I don’t think he meant me, but actually, now I think about it, as a youngster I was prone to calling people capitalist scum. I may well have overturned the office while screaching “marshmallows for all, smash the evil marshmallow system”. In the ruckus I would have scoffed it before anyone else, of course.
HG
Another one who would have eaten it is Mr. T.
now HGC,
they are trying to do some research here little buddy. now you just sit right down and let them take the other children off to the special room. you have to stay here because we have a special project for you… now little hg, what does the kitten say to the bouncer?..good boy. now what does the pimp say to the puppy?..good boy. hg, what does this flower look like?..oh, you dirty bastard. lets try this one…hgc, what do you see here in this famous abstract piece from an artist from the 50’s who hated picasso, yet yearned for his own place in the contemporary art scene?..mmm, yes, a mass of tadpoles, oh, i see… well, then yes, tadpoles. a whole mass of them. swimming and squirming, those little tadpoles. now scurry along now while we gather some real data. good boy.
let in the robots.
[quote=“miltownkid”]Someone gives a 4 year old a mashmallow. Tells them they can eat it at any time but if they wait until the researcher comes back they get two. They the kid is observed.
A guy tracks them down 20 year later … [/quote]
I think it’s cruel and inethical to make a child wait 20 years for a marshmallow. You’re a sick man, miltownkid. :no-no:
[quote=“Tigerman”]Maybe some kids only wanted one marshmallow. Maybe when they grew up, one car was sufficient, also.
I am always wary when people talk about “success”.[/quote]
I haven’t read most of the thread but when I saw this I had to stop and :bravo: . Oh so true and oh so wise.
MC waxed:
[quote]But, you do raise a good point, TM. What if one is perfectly content here and now, accepting what one has now and enjoying the present moment? After all, that’s what many seek to achieve through Buddhism and other spiritual practices. Who says one needs to set distant goals and sacrifice to achieve them, especially regarding material possessions such as marshmallows, in order to be “successful.” If a person is perfectly content here and now, with what is meted out, not enduring constant sacrifice, yearning and desire for more, couldn’t one say that person is successful? Isn’t that what Buddhist monks strive their whole lives to achieve? [/quote] Tru dat. But don’t let the corporations know that you’ve broken out of the Matrix or they’ll be after you.
I don’t they meant Cash Money Millionaire success. .[/quote]
Ah dude, use a better example. 
nevermind the marshmallows,doing the experiment would mean you’d need to follow said kids for 20 years…
are you THAT hard? 
I bet this same experiment could work on adults with beer…
I read a Sport Science study a few years back that ascertained that people who become Olympic champions, world champions etc, are the kind of people who can wait and wait whilst working hard with little success or gratification in the short to medium term. Knowing hoping and believing all the while that in the long term the hard work with no short term pay-off will pay dividends down the line.
Kind of like the guy who saves each month to buy something cash in two or three years time, rather than buy on credit immediately and pay off that credit for four or five years.
Me? Not too good on the waiting without pay-off deal, but I sure as hell wouldn’t have eaten that marshmallow either. Why? I’ve never liked sweets (or candies if you prefer). So eventually I would have had two damn marshmallows I wouldn’t have wanted. Hmmmm. So much for science. 
This is the kind of success I believe the experimenter was talking about. Also, it’s merely an observation. I don’t think it’s necessarily better or worse to be able to wait.
bismarck,
sounds also like the entrepeneur who starts a business.
if they are serious, committed, and invested in their ideas then they can ride the waves of ups and downs and see what the end result is.
i am on this journey myself right now, having started 2 home-based businesses about a year ago.
i am enjoying the ride and simply going with whatever happens, happens.
as a kid i probably would have held back on the marshmallow to please others. to do what i thought others wanted.
not now, now i will eat it if it looks good, or will toss it aside if its sketchy; but now i do it for me, not others.
keeping on keeping on,
jm
Yeah, it’s also very similiar to an ability to save money. Although I wouldn’t have eaten the marshmallow ('cos of not liking candies) I’m a terrible saver… 
[quote=“miltownkid”]Someone gives a 4 year old a mashmallow. Tells them they can eat it at any time but if they wait until the researcher comes back they get two. They the kid is observed.
A guy tracks them down 20 year later[/quote]
What if you lost your marshmallow? Twenty years is a really long time to wait!
I would have squashed the marshmallow on the floor, smashed the plate and the chair if possible, taken off all my clothes, defecated on the table and smeared my face, body and any other available surface with feces.
When the guy came back with the other marshmallow, I’d be waiting for him and I’d spring toward him from a crouching position on the table, baring my teeth and screaming unintelligibly.
[quote=“sandman”]I would have squashed the marshmallow on the floor, smashed the plate and the chair if possible, taken off all my clothes, defecated on the table and smeared my face, body and any other available surface with feces.
When the guy came back with the other marshmallow, I’d be waiting for him and I’d spring toward him from a crouching position on the table, baring my teeth and screaming unintelligibly.[/quote]
Have you been watching “Braveheart” again?
I remember hearing about the “marshmallow” test in my child psych class. And I wondered the same thing about the factors that might make one child want to eat a marshmallow, such as not getting treats at home, getting too many treats at home, or not knowing where their next meal might come from.
The experiment has some merit in showing how some kids who were impulsive as kids often grow up to be impulsive adults.
And I also thought about how I would definitely be a marshmallow eater.
I think that Bush would be too.
Incidentally, my child psych professor also like to tell anecdotes about his kids like testing his daughter’s grasp reflex to swing her around as an infant using only his index fingers.
