Tuesday, July 24, 2007

MIT Invents Party Drug

Congratulations are in order for a group of researchers at MIT. They have successfully cured fear. Not all fear mind you, but 'learned fear'. They describe learned fear as the brain's inability to stop experiencing fear surrounding a particular event.

For example, they put a mouse in a multi-roomed box, and in one of the rooms they electrified the floor. The mice quickly learned to avoid that room. The researchers stopped electrifying the floor, but the mice continued to avoid that room. Huzzah for Pavlov. After receiving the new drug the mice lost their 'fear' of the room.

I'm guessing that this drug can be used to overcome other types of learned fear such as fear of social situations and fear of embarrassment. I like to call these fears 'inhibitions'. Traditionally, lowering inhibitions has been accomplished with the use of copious amounts of alcohol. Unfortunately, those levels of alcohol lead to the dreaded hangover. Lucky for us there are teams of scientists, such as these MIT researchers, working diligently to provide us with recreational solutions for our partying needs.

1 - I will buy it
2 - I'll buy it at discount
3 - Other people think it's good, but I wasn't interested when I first heard about it
M - Mainly Multiplayer. See if friends get interested.
? - Find out more about this game
PC? - Will it be released on the PC?