WEBVTT - The Halloween Costume Made Me Do It 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how stuff 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:14.880 Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.680 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Christian Seger. Hey, 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.760 it is October, and we, if you haven't noticed, are 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:23.120 covering a lot of topics that are around kind of 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:27.080 the October theme of horror and Halloween, but also things 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:31.080 like being dead or burials. Are for today, we're gonna 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.760 get real literal with it and talk about Halloween costumes. 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.000 But we also want to let you know that towards 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.120 the end of the month, we're gonna be doing two 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:40.440 kind of special things that we want our audience to 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.760 know about. The first was that we're gonna be periscoping 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:47.199 our listener mail starting on October twenty three, which is Friday. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:50.040 So if you're on Periscope or if you're not, sign 0:00:50.120 --> 0:00:52.159 up for it and you can check us out responding 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.080 to our listener mail and kind of interacting with our 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:57.320 audience in real time on that platform. Yeah, and if 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.480 you don't know what periscope is, don't worry. I didn't 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.360 know to light few weeks ago. So we'll put up 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.720 a blog post as well at some point here that'll 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:06.360 give you the deeds on what exactly we're talking about exactly. 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.440 We'll be pushing the information out on our social media 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:12.119 channels as well, which include Facebook, Twitter, and tumbler on 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.320 all of those platforms were known by the handle blow 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:17.720 the Mind. And we don't just post our own stuff there. 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.800 We curate content from all the kind of weird science 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.360 e stuff that we find across the internet. Uh. And 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:25.759 if you want to be included in that listener mail, 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.120 don't forget that. You can always reach us at the 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.320 email address Blow the Mind at how stuff works dot com. 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:33.760 The other thing that we have coming up at the 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.000 end of October is the return of our video series 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:38.920 Monster Science. Robert, you want to tell him a little 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:42.160 bit about this? Yeah, join h Dr Anton Jessup, a 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:46.360 kind of a daytime horror host VHS era basement creep 0:01:46.400 --> 0:01:50.840 who's going to walk us through the real world science 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.880 behind us some rather outrageous monster movie nasties. Can you 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:57.520 give us a preview of what kind of monsters we're 0:01:57.520 --> 0:01:59.640 gonna see in this? So yes, we're gonna you're gonna 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.840 look at shambling mushrooms, You're gonna look at werewolves. We're 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:04.960 gonna look into a big Trouble a little China one 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.840 of the creatures from that as well. That's exciting, as 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.760 well as a certain character from Mortal Kombat. So oh 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.080 cool cool. So what's great about that is you've got 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:16.920 a wear Wolf episode coming up with that. We just 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.560 published the episode on Wolf Spain. Uh and, so you know, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.280 we're trying to tie things together a little bit here. 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.639 We also have an episode coming out about Egyptian mummification, 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:28.400 and we have a mummy episode of Monster Science from 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.640 the first season. So October, you can see, is our 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:35.680 favorite month, which brings me to today's episode, Robert, what 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.239 are you gonna be for Halloween this year? We'll see 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.200 this is a this is a complicated question, um with 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.640 me because I have the boy. The boy's gonna dress 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:47.600 up and uh and and me and my wife have 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.320 done kind of like combo costumes in the past, but 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.440 now we have this, uh, this weird extra actor in 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.000 the scenario. So like last year, we did a Twin 0:02:56.040 --> 0:03:00.240 Peaks thing where I remember that where I was um 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.480 the comic clock and character the lady. Yeah, my wife 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:06.800 was a blog lady and we dressed our son up 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:11.760 as the dancing little guy. Um and and my my 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:15.560 father in law played the tall man. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:17.800 I do remember seeing that picture. Yeah, that was a 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.000 great idea. Yeah, so that one works. But now he's 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.400 he's a little more insistent, like he wants to be 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:25.239 a giraffe, and like, you know how it's hard to 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.280 work a giraffe into a team costume effort. Yeah. Absolutely. 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:32.200 The only thing that comes to mind is like, what's 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.880 that elephant children's story? Bob are like that? I don't 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:38.240 want to dress like, yeah, you're not. You don't strick 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.120 me as the book? Yeah I would. I would love 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.240 to do a mummy like com Blue cost him, where 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.920 we all dress up as different takes on money. He 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.640 could be a giraffe mummy. He could. Yeah, there's no 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:50.760 reason why they wouldn't have mummified a giraffe. That would 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.160 have been an interesting process in bombing all those draft organs. Yeah, 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:56.440 I would think so. So Yeah maybe mommy draft We'll see. 