Ispectrum magazine #08

ISPECTRUMIssue 08/July - August 2014 MAGAZINEShorter Human Heighthas its Merits and DemeritsRecording history accuratelyduring a time of technologicalinnovationTHE HALO EFFECTDr. Harold EdgertonThe man who stopped time

CONTENTS Features 13 17 03 Dr. Harold Edgerton3 The man who stopped 33 time 04 The invention of the strobe and electronic flash 05 Thoughts from Gus Kayafas on key works by Dr. Harold Edgerton 13 Shorter Human Height has its Merits and Demerits 15 Environmental impact 16 Performance 17 Health and lifespan 21 Famous Short People 25 THE HALO EFFECT: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FIRST IMPRESSION 26 Experimenting with the halo effect 29 The halo effect in our day-to- day lives 25 33 Recording history accurately during a time of technological innovation: editorial on the importance of preservation 36 Digital archaeology 39 Conservation and preservation 42 Preservation techniques 1

editorial Mado Martinez There was a man who wanted to stop Editorial Director time. So deep was his love for the idea that he actually did it. We refer to Dr. Ispectrum Harold Edgerton, the inventor of the strobe flash. Through his photography, he magazine stopped time in its tracks and for the first time we were able to see the wonderful Published Bimonthly ISSN 2053-1869 details that escape human eyes. There is no one better then, than Gus Kayafas, Editorial Director Edgerton’s longtime assistant and editor, Mado Martinez, to provide an article about him. For those madomartinez@ispectrummagazine.com who are in London, I suggest you to visit the exhibition at Michael Hoppen Gallery Art Director about his work. Rayna Petrova raynapetrova@ispectrummagazine.com Our second topic is going to challenge the way that we think about height. We Contributing Editors have always been told that taller people Matt Loveday have many social advantages. Maybe this mattloveday@ispectrummagazine.com is true, but Thomas T. Samaras, author of The Truth About Your Height, shows us Jennifer James that taller height can have a dangerous trend… Charlotte Shelton I have an important question to put to Contributing Writers you before continuing with the summary Gus Kayafas of this issue. Do you care about first impressions? Do you know how much Thomas T. Samaras a first impression can influence you as an individual, or even an entire society? Rob Hutchinson With Rob Hutchinson, our expert in psy- chology, you are going to learn what the Mark Miller halo effect is and how it works. Images Finally, there is a matter of discussion www.commons.wikimeadia.org , that we should be worried about:Will the www.morguefile.com , websites and the electronic documents www.freeimages.com that we use today last forever? Mark Miller challenges publishers to create www.ispectrummagazine.com digital media that will stand the test of time. admin@ispectrummagazine.com As always, thank you for reading. Please +44 7938 707 164 (UK) share your comments with us. We look forward to your feedback. Follow Us 2

Dr. Harold EdgertonThe man who stopped timeabstractions P hotography has illumi-by nated so many areasGUS KAYAFAS of the 20th century, but none more so than the remark- able work by one of photog- raphy’s true pioneers. As an Institute Professor at MIT, and the inventor of the ‘strobe’ flash in the early 1930s, ‘Doc’, as he was affectionately known, stopped time in its tracks. For the first time we were able to see the wonderful arc of the tennis racket or a bullet break- ing a sheet of glass and, of course, a milk drop splash at the moment of impact. 3

Harold Eugene Edgerton, the first properties of synchronous motors,of Frank and Mary Edgerton’s three in which the speed of the motor ischildren, was born in Fremont, integrally related to the frequencyNebraska, on April 6, 1903. As a of the electric current running it.child Edgerton constantly sought Edgerton was interested in theto uncover how things worked. effect of sudden changes on theHe was fascinated by motors and motor, and, while conducting anmachines of all kinds and enjoyed experiment, the mercury thyristortaking them apart, fixing them and switch overheated and began flash-putting them back together. During ing.high school, Edgerton worked sum- This normally would require wait-mers at the Nebraska Power and ing for the unit to cool down butLight Company where he went Edgerton noticed that the flashfrom sweeping floors to repairing of the light synchronized with thedowned lines. After he received his motor’s rotating parts and madeBachelor of Science in Electrical them appear stationary – this flashEngineering in 1925 at the University of inspiration turned a setbackof Nebraska, Edgerton accepted into a powerful tool for analysis.a one-year research position at His natural curiosity had includ-General Electric in Schenectady, ed learning photography from anNew York – where he worked with uncle when he was a teenagergenerators and large motors. and this, coupled with the evolu- tion of his observation, changed Edgerton’s long-standing affiliation the photographic world. From 1931with the Massachusetts Institute of onwards, Edgerton advanced andTechnology began with his enroll- improved strobes and used themment as a graduate student in to freeze objects in motion so thatelectrical engineering in 1926. At they could be captured on film byMIT Edgerton was studying the still and movie cameras. 4

