Metaphysics & Psychology

Turtle experiment reveals dark discovery

By T.K. Randall
December 29, 2012 ·  96 comments

Image Credit: Wikipedia For the experiment student Nathan Weaver placed a life-like rubber turtle on to a busy road to determine the likelihood that it would be run over by motorists. Watching from a nearby location, Weaver was disheartened to discover that seven drivers in the space of an hour deliberately swerved with the intention of running over the turtle while several others attempted to do so but missed.

"I've heard of people and from friends who knew people that ran over turtles," he said, "but to see it out here like this was a bit shocking." Psychology professor Hal Herzog believes that such behavior is to be expected. "They aren't thinking, really," he said. "It is not something people think about. It just seems fun at the time. It is the dark side of human nature."[!gad]For the experiment student Nathan Weaver placed a life-like rubber turtle on to a busy road to determine the likelihood that it would be run over by motorists. Watching from a nearby location, Weaver was disheartened to discover that seven drivers in the space of an hour deliberately swerved with the intention of running over the turtle while several others attempted to do so but missed.

"I've heard of people and from friends who knew people that ran over turtles," he said, "but to see it out here like this was a bit shocking." Psychology professor Hal Herzog believes that such behavior is to be expected. "They aren't thinking, really," he said. "It is not something people think about. It just seems fun at the time. It is the dark side of human nature."

Source: Yahoo! News | Comments (96)

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