Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Happiness is a Warm Gun

[Hat tip to the Neurocritic] Here at the Women's Bioethics Blog, we like to write about the newest findings in neuroethics, so it is with some bemusement that I read this post from one of Neuro blogs:

Wrigley-Funded Study Finds Chewing Gum May Help Reduce Stress



In other news, a study funded by Smith & Wesson finds shooting guns may help reduce stress.




















Full post here.

Any thoughts on why the correlation? Weird.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

The correlation? Hm, interesting. Think of how relaxed a person could be if they chewed gum during shooting practice.

Kelly Hills said...

The correlation? Hrm... that they were paid for by companies with vested interests in having the results be positive? ;-)

Offhand, I would guess that gum-chewing is a soothing repetitive activity for some people - how some people self-sooth by rocking, or tapping fingers, etc. (Or in more extreme cases, self-harm, over-grooming, etc.) Seems like the gun-happiness is probably more related to an endorphin rush.

My uneducated two cents. ;-)

The Neurocritic said...

Actually, I was joking about the gun part... However, I did come across some interesting images in search of just the right photo, and found this cozy rendition of Happiness Is a Warm Gun.

As for chewing gum, the press release didn't explain the mechanism for how Wrigley's (supposedly) relieved anxiety, increased alertness, and reduced stress.

Thanks for the mention!

Linda MacDonald Glenn said...

I wonder how many people missed the reference to the Beatles song (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNL4niexKEo for its latest incarnation in Across the Universe.)

I have to confess, though, I did find target practice very soothing when I was a prosecutor in the 80's; never did find chewing gum anywhere near as satisfying. ;>)

LB said...

I thought that was going to be a link to the Onion. I really did.