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.120 How about yourself. I haven't nailed it down yet, but 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.480 I have this old prison outfit that I used for 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:03.920 a video I shot one time. So I'm kind of 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:07.520 considering doing a Hannibal lecter thing. Uh, but it would 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.000 involve me having to be strapped down to a dolly 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:12.240 and being pushed around by somebody. And I don't think 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:14.800 I can talk anybody into being you know, the orderly 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.440 Barney from the from the asylum that pit Annibals. And 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.720 that's the thing about it's about certain combo costumes. They're 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.960 not all even handed. Sometimes they require somebody to be 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.960 something kind of boring. Yeah, well some people are into that. 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:31.760 I don't think my wife definitely wouldn't want to be Barney, 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.680 so we'll come up with something maybe she can be 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:38.520 Will Graham. Yeah. So the reason I ask is because 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.240 today we're gonna be talking about Halloween costumes and how 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.480 they relate to our culture but also to our identities 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:48.680 and how we form and change our our identities in 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.160 conjunction with what we're you know, costuming at Yeah. It hard, 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:55.240 it's a really it's a really fascinating topic because when 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:57.200 you put on a mask, when you put on a costume, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.080 you're engaging in a in a very very power, a 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.440 full act. Here you are becoming somebody else, not only 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.359 externally but internally, as we'll discuss, and it's been a 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:13.080 it's played a vital role in traditional religions throughout history. It's, uh, 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.760 you can you can see both positive and negative, very 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:19.840 negative aspects of mask and costume usage throughout time, and 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.040 yet today we often just relegate it to just sort 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:25.520 of childhood silliness. Right, Oh, the kids are gonna put 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:29.200 on masks and go around parading through the community. Well 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:31.279 when but if you stop and you think about it, 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.159 it's it's terrifying, you know. Yeah, And I think that 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.080 there's an argument to be made to that, and we're 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.760 going to get into this that it's definitely over the 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.240 last thirty years or so, maybe forty years or so, 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:43.960 it's started to become an adult thing, at least in 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:49.680 American culture, and that the rise of cosplay in sort of, 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.839 I guess nerd culture, but you know, I think it's 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.560 gotten to the point where cosplay is is beyond nerd 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:57.720 culture now. I was in the grocery store the other 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.240 day and there's a magazine dedicated to cosplay that can 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:03.480 buy at your local supermarket. So I feel like that's 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:07.240 sort of elevated past, you know, just just for geeks 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:09.479 when you can buy it like on the shelf there. Yeah, 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:11.960 and it's great to hear that, especially looking back, Like 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:14.560 I definitely remember a time when I was still trigger treating, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.440 but among my peers, I was probably too old for 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.640 such nonsense. And occasionally you would run, you would trick 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:24.320 or treat at a house and you'd see somebody your 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.200 own age in they're not in costume, and the kind 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.960 of at you, like, what are you doing? But then 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.640 you know what they weren't doing, having fun exactly. Yeah. 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.640 In fact, the dude in question I'm thinking about, it's 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:37.280 like I looked him up on Facebook and he's still 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.800 not having fun to this day. So I'm proud that 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:42.040 I wore my my Halloween costumes, you know. But the 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:44.280 thing is, is that guy and I'm sure, I'm sure 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.760 anybody listening to the episode right now can identify with 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:53.480 costuming and that sort of role play, identity change element. 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:55.359 And there's a science to this too. This isn't just 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.560 gonna be us riffing about what it's like to wear 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.920 Halloween costumes. There's been a ton of studies on this way, 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.640 more than I thought we would find. Actually, yeah, there's 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:05.719 a like I knew there would be a tie to 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.640 the topic of inclothed cognition that we'll talk about, and 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.280 a long time listeners to the show might remember an 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:12.960 episode in the past the dealt a little bit within 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.239 closed cognition, but there's there are a number of studies 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:19.040 that deal specifically with Halloween costumes and how Halloween costumes 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.320 impact both children and adults. Yeah, so there are two 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.640 specific things that I want to sort of start off 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.080 with us maybe like thesis statements for this episode, and 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.840 we'll see if they're approved by the evidence that we 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:32.960 go through throughout the episode. The first is that there's 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.560 this idea that Halloween is a and the costumes that 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.280 we see in the acts that we see during it 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.280 are a reflection of what's happening in our culture at 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:45.200 that point in time, and that it's sort of, uh 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:48.640 is also a transgressive element, right, that there are boundaries 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.480 within our society that are some of them are asking 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:55.080 to be pushed, and Halloween is the time when that happens. 