Contributed by:
Eric J. Lubbers/YourHub.com
Article Contributed on: 2/22/2006 3:28:37 PM
Being a YourHub.com Community Assistant forces you to be painfully aware of what is going on around the city, state and nation. One recurring theme on the various news sites that we scour to find the best local content is strange, yet publicly-funded university studies.
Consider this little nugget that I found on Mark Wolf's RockyTalk Live feature on RockyMountainNews.com:
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Ugly people/ugly behavior?
Friday, February 17 at 8:10
AM
Physically unattractive young people are more likely to grow up and become criminals, a University of Colorado economics professor says.
"We find that unattractive individuals commit more crime in
comparison to average-looking ones, and very attractive individuals
commit less crime in comparison to those who are average-looking,"
claim Naci Mocan of the University of Colorado and Erdal Tekin of
Georgia State University.
I expect to see plastic surgeons use this in their advertising: Avoid a life of crime with a nose job.
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Did anyone find that as strange as I did? Not the conclusion, necessarily, because, as hard as it is to say it out loud, it makes quite a bit of sense in our superficial culture, but the fact that this study burned up public funding, not to mention the time and energy of a University of Colorado professor.
I'm all for these kinds of studies, myself, but I think that they should only be allowed if the results of the study could be turned into a profitable enterprise for the school that forked up the dough in the first place.
I'm not sure exactly of what commercial use this latest study could be, but I'm enjoying considering the possibilites.
For example, the Psychology department could make a little extra scratch by opening up a Center for Chronically Ugly Children to council cosmetically-challenged youths away from the life of crime to which they've been academically condemned.
Any other ideas? Post a comment below and let me know what you think. Or better yet, start your own blog that is way better than mine and show me up.