Edgerton never mental engineering tal- museum collectionsthought to reserve the ents and aesthetic sen- worldwide.strobe for purely tech- sibility, making “frozennical subjects. By the movement” part of our Many journalists, pho-mid- 1930s, he was modern visual culture. tographers, scientists,photographing every- Art institutions such as inventors, industri-day phenomena; ten- the Museum of Modern alists and naturalistsnis players hitting a Art in New York and have paid tribute toserve, golfers swing- the Royal Photographic him for altering the waying at a ball, water Society in London, we look at the worldrunning from a fau- have been exhibit- and for controlling andcet, milk drops hitting ing Edgerton’s photo- explaining its unseena plate and guns fir- graphs since the late happenings.ing. Many journalists, 1930s and his printsphotographers, scien- are now in countlesstists, inventors, indus-trialists and naturalists Thoughts from Gus Kayafashave paid tribute to on key works by Dr. Haroldhim for altering the way Edgerton:we look at the world.Although he always In 1940, the French taken in total darkness,saw himself primarily diver, Pete Desjardin, so Desjardin had toas a scientist his legacy visited Edgerton at MIT’s perform his dive fromsurvives not only in the new Bauhaus influ- the high board with noscientific advances he enced pool. Four years visibility.made - Edgerton died previously, Desjardin,with nearly 70 patents a French Jew had won The total darknessto his name - but also a gold medal at the was necessary as thein the extraordinary Berlin Olympics. This flash strobes were notaesthetic and abstract multiflash image wasqualities of the imageshe produced. For sixtyyears he combinedpractical and funda- 5

photo: Pete Desjardin Diving, 1940, Silver gelatin print - 1980 © Harold Edgerton Archive, MIT. Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery 6

powerful enough to overcome even created a black velvet kimono outfitthe dimmest lighting. The strobe for his subjects – in particular thefired at regular intervals so the sep- athletes – to wear whilst they werearation between images increased being shot. The multi flash processas Desjardin’s speed increased – could fire around 50 times in halfoverlapping body images at the a second, and hence a white outfitbeginning and a separated and would be totally overwhelmed anddefined “Superman” graceful entry all the details lost. However head-into the water. Edgerton constantly strong Moran felt that her imagerefined the elements of the prob- dictated that she should wear herlem, always looking for faster films, short white skirt (and lacy knick-better lenses, more efficient flash ers!) and therefore in this imagetubes and reflectors (initially hand there is almost a look of ‘whitemade). He involved students and blast’ where the figure should be.other interested people to aim theflash reflectors, help set up the Gus and his fellow students oftenequipment, and tender their insight noted Edgerton’s luck – given thatand ideas. The total experience was this shot in particular was onceoften greater than the simple sum. again made in total darkness, the ball can be seen at the center of the racket – and yet the flash was started ahead of time. Moran was an American born ten- Edgerton counted the photogra-nis player, who played at Wimbledon phers Etienne Jules Marey andin 1949. Famously well known for Eadweard Muybridge as inspira-wearing short skirts (whereas the tions for his work, but saw thatother female players would all wear their exposure times were not shortlong ones) and scandalously lacy enough – and only gave an indica-knickers, Moran was accordingly tion of the flow of the action – rath-renowned on the tennis circuit. er than the specific details as well as the flow as seen in this print.Edgerton’s wife (Esther May Garrett) 7

photo:Gussie Moran, 1949, Silver gelatin print – 1975© Harold Edgerton Archive, MIT. Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery 8

