Re: very interesting article

[Guest guest]

You know, what I really want to know now is how old Gandhi was when he

died...teehee.

I'm sure what he's talking about is something I fell prey to in the

past. Not recently, because I'm pretty jaded--except of course there's

always wishful thinking!--but definitely as a teenager and young adult

looking for that quick fix. That's what's sad, because the people who

really could use IE concepts to avoid a lifetime of restriction and

guilt are being bombarded with these commercials touting the "easy"

way...grrrrr, now I'm pissed.

BTW, he was 78. I looked it up!

Sohni

Gillian Hood-son wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I received this in my

inbox this morning, it’s

fascinating. It’s a bit long but see it through. This is fascinating –

it talks about a well-known principle that causes people to easily fall

for

those weight loss claims you see in commercials and other ads for diet

programs. What do you think? Do you think you have been influenced by

this in

the past? Can you see how the diet industry actually knows how to

influence our

thoughts? Not only can they trick us into buying their programs, but

they know

we will feel bad about ourselves if we fail. Most people never consider

that

the diet industry is what fails them.

Was Gandhi

older or younger than nine when he died?

This is

obviously a stupid question. Of course you know that

Gandhi must have been older than nine when he lead India

to independence.

So what has

this question to do with anything?

Yesterday,

on my way to Whitehorse

in the Yukon, where I am advising my Yukon

colleagues on better managing their obese patients,

I picked up “Risk”,

a book by

the Ottawa

journalist Dan Gardner, which deals with the issue of why we fear

things we

shouldn’t.

Much of

what’s in the book has to do with basic human

psychology and how we process and respond to bits of information with

our guts

rather than our heads.

The Gandhi

question comes from an example in Gardner’s

book. Of course we all know

that Gandhi did not die before the age of nine, so seriously, guess how

old he

really could have been when he was assassinated?

It turns

out that in carefully conducted experiments by the German

psychologists Fritz Strak and Mussweiler, in which people were

first

asked the nonsense “nine” question and then asked to try and guess

how old they thought Gandhi really was when he died, their average

guess was

around 50.

Strak and

Mussweiler then asked another set of volunteers the

“nonsense” question, but this time it was whether they thought that

Gandhi died before or after age 140. Then after agreeing that this was

indeed

nonsense, the participants were asked to seriously think about how old

he might

have been – this time around, their answer was 67.

So simply

by throwing a ridiculously low number out there, the

researchers apparently made people guess a lower age than by throwing

out a

ridiculously high number, despite the fact that in both cases the first

number

could obviously not have been true.

This

experiment, as do many others in the psychology literature,

illustrate a phenomenon Gardner

refers to as the ‘Anchoring Rule’. This rule describes our natural

tendency to be influenced in our judgment by numbers even when we fully

know

they are ridiculous or even have absolutely nothing to do with the

issue at

hand.

Of course

we know Gandhi could not have been nine when he died, so

he must have been older – and we quickly try to recall images of him

and

all the stuff he did and try to make a reasonable guess – namely

perhaps

around 50 or so? So we are making adjustments for what we know to be

wrong and

come up with a number that we think is more likely.

When we

start with 140, we know this is ridiculously high and of

course Gandhi must have been much younger when he died and immediately,

we call

up exactly the same mental image of Gandhi and think of all he

accomplished and

in the end estimate that he could well have been, say, in his late

sixties when

he died.

In both

cases we are starting with numbers we know are definitely

wrong and are correcting them to something we consider more reasonable.

Once

we’ve heard the number ‘nine’ we underestimate the possible

age of death. In contrast, once we’ve heard the number ‘140’,

our guesstimate is much higher.

So how does

this relate to testimonials and weight loss

expectations?

We’ve all

seen the commercials with testimonials from people

who have lost an incredible amount of weight (say 250 lbs), often in a

ridiculously short amount of time (say 3 months), with virtually no

effort (say

just by taking the super-expensive ‘all-natural’ supplements).

Ok, so we

all know that this, even if remotely true, is probably

the best result ever and because we know that the company wants to sell

us

their product or service, they are probably presenting their best case

(in fact

they’ll will happily state on their ad that this result may not be

typical).

