As elections near in the USA and elsewhere, it’s time to give a look to the looks of the politicians who will be angling for attention: “Why Do Better-Looking Members of Congress Receive More Television Coverage?” Israel Waismel-Manora and Yariv Tsfati, Political Communication, Volume 28, Issue 4, 2011. The authors, at the Universityof Haifa, Israel, […]
Tag: politicians
We Recognize Politicians by Their Hair, they say
If we recognize people’s faces, much of that recognition comes from seeing their hair. That’s the gist of a discovery made years ago at MIT. These two studies explain, and give examples. The examples are reproduced below. Each shows a set of two people — an American Vice President and President. In one case, Al […]
Politicians R 2 Simple, explain 2 Ig Nobel winners
Politicians are too simple. Two Ig Nobel Prize winners — both, as it happens, professors at Stanford University — each gives part of the explanation. (As with many simple facts, the explanation is a bit complex.) Politicians’ simple debates Professor John Perry, a philosopher, looked at politicians’ televised debates. In an essay for the New […]
Math: Advantage of selecting politicians randomly
The Italian research team that received an Ig Nobel Prize in 2010 for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random has extended its work (as well as gained some team members). Their new study is: “Accidental Politicians: How Randomly Selected Legislators Can Improve Parliament Efficiency“, A. Pluchino, C. […]