Making Science Happen

[TheInventor]

Day 6:

The joke:
"what do you call a bear with no teeth? Gummy bear."


Appearance:
7. I still look kind of good from yesterday. Crappy glasses. Black gym pants, grey shoes, grey t-shirt.


Psychological effects:
I didn’t really notice any today.


Confidence:
Started at 6, went to 3 by the end.


Note:
No one smiled at me other than an elderly employee and even then it seemed obligatory and short. A few people seemed to purposely not smile or look away.


Person 1:
2. Woman late 30s chubby. After the setup she said "why?" And seemed somewhat annoyed. She was silent after the punchline. After a moment I said "that's it". She repeated "that's it". I walked away. I'm not sure but I think I heard her tell a nearby employee about the experience. The interaction shook my confidence a little.


Person 2:
5. Elderly woman. During the setup she continued walking but slowed down and rolled her eyes slightly. She wasn't into it but she humored me anyway.


Person --:
Late 30s latina. Didn’t speak English well. After the punchline she told me where the gummy bears were. I said thank you and walked away. I didn't feel that it should count as a data point.


Person 3:
6.Woman around my age. Overweight with lots of makeup. Seemed receptive. Gave a hearty laugh and said "that's a good one". This was a high 6.


Person 4:
5. Woman mid 30s quite attractive. Humored my joke and gave a decent laugh. Seemed pretty uninterested overall. Maybe a high 5.


Person 5:
5. Woman in her 50s. Humored me politely. Said "you got me". Uninteresting.


Thoughts on whether I was wearing the pheromone:
7. The first interaction was the worst I’ve ever gotten. I wonder if this is what is known as the OD effect. The other interactions were also unimpressive. The first I interaction could be a coincidence and the others could be a result of my shaken confidence. If I was wearing, it was probably 4 dabs.

[TheInventor]

Day 7:

The joke:
"what do you call a bear with no teeth? Gummy bear."


Appearance:
4. Messy, boring hair. Glasses. Black pants, grey shoes, light grey t-shirt.


Psychological effects:
I thought I noticed something at first, but it went away.


Confidence:
6


Note:
People seemed neutral towards me. No smiles but no one seemed mad at me


Person 1:
7. Woman 50s. Laughed genuinely after the setup. Laughed more after the punchline. Enjoyed the experience.


Person 2:
5. Woman 20s attractive. Humored me politely but didn’t seem interested.


Person 3:
6.Woman 20s slightly overweight. Laughed at the joke. As I was walking away, she said “thank you for that”.


Person 4:
5. Woman late 30s. Looked a little like tig notaro. Humored my joke and laughed a little. Pretty uninterested overall. Maybe a high 5.


Person 5:
5. Woman in her 40s. Humored me politely. Uninteresting.


Thoughts on whether I was wearing the pheromone:
3. I’m starting to think that the psychological effects are either placebo or indistinguishable from placebo. There seems to be little correlation between the psychological effect and the reactions of people toward me. Today people seemed neither drawn to me nor repelled from me. I’ll have to guess that today was a placebo.

[TheInventor]

Day 8:

The joke:
"what do you call a bear with no teeth? Gummy bear."

Appearance:
6. Hair looked decent. Glasses. Black pants, grey shoes, light yellow t-shirt with clever graphics.

Psychological effects:
Nothing really.

Confidence:
6

Note:
It’s pouring down rain. I did my best to not let my pheromones get wet. The intensity of the rain was somewhat distracting, and is makingit difficult to specifically remember each experience, but the numbers should hold true. One cute girl smiled at me. Then I told her a joke.

Person 1:
7. Woman 40s unattractive. Seemed to enjoy the joke pretty well.

Person 2:
5. Woman 40s unattractive. Humored me politely. Gave a reasonable laugh.

Person 3:
6.Woman 40s somewhat attractive. Laughed at the joke.

Person 4:
6. Woman early 20s. Cute. When I first saw her, she smiled at me. It seemed more like a smile of kindness than a smile of attraction. Humored my joke and laughed a little.

Person 5:
6. Woman in her 40s. seemed startled at first but then laughed pretty genuinely.

Thoughts on whether I was wearing the pheromone:
4. The day that I got the best reactions was day 5. The was just a certain something that I got from people that wasn’t there today, Still, the reactions were decent, and I did get one smile, so I wouldn’t be shocked if it turned out to be a pheromone day. I’m still going to guess that it wasn’t.

[TheInventor]

Day 9:

The joke:
"what do you call a bear with no teeth? Gummy bear."
Appearance:
4. Messy hair. Glasses. 2 days unshaven. Black pants, grey shoes, brown t-shirt.
Psychological effects:
I felt very comfortable approaching people today.
Confidence:
8
Note:
no looks.
Person 1:
7. Elderly woman. Laughed after the setup and the punchline. Continued talking a little as I was walking away, saying “I can’t think that fast!”
Person 2:
7. Woman 60s probably attractive when she was younger. Enjoyed the joke.
Person 3:
5.Woman 30s. politely humored me and walked away.
Person 4:
5. Woman 50s. humored the joke. Laughed.
Person 5:
5. Woman 40ish. Humored me, said “good one” and moved on.
Thoughts on whether I was wearing the pheromone:
5. I really have no idea.

[TheInventor]

Day 10:
Appearance:
3. Messy hair. Crappy glasses. Unshaven. Blue grey tshirt. Black gym pants. Grey shoes.
Confidence:
6. High 6
Psychological effects:
Nothing significant.
Notes:
One older lady smiled at me.
Person 1:
6. Woman 20ish. Somewhat attractive, athletic. Seemed open. Laughed. Said "Good one."
Person 2:
6. woman 50s. Enjoyed the joke.
Person 3:
6. Woman 50s. Enjoyed the joke without making a big deal.
Person 4:
5. Woman 40ish. Was polite but not interested.
Person 5:
6. Woman 30s. Enjoyed the joke. Said "good one"
Thoughts on whether I was wearing the pheromone:
6. Not sure at all but the responses were positive overall.

[TheInventor]

And here are the results from the first 10 days:

day 1 Placebo

day 2 Placebo

day 3 Pheromone 1 dabs

day 4 Placebo

day 5 Placebo

day 6 Placebo

day 7 Pheromone 2 dabs

day 8 Placebo

day 9 Pheromone 3 dabs

day 10 Pheromone 4 dabs


What fascinates me the most are days 5 and 6. These were the days that I got the most significant results. On 5, I had girls smiling at me and great reactions. On 6, people were rude to me. Both days were placebo. The thing is, if I'd been purposefully wearing pheromones those days (as in not doing a placebo controlled experiment), I would have come home and reported that pheromones work, that day 5 I got crazy hits, and that day 6 I got an OD effect. What I think I've instead demonstrated is just how powerful and deceiving a placebo can be.

It's important to understand that placebo is more than just positive thinking. It also means self-confirming bias, reporting bias, etc. To test pheromones, we naturally put ourselves out in front of people more, and we actively look for signs that its working. These actions will naturally make us perceive better interactions with women.

I'm a little bummed out, because I really want pheromones to work. Granted, none of these results conclusively show that pheromones don't work. I might have used them incorrectly or made any number of errors. What it does show is how much nothing but placebo can look like true pheromone hits, including OD, dihl, and everything else. It gives a better understanding of how we should read anecdotal accounts of pheromone success.

I'd still like to finish the test, and see if the quantitative analysis yield better news than my qualitative analysis. I might give it a break for a while though, while I catch up on life stuff.