The Best Time To Make A Decision Is... When You Have To Pee Really Badly?

from the ah,-science dept

Tue, Jun 14th 2011 5:59am — Mike Masnick

Via Notcot, we learn of some recent studies on decision making that suggest all sorts of things will distract you from making a good decision (sexual arousal, touch, sleep deprivation, etc.), but what will help you make a good decision? Apparently, having a really full bladder.

A full bladder, apparently, helps us take more rational, long-term decisions. At least that was the finding of a study carried out by Mirjam Tuk, a professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. In an experiment, Tuk tested two sets of participants. The first was told to drink five cups of water; the second to take just five sips. After 40 minutes, they were tested on their decision-making abilities. Tuk says that the group who were, by now, crossing their legs, were better able to exercise self-control and hold out for larger rewards.

Honestly, it sounds like the study's applicability may be limited, but just to be safe, I think my new corporate management philosophy is going to involve forcing everyone to drink a lot, but keeping the bathrooms locked up for "cleaning" most of the time... It's foolproof.

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Filed Under: decision making

25 Comments

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Dave W (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 5:23am

Seems like they might be taking the p*ss...

(Tip your waitress)
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Joseph, 14 Jun 2011 @ 6:15am

Think About It
You go to a store and you have to pee really badly. Instead of lingering over competing products, reading labels, mulling a decision, you decide quickly and decisively, take your purchase to the register, and get home.
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Allen (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 6:26am

Its kind of like the joke "A man can spend his life building bridges. Do they call him John the Bridge Builder? No. A man can spend his life raising crops. Do they call him John the Farmer? No. But you fuck one goat . . ."

you can spend your life making bad decisions but piss your pants just once . . .
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ComputerAddict (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 6:49am

Re: Think About It
Yea then you end up with a Sony TV because "My Dad's Sony TV was awesome and lasted for 40 years!" Had you stayed around and talked to someone you wouldn't need to be paying for Identity Theft Monitoring right now.
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Pixelation, 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:02am

"It's foolproof"

Until your staff start wearing Depends.
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Chris-Mouse (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:03am

Honestly, it sounds like the study's applicability may be limited, but just to be safe, I think my new corporate management philosophy is going to involve forcing everyone to drink a lot, but keeping the bathrooms locked up for "cleaning" most of the time... It's foolproof.

With a company policy like that, you just might end up getting pissed on by some pissed off employees.
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Chargone (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:06am

Re:
soon to be ex-employees, one suspects.
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:16am

Explains some things
I guess our government here in the USA has too much free time to empty their bladders ...
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JeffH, 14 Jun 2011 @ 7:54am

Valdez's First Law
Valdez's First Law of Coffee Consumption: If there are 2 restrooms equidistant from your office, the one you go to first will be the one currently being cleaned by maintenance.
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DannyB (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:05am

Trying to decide whether to post in this thread . . .
. . . but I've got to take a whiz really bad.

Ohhh, the dilemma. Should I post and waste everyone's time? Or run to the . . .

. . . oh drat! Nevermind. Not so stressed about it anymore.
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Gwiz (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:08am

I think my new corporate management philosophy is going to involve forcing everyone to drink a lot, but keeping the bathrooms locked up for "cleaning" most of the time... It's foolproof.

Foolproof right up until your building's Maintenance Dept. starts demanding hazard pay to clean your conference rooms...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:10am

Just keep an empty large sports drink plastic container handy, the mouth is large enough to accommodate the average American male.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:22am

Maybe this study simply shows that water is good for you and that a hydrated brain is better than a dehydrated brain. I think this is the more reasonable explanation.

Drink water folks.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:24am

Re: Explains some things
Didn't Homer Simpson have a solution to that at one time?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:26am

Re:
What they need is a control group. One group that drank five cups of water and got to use the bathroom vs one group that drank five cups of water and did not.
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Boomhouser, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:28am

Sounds like a fetish. I guess that's all urine to.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 8:47am

I think that what this study shows is only that the group that drink five cups of water were not stupid. They possibly concluded that the objective of the experiment was to test if they underperformed their decision making by preferring fast rewards and so this effectively acted like a warning that in the game they were going to play, fast rewards were a poor choice vs long-term rewards.

A warning that the other group didn't had.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 9:40am

Re: Re:
How bout 5 cups of coffee
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Greevar (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 12:30pm

Re:
Or a urostomy bag.
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Greevar (profile), 14 Jun 2011 @ 12:33pm

Re:
Speak for yourself. I'm too big to fit in that. I'd need a Powerade bottle!
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Jose_X, 14 Jun 2011 @ 4:41pm

I'm guessing
Being relaxed brings into "attention" a subconsciousness related to being relaxed (short-term indulgence, risk taking, no worries -- no regrests, etc).

Being tense, brings into dominance motivations related to making "life and death" important decisions.

Are we tugging at the web of relaxation or at the web of don't-make-a-mistake?
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2011 @ 9:01pm

"I think my new corporate management philosophy is going to involve forcing everyone to drink a lot, but keeping the bathrooms locked up for "cleaning" most of the time... It's foolproof."

Sorry Mike, I just patented that as a business model.
Now you owe me money for thinking about it.
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Eugene (profile), 18 Jun 2011 @ 2:59pm

Re: Re: Think About It
on the other hand, you probably wouldn't have bought a TV at all since that takes forever after you factor in the retailer's checklist of questions, packaging, installation and so on. You don't have time for this, man! You gotta pee!
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Jun 2011 @ 9:20pm

Re: Re: Re:
or maybe tea.
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musicalspirit (profile), 13 Jul 2011 @ 1:28am

Re: pissed on or pissed off
well you know what they say, "it's better to be pissed off than pissed on!"
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