Just getting primed.

Watching movies is a prime activity. I was listening to the newest season of Radiolab. They talked about a study where a researcher on the street was conducting surveys. During the survey, at some point, the researcher would ask the participant to hold a cup of coffee for a brief moment while he shuffled with his paperwork, or whatever. After follow-up interviews the study found that participants who were handed a cup of iced coffee felt dislike for the interviewer, and those handed a warm cup of coffee felt friendly. That one moment made the difference, and a glitch occurred in their brain, some association w/ cold had effected their emotions concerning the stranger. They were tricked by the subconscious. In another study, the researchers were giving a standardized test to two groups of people. Before the test they asked the participants in one group to think of college professors. In the other group they asked them to think of soccer hooligans. Of course the soccer hooligan group did badly compared to the professor group. They called this priming. I didn't realize that this is what was happening to me as a kid, after I came home from seeing an awesome movie, it made me want to draw. Now I think that one effect of entertainment is priming our minds. Is this why I listen to Animal Collective all the time when I'm doing art creative? I was just reminded of the priming thing because I was loading my bag to go out. I popped my camera out of its case and opened the hatches to check the card and battery. The moment reminded me of a scene in the Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, where the Kazak girl is checking her gun to see if its loaded. She takes all of the bullets out of the clip and puts them back in. 007 thinks it's unusual, he asks her if she's ever killed a man. Well, myself… I've never killed a man but I've shot lots of them w/ this camera. Just getting primed.