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.680 And you know, in some degrees that can lead to 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.040 social change and other degree reas as we'll talk about 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:06.400 it's maybe a kind of social regression as well. But 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:08.800 so I want us to keep that in mind that 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.240 it it seems to be this period of time that 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:14.440 reflects kind of I hate using this term but the 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:17.960 zeitgeist of what's going on in American culture at the time, 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:21.120 and I understand that it's becoming more popular in some 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.640 European nations as well, so um, you know, perhaps they're 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:26.760 seeing that as well. Well. You know, just over the 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.280 past ten years, you can look to one particular Halloween 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.440 costume is playing a significant role in uh in social movements, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.680 that being, of course, the V for Vendetta mask, which 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:40.120 is Halloween costume mask based on the motion picture. That's 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:45.600 always fascinated me from the perspective of you know, and 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:47.440 I'll talk about this later, but you know, in my 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.840 outside life, I write comic books, and I attend a 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.440 lot of comic book conventions throughout the year, and so 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.800 I see a lot of costumes. And when the movie 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:56.360 came out and all of a sudden, I started seeing 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.800 a lot of people both at these shows and at 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:04.520 Halloween wearing the Guy Fox mask, it really struck me 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:08.280 as being ironic because there's such a um as you 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.400 just brought up, there's such an association and symbolism of 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:15.800 rebellion associated with that that mask that I don't know 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:19.840 necessarily that the customers themselves even knew it necessarily even 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.760 though the movie sort of presents that as a as 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:27.040 a symbolic point. Yeah, yeah, it's been. It's been a 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:31.080 fascinating transformation with that particular man of the particular character. Yeah. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.280 So before we start talking about these studies, which you know, 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:38.160 we're gonna be working our way from nineteen seventies six 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.880 up until present day, there's been so many studies. Uh, 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:43.960 I want to just throw out this fact for you. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:51.000 In one point four billion dollars were spent on Halloween 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.600 costumes in America alone. And that's according to the National 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.720 Retail Federation. That is a tremendous sum of money. And 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.280 I guess I never really stopped to think about it before. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.160 But of course, like I don't know what it's like 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.280 in other parts of the country, but here in Atlanta 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.040 we have these these like pop up halloween stores where 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.960 like there used to be uh you know, like a 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.720 department store like a Maze's or something, and it's since left. 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.680 And for just the month of October, these halloween stores 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.880 move in and all they sell their costumes and Halloween 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:24.560 knickknacks and things like that. Uh. And I always it 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.080 always struck me as like, wow, like can you turn 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:29.640 a profit just in a month like that, and obviously 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.280 you can if there's that much money going into it, 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.559 and it's especially interesting to see that it's doing that 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:39.160 kind of business. After all those kids melted in the 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:42.320 Silver Shamrock mass That was a shame. That was a shame. 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.800 I was young when that happened. But yeah, I can't 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:46.480 believe in the snakes came out of their eyes. And 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:52.360 we are, of course referring to Halloween three colon Season 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:55.000 of the Witch, one of our favorite movies here. It' 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.439 stuff to blow your mind. In fact, last year, Uh Joe, 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.440 superproducer Noel and myself got together with our partners and 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.280 watched that movie. I don't know if it was on Halloween, 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:07.480 but it was like the week of Hallow and it 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.079 was great fun. Yeah, I think I watched it for 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.320 the first time last year as well, um at night 0:11:12.400 --> 0:11:16.000 by myself the family was sleeping. But yeah, I think 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.600 it's it's a very flawed film, but it has some 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.600 It has some very just fantastic elements in it, from 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.480 the just wonderful soundtrack by John Carpenter and All and 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:29.600 Horth to Uh, the weird mix of like androids and 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:34.960 occult magic and big scary corporations. Like on paper, it's 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.480 it's a fabulous film, right. We were saying before the 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.800 taping that it would be it's ripe for a remake, 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:43.680 but it probably will never get remade. Like the idea 0:11:43.800 --> 0:11:45.760 of so the central conceit of the movie is that 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:50.160 there's an evil magical corporation that is producing is it 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:52.960 three Halloween masks? It's three. Yeah, it's like a witch 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.120 of Skull and I don't want jack o lantern? Is 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:59.000 that the other one? Uh? And and their children's masks 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:02.760 and if these children wear their Halloween masks and watch 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:09.240 a like evil magical commercial simultaneously, they will all die. Yeah, 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:10.959 they will die and serve as some sort of a 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:16.600 child sacrifice and they ancient ritual. It's a bizarre movie, 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:19.760 but it's this was before Basically the idea I think 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.240 was that the Halloween movies, before they were dominated by 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.720 Michael Myers, were supposed to be like an anthology series, 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.800 just like a kick start anthology Halloween. So each year 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:30.840 we'd get a different Halloween film with a different plot. