A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

One of the many outrageous things I believe in (Rey Ordonez is the best shortstop in the history of baseball, "Blue Chips" deserved the Best Picture Oscar in 1994, there is a strange mysterious force in the universe that brings balance to all things) was recently proven in a medical study.
I have always said that if we are able to harness the powers of our minds we wouldn't be bothered by things like being too hot or too cold, or minor aches and pains.
For example, if I ever see a video of a guy getting hit in the nuts, I can actually feel physical pain in my stones. So if my mind can make me feel pain when my nerve endings are not sending pain impulses, the reverse should also be true.

Which brings me to a recent study done by Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke University in North Carolina, in conjunction with colleagues at MIT.
They tested 82 volunteers and gave them all a light electric shock.
They were then given what they were told was a painkiller, but was actually a placebo.
Half were given a brochure describing the pill as a newly approved painkiller that cost $2.50 per dose and half were given a brochure describing it as marked down to 10 cents.
Eighty-five percent of volunteers who thought they were getting a $2.50 pill said they felt less pain after taking it, compared with 61 percent of those who thought they were getting a discounted drug.
The results fit with other studies that show charging more for something makes people value it more. But Ariely said the combination with the placebo effect was especially interesting.
"The placebo effect is one of the most fascinating, least harnessed forces in the universe," Ariely said in a statement.

That last quote is one of the coolest things anyone has ever said.