So we make

adjustments – yeah, maybe if I join I’ll

not lose 250 lbs (because I know that’s ridiculous) but, hey, maybe

I’ll lose 60 or maybe even only 40 lbs. And of course I know that 3

months is an unrealistic time frame, so I mentally readjust this number

to,

let’s say, 6 months. And yes, of course, it’s not just taking the

pills that’ll make this happen, sure, I’ll probably also have to

make some lifestyle changes like eat healthier and perhaps do a few

minutes of

exercise everyday, because of course I know there’s so such thing as

‘magical’ supplements.

But you

know what – 40 lbs in 6 months with healthy eating

and a bit of exercise, that sounds reasonable and if the supplements

can help

me do that, then may be $199 a month (first month free!) is perhaps not

such a

bad deal – so, now that I have seen through the ad and have reasonably

adjusted my expectations, where can I order this stuff?

This is

exactly how the Anchoring Rule works – despite being

very cautious and reasonable, it works every time – even in the

smartest

and most cautious people!

Indeed, the

power of testimonials is so compellingly effective and

misleading, that it is in fact illegal for doctors in Canada

to use

patient testimonials to promote their services, even if these

testimonials are

completely honest and true!

This is

why, by law, I am prohibited from posting any of the many

comments that I receive from former patients who have successfully

managed

their weight problem and want to personally thank me by posting their

success

stories on my blog.

But of

course, what applies to me as a regulated health

professional, does not apply to any of the commercial weight loss

programs that

can bombard you with all kinds of success stories and testimonials, the

more

unrealistic and wildly atypical, the better for their sales.

Thanks to

the Anchoring Rule, even the most ridiculous success

story, after reasonable adjustment, will still sound convincing enough

to make

you risk spending a few bucks.

So, the

next time you read a wildly enthusiastic weight loss

testimonial and consider signing up, simply ask yourself – could Gandhi

really have die before he turned nine?

AMS

Whitehorse, Yukon

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian

Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Get your

report, "The 6 Steps

to Guilt-Fr*e Eating" at http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

Follow

me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gillianhood

[Guest guest]

You know, what I really want to know now is how old Gandhi was when he

died...teehee.

I'm sure what he's talking about is something I fell prey to in the

past. Not recently, because I'm pretty jaded--except of course there's

always wishful thinking!--but definitely as a teenager and young adult

looking for that quick fix. That's what's sad, because the people who

really could use IE concepts to avoid a lifetime of restriction and

guilt are being bombarded with these commercials touting the "easy"

way...grrrrr, now I'm pissed.

BTW, he was 78. I looked it up!

Sohni

Gillian Hood-son wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I received this in my

inbox this morning, it’s

fascinating. It’s a bit long but see it through. This is fascinating –

it talks about a well-known principle that causes people to easily fall

for

those weight loss claims you see in commercials and other ads for diet

programs. What do you think? Do you think you have been influenced by

this in

the past? Can you see how the diet industry actually knows how to

influence our

thoughts? Not only can they trick us into buying their programs, but

they know

we will feel bad about ourselves if we fail. Most people never consider

that

the diet industry is what fails them.

Was Gandhi

older or younger than nine when he died?

This is

obviously a stupid question. Of course you know that

Gandhi must have been older than nine when he lead India

to independence.

So what has

this question to do with anything?

Yesterday,

on my way to Whitehorse

in the Yukon, where I am advising my Yukon

colleagues on better managing their obese patients,

I picked up “Risk”,

a book by

the Ottawa

journalist Dan Gardner, which deals with the issue of why we fear

things we

shouldn’t.

Much of

what’s in the book has to do with basic human

psychology and how we process and respond to bits of information with

our guts

rather than our heads.

The Gandhi

question comes from an example in Gardner’s

book. Of course we all know

that Gandhi did not die before the age of nine, so seriously, guess how

old he

really could have been when he was assassinated?

It turns

out that in carefully conducted experiments by the German

psychologists Fritz Strak and Mussweiler, in which people were

first

asked the nonsense “nine” question and then asked to try and guess

how old they thought Gandhi really was when he died, their average

guess was

around 50.

Strak and

Mussweiler then asked another set of volunteers the

“nonsense” question, but this time it was whether they thought that

Gandhi died before or after age 140. Then after agreeing that this was

indeed

nonsense, the participants were asked to seriously think about how old

he might

have been – this time around, their answer was 67.

