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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 226 responses total. |
michaela
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response 75 of 226:
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Apr 25 08:41 UTC 2002 |
Ack...got cut off... it includes an Irish penny for the groom and velvet
keepsake pouches.
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morwen
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response 76 of 226:
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Apr 25 15:05 UTC 2002 |
Ooh! Is Anne getting married?
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orinoco
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response 77 of 226:
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Apr 25 16:53 UTC 2002 |
Sounds like there's a tradition here I don't know about. What do you do with
the sixpence once you've got it?
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mooncat
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response 78 of 226:
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Apr 25 19:27 UTC 2002 |
Anne is NOT getting married. However, Anne is maid of honor in her only
sister's wedding, and Anne's older brother Matt is getting married two
weeks later. So Anne needs at least one sixpence. Make sense now?
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michaela
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response 79 of 226:
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Apr 25 21:15 UTC 2002 |
(The bride's father puts a sixpence in her left shoe - it brings luck, wealth,
good health, etc)
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jmsaul
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response 80 of 226:
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Apr 25 21:22 UTC 2002 |
OH. I thought it was a dowry.
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mcnally
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response 81 of 226:
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Apr 25 22:49 UTC 2002 |
I think Rane may be mellowing out.. It's been more than half an hour
since #79 was posted and he hasn't been compelled to point out how
expecting luck, wealth, and good health from a sixpence in the shoe
is rank superstition and the practice couldn't actually bring anything
except discomfort and eventually poor posture.. :-p
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tpryan
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response 82 of 226:
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Apr 25 23:09 UTC 2002 |
re 71: In one of the boxes up on the left side of the piano.
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scott
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response 83 of 226:
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Apr 26 04:02 UTC 2002 |
Re 81: Placebo effects are acceptable to Rane. ;)
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rcurl
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response 84 of 226:
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Apr 26 04:16 UTC 2002 |
The only problem with #79 is the declarative voice, rather than saying
"alleged to". But even then I doubt that as much as a placebo effect
will result. Most placebo effects require some action that could
conceivably have a salubrious outcome. For example, a placebo pill must
be consumed, and not just put in a left shoe. #79 is, instead, a claim
for magic.
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michaela
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response 85 of 226:
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Apr 26 09:59 UTC 2002 |
Well, I meant to say "it's believed to bring...", but I was in a hurry. :)
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orinoco
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response 86 of 226:
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Apr 26 16:19 UTC 2002 |
Er, Rane, you're assuming that patients are more rational than they
necessarily are. The placebo effect is due to the patient's belief that the
placebo will be effective. We tend to believe that pills will be effective,
so we use pills as placebos; if we tended to believe in the effectiveness of
sixpence, it might make perfect sense to use sixpence as a placebo.
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scott
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response 87 of 226:
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Apr 26 17:45 UTC 2002 |
Rane, didn't you once claim to have used a placebo effect to "cure" your
daughter's wart[s]?
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rcurl
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response 88 of 226:
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Apr 26 18:26 UTC 2002 |
Yes, but it involved *placing* the new penny on the wart for 60 seconds.
This direct contact is more "believable" than (say) holding it six inches
away (at least in our *slightly* more pragmatic age). The idea, by the
way, came from the Merck Manual, which while a medical professional's
compendium, does indicate when psychological factors may be involved in
the disease process. It so indicated for warts, so I invented some
"psychology". It either worked, or a coincidence occurred. I was able
to repeat the treatment successfully, so it was a pretty reliable
coincidence, if that.
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keesan
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response 89 of 226:
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Apr 26 20:40 UTC 2002 |
There is always the chance that the unoxidized copper got into the wart and
killed the virus.
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scott
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response 90 of 226:
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Apr 26 22:29 UTC 2002 |
So, the placebo effect of coins is only valid if the distance is correct?
Or is it more valid for medical than behavioral applications?
I think we're getting silly here.
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rcurl
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response 91 of 226:
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Apr 27 04:52 UTC 2002 |
It was not silly because it worked - in a sense.
But I am sure that there are many psychological factors in placebo effects,
among which could be distance. The optimization of placebo effects could,
in fact, be of some use. Perhaps that is what acupuncture is.
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happyboy
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response 92 of 226:
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Apr 27 13:35 UTC 2002 |
is there zinc in pennies?
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other
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response 93 of 226:
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Apr 27 16:08 UTC 2002 |
Pennies are mostly zinc.
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morwen
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response 94 of 226:
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Apr 27 16:13 UTC 2002 |
It may be superstition but it's also tradition. Just 'cause they do
it, doesn't mean they believe it'll do anything. Anymore than Jon and
I believed saving the top of our wedding cake in the freezer for a
year meant our marriage would last a long time, which is what it is
supposed to mean. I just thought it was fun to have a little reminder
of our wedding on our first anniversary.
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mdw
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response 95 of 226:
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Apr 28 04:51 UTC 2002 |
Pennies were never mostly zinc. Until 1983, they were mostly copper
(95%?), except for 1943, when they were plain steel. Since 1983,
they've copper plated aluminum. You can tell the difference if you drop
them on a hard surface; the plated ones make a duller sound. Copper is
actually fairly poisonous - that's why tossing pennies into goldfish
ponds is actually a bad idea. It might well not be so good for
whatever-it-is that causes warts as well. Lest you be tempted to
upgrade to silver coins; nickels are 75% copper, and modern dimes
through half dollars have a pure copper center.
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bdh3
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response 96 of 226:
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Apr 28 06:09 UTC 2002 |
Modern US pennies are copper clad zinc. I don't recall the US have
ever minted coins using aluminium although many other countries have
and do. As mdw noted in 1943 the US minted zinc clad steel pennies,
prior to that and up until 1982 (transition year where there are both)
the lincoln penny was minted of bronze (a copper alloy). Since 1982
the US penny is minted of copper clad zinc. The current US nickel is
copper-nickel alloy with the exception of 1942-45 when nickel was
replaced by silver for wartime purposes (an oddity in that usually
during warfare a nations currency is debased instead).
The last of the silver coins (dime and above) was 1964. From then
on dimes and above have been copper-nickel clad copper. The exception
is the Kennedy half-dollar which from 1965 to 1969 was silver clad
copper. From 1971 (there was no 1970) to current (not sure if the
Kennedy half has circulated since 1999) it is copper-nickel clad
copper.
The US demonetized its money in 1964 (actually started much earlier).
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other
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response 97 of 226:
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Apr 28 14:12 UTC 2002 |
Marcus, where did you hear that pennies were aluminum?
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aruba
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response 98 of 226:
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Apr 28 16:33 UTC 2002 |
http://www.usmint.gov/faqs/circulating_coins/index.cfm?action=faq_circulati
n
g_coin#specifications
lists pennies as being 2.5% copper, and the balance zinc. The zinc mining
lobby is a major reason why pennies haven't been phased out.
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jp2
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response 99 of 226:
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Apr 28 16:48 UTC 2002 |
This response has been erased.
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