Monday 10 March 2008

PAY MORE, LEARN MORE... I Have Proof


No, Really, I have proof. If you pay me more as a teacher, your kid will learn more... well, at least you will feel he is learning more, and isn't that just about as good.

The research comes from the medical folks, and is one more extension of the many studies lately about the "placebo effect". It seems that, as I have mentioned earlier, there is more and more evidence that the ideas you have about the treatment you are getting has a significant effect on how well it works.

So what is new? Well along comes a study from Duke University that shows that people who think their drug costs more, get more pain relief.....the high priced spread really tastes better. They took 82 people and told them they were testing a new pain reliever. They pre-tested the people with a standardized wrist schock test, and then introduced the mock pain killer, and retested the folks.... OH, but along the way, they mention to one group that the pills cost $2.50 each.... but to the other group, they mention that they got them for the marked down price of 10 cents each... and can you guess which group had lower pain effects....NOPE... both of them... !! but the group who paid more, got MORE relief from their pseudo drug. While 61% of the dime-a-pill group reported a reduction in pain on the second trial, 85% of the big-buck drugs group had a reduction in pain.

So that's my idea.... I figure if you paid your kids math teacher about $250,000, you gotta' be thinking, "Wow! He must be a great teacher." and that makes you think your kid is learning and you are happy and the kids is happy and I'm driving around in my hot new car feeling WAY happy cause I can now afford the really good $2.50 pain killers...

Scientific Logic... It makes perfect sense... Dollars and Sense. Send those checks directly to my new home in the south of France.

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