When faced with the photograph of the baby people were far more likely to send the wallet back, the study found. In fact, only one in ten were hearthearted enough not to do so. With no picture to tug at the emotions, just one in seven were sent back.
According to Dr Wiseman the result reflects a compassionate instinct towards vulnerable infants that people have evolved to ensure the survival of future generations. "The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective," he said.
Scientists argue that it would be difficult to genetically code for feeling empathy exclusively towards your own child and much easier to code for feeling empathy towards all children. If you find a baby alone, there is a good chance it belongs to you, making it an effective evolutionary trait, said Dr Wiseman.
Who knew wallet photos could be so useful?
Want to keep your wallet? Carry a baby picture [Times Online]
(Photo: yoshimov)
"I need a kid..."
Now I'm going to go sniffing around after my nieces and nephews I rarely see, trying to feign interest so I can get a picture off them.
]]>Only a small percentage will be "quite" subpar.
When stocking your wallet, these are the ones to avoid!
]]>*Takes baby photo off desk and puts it into wallet*
]]>Well, actually... nevermind.
]]>It's possible that having a baby photo makes you more marketable to the ladies...though as a lady, if I saw a baby photo in a college student's wallet, my mind wouldn't be going to "nephew, aw!" I'd probably be scowling a little and looking around for a baby mama to skulk from the bushes and slash my tires.
]]>(I'm off the belief that all children should have warning labels until 18.
Preferably marked with a dry erase pen, so it can be edited at ages 0, 2, 6, 14 and 16):
0: Caution: wear googles, nose clips and gloves before approaching.
2: Beware of flying objects.
6: When lost, please return to...
14: Puberty. Run. No, seriously, Run!
16: Sharing public highways with this one detrimental to your health.
* Brooklyn, even! :P
]]>Also, I can whip it out when he's around and embarrass him. :)
]]>@rinse: I wonder if this works for cellphones as well.. I have LOTS of cute kitty pictures in my phone!
]]>...hearthearted?
]]>I didn't realize how many of their systems don't work 100% right out of the gate ... they're seriously half-finished and still working on crucial systems like "digestion" and "breathing."
]]>The theory was, that babies look fairly hideous for the first few weeks, as a natural mechanism for keeping others not much interested in it. They are still very very delicate and require a moms care more than anything else.
Once they are a bit older, and more resilient, the mom SERIOUSLY needs a break from the baby, and thats when the whole assortment of uncles aunts cousins coworkers friends comes into play to keep the baby entertained while mom takes a much needed break.
It also keeps the mom from strangling the baby.
]]>Now I just need to find some single females. You or Pecan 3.14 know any?
]]>I think it makes him sound like a devoted family man who one day would be the sort of stable guy who has kids, but just NOW he's the sort of fun guy you want to get smashed with and then do things I refuse to think about in connection with my brother.
]]>Also, human babies require an insane amount of care because they're born so immature compared to other monkeys. There's a theory that humans evolved the ability to cooperate so much in order to care for each other's babies. A great ape basically carries her baby around for six solid months without a break and if anyone else tries to touch it, she'll rip their throat out; humans, on the other hand and very unusually, are DELIGHTED to hand over their babies to be admired and cared for by others. So you'd definitely want to code for people to have empathy for all children, or we couldn't have such an extended infancy for humans.
Also, I am now finding the cutest baby picture I have to stow in my purse.
]]>How about including about $10 in each wallet, an ATM card for a major bank, and a 4-digit number on the back of the included photo? Have the accounts be dummy accounts with $0 balances, but if the bank could report if anyone attempted to access the account before returning the wallet. The small amount of cash would test different rates of "basic" honesty, while the ATM card and likely PIN would test comparative risk of major financial loss/identity theft.
Otherwise, ID, membership cards, photos, and even the wallet itself can generally be replaced without too much trouble. So rates of return in this study really don't seem to matter a whole lot.
]]>Problem is, I have one of those super-small wallets that only holds a few credit/debit cards and just about nothing else. It fits easily in a front pocket, though, making it harder to steal. I'm much more likely to notice someone else's hand going into a front pocket than someone trying to lift a wallet from the back.
]]>I have also heard having pictures of kids in wallet also makes you more marketable to the ladies.
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