. I'm not. My blood pressure stays just fine unaided (even on a CNS stimulant like Adderall), but, for kicks and because, I don't have very many salts of potassium, it was a cheap addition to my reagents collection (and I'm ALL about the cheap right now!) so, I decided to do a little taste test this morning. This strongly reaffirmed my belief that the addition of KCl to ANYTHING will render it unfit for human consumption.

OK, so, in my usual spice/seasoning tasting procedure, I shook out a small amount onto my hand. The crystals were just as cubic as our friendly NaCl salt that we all know and LOVE ♥. That, my dear friends, is where the similarity ends.

I wet my index finger, dipped it in the small pile to pick up a few crystals. I then placed my finger in my mouth and onto my tongue. For about the first 10ms it was kind of like salt, then it hit, an acrid, cloying, and gag inducing sensation of, "OH MY GOD, SOMETHING IS SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH this substance in my mouth" Yes, I gagged. Yes, my eyes squeezed down tight and my feeble brain tried to process this horror-inducing sensation in my mouth. I swallowed. The small amount won't actually hurt me, WILL IT? No, I'm reasonably sure it won't. The aftertaste, an impossible to describe, somewhat bitter, medicinal aftertaste permeated my mouth. If I didn't do something quick to neutralize the horror building in my mouth, I was sure to lose my breakfast. I grabbed the nearest drink. A freshly poured glass of cola, and chugged it down, to remove the ionic nightmare from my mouth.

I will never EVER ingest such a vile substance again. Into the reagent cabinet it goes, never to soil another morsel of food ever again.

Pros:

• It won't raise your blood pressure
• I'm sure it would be just as neat as sodium chloride for growing pretty cubic crystals
• It looks just like salt
• Has a nifty warning to consult your physician before using any sort of salt substitute
• Makes a fine addition to my reagents. I don't have any potassium compounds, and now I do
• An excellent source of potassium.
• A great way to pull cruel pranks on unknowing friends when they go to salt up their delicious fries.

Cons:

• May induce vomiting
• Looks can be deceiving. It looks like salt, it shakes like salt, but unlike salt, it tests your gag reflex. 
• It might kill you if you are on certain medications for the blood pressure you're watching so closely.
• It's not iodized like sodium chloride. Your thyroid will be angry. 
• It has a highly disagreeable medicinal aftertaste that will leave you wishing you were dead. 

In short. It looks great on paper, but the reality is it isn't the real thing, and it's not really a substitute. If you're watching your blood pressure, you're probably much better off either going really easy on the NaCl salt, or just skipping the salt all-together. Most food already has enough salt already, so leaving a bit off will leave you better off. 

Buyer Beware

This falls under the subject of predatory advertising.

I follow Mouse Print pretty closely, reading their weekly articles. They've covered such things as airline's hidden fees and ways food manufacturers disguise their downsizing. The article linked above is, in my opinion, the worst that it gets. A web page that purports to be an actual news article from a real news organization touting the benefits of some dietary supplement.

Many people could be fooled into thinking it's real, but the entire thing is a work of fiction created by a bottom-feeding supplement manufacturer. I have seen similar websites for similar products. All seem to espouse the benefits of the product and appear on the surface to be legitimate. That is, of course, until you look at the fine print buried at the bottom of the page.

Shame on them.

Oh, and by the way: There is no magic berry that can make you lose weight. Losing weight is simple math, You have to take in less calories than you use.