I've always found it funny that Claremont McKenna's motto -- "Civilization prospers with commerce" would so neatly fit everything Claremont McKenna stands for. The not-so subtle message of the college is that "greed is good" and the good are greedy for more learning, more time with the professors, and more access.
But a new study by Prof. Paul Zak (Claremont Graduate University) studies the "generosity" hormone. According to Telegraph.co.uk, apparently, you are more likely to be generous if you are high on oxytocin.
His team gave doses of oxytocin and a placebo to participants, who were then offered a decision on how to split a sum of money with a stranger who could accept or reject the split. The results were overwhelming: Those given oxytocin offered 80 per cent more money than those given a placebo.Let this be a listen to our liberal friends who would force us to sign petitions, attend rallies, or post annoying environmentalist pledges on our doorways. The trick to forcing us to open our wallets and act kindly to strangers is a simple hormone! No longer will we have to watch hilariously heavy handed videos talking about all the wonderful things Claremont McKenna students do in their spare time. All we have to do now is drug our fellow students.
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Oxytocin's effect on generosity is more than three times larger than observed in the work he published in Nature in 2005 with colleagues in Zurich, showing that people who inhaled an oxytocin nasal spray are more likely to trust a stranger with their cash. "Trust with oxytocin goes up 17%," said Prof Zak, "but in the present paper we show generosity increases 80% with oxytocin."
Alums, you aren't except either. Just what do you imagine Robert Day was snorting when he turned over his 200 million? Do we have a new method of "encouraging" alums to give?
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