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:34.320 And sadly that didn't happen because nobody like Halloween three 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.240 until it had time to uh you know to cure, 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.480 and I'm not sure over over the years. It's like 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.360 a fine one. It is. It is a fine one 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.160 that not everyone's palate is going to be susceptible to. 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.360 But at heart Halloween three season of the which is 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.800 about masks changing children absolutely. Now in the movie it 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.880 changes them into a pile of goog and snakes and whatnot. 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.680 But in reality it does seem to change our children 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:07.520 into something else. Yeah. I wonder if, well, I wonder 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:10.440 if those screenwriters of Halloween three were inspired by this 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.680 first study, or maybe the first two studies we're going 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.640 to talk about, because the first was in seventy six, 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.400 the next one was in seventy seventy nine. Yeah, So 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.080 the whole time when I'm reading these, I'm picturing the uh, 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:24.000 the sort of idyllic uh nineteen late nineteen seventies setting 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.439 of the at least the first two Halloween pright. Um. So, 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:32.120 this is the ninete steady effects of d individualization variables 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.920 on stealing among Halloween trick or treaters. This was published 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:38.640 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology again in 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:43.320 seventy six February. So, well, this is what happened the 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:48.400 psychologist involved covertly observed the behavior of a about a 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.800 thousand trick or treaters at twenty seven different Seattle homes. 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.559 So each each house has the same setup, one bowl 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.440 filled with candy and an additional bowl filled with pennies 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.439 and nickels, because you know you're going to you're treating, 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.719 you want to get some pennies and nicols. Yeah, that's 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:05.200 that strike struck me as weird. But I was also 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:08.040 born a year after the studies conducted, so maybe it's 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:12.120 something I missed out on. So um. The researchers answered 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.320 the door when the Halloween trick repeaters show up, and 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:19.120 sometimes the researcher asks the matt the costume children what 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.200 their names are. Oh, you're the life looking which what's 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.360 your name? Oh it's Susie. Other times they let the 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.520 children retain their anonymity. They can continue to just be 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.240 werewolves and mummies and witches. Right, and that's important because 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.720 it helps to reinforce the identity. Right, Okay, are no 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:40.200 longer Susie and yeah, instead they are you know, Broomhill 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:42.560 to the Witch and uh, you know Oscar the money 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:46.760 or whatever. Um. So at this point, the researchers say, 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:48.760 all right, I have to go deal with something else 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.280 inside the house, and we shut the door. Only take 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.400 one piece of candy and then they shut the door. 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.680 But they're they're watching through the peephole the whole time. 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.680 Nice scientific use of the people. They have like a 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:02.920 nest thing that they could mount on their wall and 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:05.320 watched through their smartphone. Yeah, they're just going around like 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.720 he can through a curtain and scribbling on a notepad. 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.400 The results, though, were kids who were allowed to remain 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.920 anonymous stole money and extra candy roughly three times as 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.400 often as those who gave up their names, and kids 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:22.160 who came in groups, so just a complete pack of 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.560 you know, short little gremlins. Um. Those who came in 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:28.640 groups both named and anonymous were more than twice as 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:32.760 likely to steal as those who came alone. Wow, okay, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.880 so I don't I guess the study. The findings of 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.200 this aren't all that surprising, knowing what I know, just 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.800 from living life and having costume before and knowing other 0:15:43.920 --> 0:15:47.480 human beings. So that the the idea of the anonymity 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:49.520 this is pre social media too, so I think that 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:51.080 that has something to do with it as well. Right, 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.520 that we now know that anonymity leads to people doing 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.680 things that they think that they won't have repercussions for it. Right, Um, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.080 But then that the group factor as well as is 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.960 the really interesting one. So how the pennies come into play? 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.960 Do they steal those as well? Nichols okay, And and 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.880 my my reading of this, the study they didn't even say, okay, 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:12.960 also you can take a certain amount of coins, but 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.720 right the coins they just left him there. It was like, yeah, 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.600 this is just for decoration and then these kids scrap. Yeah, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.000 it's it's also interesting to read this thinking about my 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.880 own interactions with grantities are like three year olds, but 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:30.320 watching them feed off of each other's energy, Like you 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.960 get to three year olds in a room and they'll 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.160 suddenly just start feeding off each other and displaying behavior 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.680 that individually they wouldn't do, but they just they just 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.880 like there's a heightened susceptibility to group think and uh 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:48.520 like you know, imaginative, Uh, the association. It's it's interesting. Well, 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.880 we're gonna talk about this throughout this episode, and there's 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.000 a study that's coming up that specifically refers to it. 