So simply

by throwing a ridiculously low number out there, the

researchers apparently made people guess a lower age than by throwing

out a

ridiculously high number, despite the fact that in both cases the first

number

could obviously not have been true.

This

experiment, as do many others in the psychology literature,

illustrate a phenomenon Gardner

refers to as the ‘Anchoring Rule’. This rule describes our natural

tendency to be influenced in our judgment by numbers even when we fully

know

they are ridiculous or even have absolutely nothing to do with the

issue at

hand.

Of course

we know Gandhi could not have been nine when he died, so

he must have been older – and we quickly try to recall images of him

and

all the stuff he did and try to make a reasonable guess – namely

perhaps

around 50 or so? So we are making adjustments for what we know to be

wrong and

come up with a number that we think is more likely.

When we

start with 140, we know this is ridiculously high and of

course Gandhi must have been much younger when he died and immediately,

we call

up exactly the same mental image of Gandhi and think of all he

accomplished and

in the end estimate that he could well have been, say, in his late

sixties when

he died.

In both

cases we are starting with numbers we know are definitely

wrong and are correcting them to something we consider more reasonable.

Once

we’ve heard the number ‘nine’ we underestimate the possible

age of death. In contrast, once we’ve heard the number ‘140’,

our guesstimate is much higher.

So how does

this relate to testimonials and weight loss

expectations?

We’ve all

seen the commercials with testimonials from people

who have lost an incredible amount of weight (say 250 lbs), often in a

ridiculously short amount of time (say 3 months), with virtually no

effort (say

just by taking the super-expensive ‘all-natural’ supplements).

Ok, so we

all know that this, even if remotely true, is probably

the best result ever and because we know that the company wants to sell

us

their product or service, they are probably presenting their best case

(in fact

they’ll will happily state on their ad that this result may not be

typical).

So we make

adjustments – yeah, maybe if I join I’ll

not lose 250 lbs (because I know that’s ridiculous) but, hey, maybe

I’ll lose 60 or maybe even only 40 lbs. And of course I know that 3

months is an unrealistic time frame, so I mentally readjust this number

to,

let’s say, 6 months. And yes, of course, it’s not just taking the

pills that’ll make this happen, sure, I’ll probably also have to

make some lifestyle changes like eat healthier and perhaps do a few

minutes of

exercise everyday, because of course I know there’s so such thing as

‘magical’ supplements.

But you

know what – 40 lbs in 6 months with healthy eating

and a bit of exercise, that sounds reasonable and if the supplements

can help

me do that, then may be $199 a month (first month free!) is perhaps not

such a

bad deal – so, now that I have seen through the ad and have reasonably

adjusted my expectations, where can I order this stuff?

This is

exactly how the Anchoring Rule works – despite being

very cautious and reasonable, it works every time – even in the

smartest

and most cautious people!

Indeed, the

power of testimonials is so compellingly effective and

misleading, that it is in fact illegal for doctors in Canada

to use

patient testimonials to promote their services, even if these

testimonials are

completely honest and true!

This is

why, by law, I am prohibited from posting any of the many

comments that I receive from former patients who have successfully

managed

their weight problem and want to personally thank me by posting their

success

stories on my blog.

But of

course, what applies to me as a regulated health

professional, does not apply to any of the commercial weight loss

programs that

can bombard you with all kinds of success stories and testimonials, the

more

unrealistic and wildly atypical, the better for their sales.

Thanks to

the Anchoring Rule, even the most ridiculous success

story, after reasonable adjustment, will still sound convincing enough

to make

you risk spending a few bucks.

So, the

next time you read a wildly enthusiastic weight loss

testimonial and consider signing up, simply ask yourself – could Gandhi

really have die before he turned nine?

AMS

Whitehorse, Yukon

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian

Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Get your

report, "The 6 Steps

to Guilt-Fr*e Eating" at http://www.HealthierOutcomes.com

Follow

me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gillianhood

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I've certainly been influenced by the dieting industry over the years! Sure wish I had every dollar back I've spent over the years on diets and books looking for that silver bullet, that magic program! What saddens and angers me most is all those young woman out there who are still falling prey to the promises of the dieting industry and Madison Avenue!!!

Jeanne