Showing posts with label Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Study. Show all posts

Thursday, March 7, 2013

At the Root


Cash incentives work. News at 11.

Yup, it was news to me too, but a study done by the Mayo Clinic proves it to be true.  Cash is king when it comes to motivational incentives.

That does explain why slavery never worked.

“Would you rather have: a, a whip, or b, one hundred dollars, for some grueling housework?”

Sure, on a scale of made up statistics, 1 in 40 would rather have the whip, but there’s always one of those in every crowd.

“Yes, mistress.”

“Do you have a hall pass?”

Yup, same guy. But that’s just what motivates him. The rest of us? We like cash. The Mayo Clinic tried out this theory on weight loss programs and discovered it worked there too.

“I’ll starve for cash.”

They offered $20 a month in a yearlong study and found that, in a group of 100 obese people, the group lost an average of 9 pounds.  The same study without cash turned out only a two-pound loss, and three jelly donuts. Ok, nobody found any donuts, but that’s just because one of the test subjects ate them.

So what does this prove? Nothing that we don’t already know. We watch TV. We know that people will do the stupidest things for money. I mentioned the network looking for new reality stars, right? They are. You don’t get much stupider than reality TV unless you’re a college kid with a bottle of Jack and a shopping cart out after midnight.

“You know what would be really cool…?”

Not that I’d know anything about that. It’s only what I’ve heard.

And now I’ve heard there’s a study for money. Maybe there’s hope for my blog yet. Sure, if people will give up food for $20 a month, imagine what blog-fodder they’d read for pennies on the dollar. Then imagine if I could prove that my blog makes you lose weight! Whoa! I’d have a gold mine.

RobBlog: Better than Botox!

A dream has to start somewhere. Nobody’s offering me cash to write; maybe I should turn that around.

I’ll let you know, just as soon as I get some cash. First I have to find somebody willing to motivate me with cash.

“Yes mistress.”

No, not you.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy!


Guess what?  Georgetown University has announced another statistic that I’ve achieved.

Whoo-Hoo!

At first the whole great white caboose thing was kinda cool. I mean, I wasn’t chic or popular, but when it came to the American norm, I was the man. Divorce, foreclosure, laid off, if Grant Wood and Norman Rockwell had a paint fight over the American dream, I would be the drippings.

Now Georgetown is throwing out new statistics at the American Rob, and smacking him right in the face. Now I’m sort of like that Thrift Shop song that’s hitting the radio: fun at first, but after a while it’s just tired and worn out. I know. You still think it’s cute. Give it time. Trust me.

“I wear your granddad’s clothes, I look incredible…”

So what other American dream have I achieved now? According to a new Georgetown study, students who earn a two-year AA degree are making better money than students who earn a four-year bachelor’s degree.

Yup.

My Mass Comm BA and I can attest to that. Then again, in my unemployed state, there are high school graduates making more money than I am.  They didn’t spend a dime on their degree. I’m waiting for that statistic next.

On the other hand, I am off the graph areas: my student loan is paid off. Who else can say that? Yeah, who’s the dummy now!  Now watch this:

paycheck – loan payment = income.
Where paycheck = 0 and loan payment = 0…
Oh.
Holy Econ 101, Batman!

Well at least four years of school taught me how to work that kind of higher math. Maybe I should have gone for my master’s degree; then I could have learned to deal with the resulting depression from my results of mathematics.

Georgetown did offer one hopeful caveat. Their study furthered that in the long term and fine print, a bachelor’s degree earner would earn more than an associates degree earner.

Now that’s more like it. I now have something to work for. I still have a lot of long term left. That’s why I spent the longer term in college. I can win the long game. I have the extra education. I have the tools. I have the technology.

“We can rebuild him…”

I just need to play for the future. In the end I’ll come out ahead. Just like all those other artists whose work became famous after they died.

After they died…

Wha…?

Ok, so my plan needs work. Still, I’m a long-term white caboose, and my game isn’t over and I’ve got time to figure out how to play that game out.

Or time to be the best greeter Wal Mart has ever seen.

Time

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