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:58.520 But that is like that zone that age around between 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.520 three and five is sort of that own where you're 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:05.480 still you understand sort of you know when people say, like, 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:11.440 you're a boy, or you know, you're um, you're from Atlanta, 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:13.800 Georgia or whatever, like you understand those words, but the 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.160 actual identity part hasn't really like all glamed together yet. 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.320 So the group think kind of thing seems to happen 0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:22.960 a little easier at the age I mean, you are 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.840 observing it right now. Oh yeah, Like my my son 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.840 and his friend Leoh, they had a time at the 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:30.719 playground the other day where all they did is just 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:34.960 march around and enchanted. We are daddy elephants the whole time. 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.160 So yeah, and they don't do that on their own, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.280 but together they engage in that. So I feel like 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.720 it's the same sort of energy at work now. I 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.080 miss that we need to needed to bring that back. 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:48.879 We'll have after this. We're gonna have a weird daddy 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:53.120 Elephants session in the office. Now. There's a nine nine 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.359 study that followed this up and and and indeed the 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.280 researchers here set out to replicate the results of the 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.320 seventy eight study. Uh and this one is titled Halloween 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:05.000 masks and d individualization. Uh. And this was published in 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:10.040 Psychology Reports April nine. So this time they looked at 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:15.120 fifty eight costume kids ages nine through thirteen, and all 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.520 of them in this cases are unaccompanied by adults, so 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:19.879 there are no adults there to, you know, to to 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:25.720 inflict rules and regulations on the Halloween traditions. They this time, 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.480 the researchers tell the children to take two and only 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.240 two pieces of candy from a bowl. Uh, and then 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:34.080 they shut the door. The same situation takes place, they 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.240 peek around the corner through the people. This is what 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:39.840 they found. Mass children were significantly more likely to violate 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.120 the instructions grabbing a healthy fistful of candy sixty two 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.760 percent of the time versus thirty seven percent for unmasked counterparts. 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:54.040 That's interesting, especially because the age difference, so we're talking 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:56.240 nine to thirteen year olds here instead of the much 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.160 younger children in the first study. Also that what I'm 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.800 noticing is that they're completely different authors for both studies, 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:05.240 So this wasn't um the first team trying to replicate 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.399 their efforts. It was an entirely different team, probably in 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.040 a different part of the country. Well, and I think 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.720 it's worth us explaining what they mean when they say 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:19.000 d individual adan here. Right, So that is a psychological 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:24.480 process by which a person's identity is subsumed. This is 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.200 the This isn't my language, obviously, obviously I don't throw 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.920 subsumed around a lot. But it's subsumed by the identity 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.040 of a larger group. And in this case, the mask 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:38.000 thing can can play into it. Right. Uh, I wonder 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.439 if the kids were masked and they were by themselves, 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.919 if this you know how this would play out? Well? 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.680 In this uh, this is a particular study. They were 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.119 they were unaccompanied by adults, so there were no adults. No, 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:52.560 I mean no other children too. I guess, like, what 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.479 creepy kid goes around all by themselves trick or treating 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.200 at nine years old. Well, in the first study, they 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.240 did find that kids who came in groups were more 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:03.440 than twice as likely to see what's those who came along. 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.640 So yeah, there's definitely uh, you know, one is potentially 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:08.760 a problem, but you get two together and they're just 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:12.119 going to fall into that that group identity of the 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:15.520 trick or treating fiends. So okay, So all right, the 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:20.640 first thing that we're establishing here is that, uh, costuming, 0:20:21.080 --> 0:20:24.919 especially during Halloween, provides a certain amount of anonymity, and 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.199 that within a group, it provides the potential for this 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:32.040 d individual ation in which you divorce yourself from your 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:36.440 day to day identity and allow yourself to be absorbed 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.000 into the identity of this larger group. It's almost like 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.720 a cult type. Yeah, I mean it's instantly. It makes 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:45.600 me think of various and often vile scenarios where you 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.840 have hooded individuals creating about and doing things. It's it's 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.159 the same energy, it's the same mechanism, but entrusted to 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:56.600 children as opposed to taken on by adults. Well, let's 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.920 let's speed it forward a little bit, uh to maybe 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.880 maybe a period of time that I'm sure everybody can 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.119 relate to the being a child and dressing up in 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:07.359 costume and maybe grabbing a fist full of candy. But 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.119 there was a study, uh, and this was cited. I 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:13.280 don't know if you noticed this, but this particular study 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:16.320