photo:Bullet through the Apple, 1964, Dye Transfer print – 1984© Harold Edgerton Archive, MIT. Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery When Gus was a by Harold Edgerton – from a military rifle,freshman in 1965, at Doc – How to Make Edgerton, always seek-MIT, he noticed a Xerox Applesauce at MIT!’ . ing the most effectiveblack and white post- Featuring a 30” cali- way to communicate,er all over MIT bul- ber bullet (faster than selected the blue back-letin boards of this the speed of sound) ground and the uniqueimage, stating ‘Lecture perched on a long shell support – hence dra- 9

matizing the shot. in the decks of cards classroom walls andEdgerton’s work has at the Lab; fruits, light the use of more pow-been shown at MoMA bulbs, and balloons erful guns was relegat-since the 1930s and is had a very short life, ed to the “Destructiveincluded in most major and the lesson of how Testing Chambers” atart museum collections much work it entailed MIT.worldwide with hun- to design, test, rede-dreds of exhibitions. sign, set-up, and clean All of Edgerton labHe was uncomfortable up to discover a few classes were based onwith the description as micro-seconds of clar- series of Experiences;artist, but strove for ity was as fundamen- he never referred toclarity, a sense of won- tal a life-lesson as any these situations asder, and surprise, and undergrad or seasoned experiments, withunderstood the formal PhD was to garner at one right answer. Thebeauty that influenced MIT. Until 1965, one results were there tohis editing and presen- could even use the ponder, wonder about,tation. high power rifle that be frustrated by, even made this picture; at to celebrate. Insights Edgerton was a true that time a group of gained by what actu-resource for all at MIT. students, attempting ally occurs instead ofFor decades his dark- to “applesauce” other simple confirmation ofrooms, lab, and stu- fruits, worked into the what is thought to bedios were available to midnight hours cali- known are fundamen-all who completed his brating, dealing with tal to learning and dis-course and exhibited a sensitive and unstable covery. It is no surprisesense of responsibili- sound triggers, setting that Doc referred to histy. Many theses, cross- up the heavy stand for exhibitions as “Seeingdepartmental projects, the gun, finally fired the Unseen”.and impressive date- and realized they hadnights saw fruition in not properly lined upthe Strobe Lab. There the “bullet catcher”were no face cards left – the .30 cal. projec- tile pierced 2 (empty) 10

photo:Aerial views of the Stonehenge Ruins, 1944, Vintage silver gelatin print © Harold Edgerton Archive, MIT. Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery A scientist first and foremost, Force to design a strobe lamp strongEdgerton was pivotal in develop- enough to allow nighttime aerialing early aerial and oceanic recon- photography of enemy activities onnaissance. Edgerton’s research for the ground. Gus explains ‘Doc wasthe military began in 1939 when contacted at the beginning of WWIIhe was asked by the US Army Air by Major George Goddard at Wright 11

Field in Dayton, Ohio. He was asked forces at key strategic points justif he could make an electronic flash prior to the Allied attack on June 6,that could take night pictures from 1944. For this work he was award-a low-flying plane of the ocean ed the National Medal Of Freedomsurface along the shore line of the in 1946.northeast US - the purpose was toreveal German U boats surfacing at Harold Edgerton was a mas-night to recharge their batteries.’ ter educator, an innovator, a sci-A more powerful version could illu- entist and inventor, an Academyminate a square mile from 1,500 Award winner, a collaborator withfeet. ‘The technique was simply a thousands of thesis students, andvery powerful xenon flash tube in with such luminaries as Jacquesa highly reflective and efficiently Cousteau, Brad Washburn, and thedesigned reflector, with a capacitor National Geographic Society. Hisof 1/2 Farad (the size and weight images, seen in the popular mediaof a very large coffin). It generat- as well as art museums, changeded one million beam candle power how everyone saw and understoodseconds! By the time the flash the world. A few months before herecharged the plane had flown a died he was asked to speak with amile and was ready to fire again. group of major donors to MIT by the Chairman of the Corporation of MIT Development and testing of this (the former President of MIT andequipment, including the D-5 flash before that, a student and teachingunit and other devices, continued assistant of Doc’s). He was askeduntil 1944 and included trips by what had he learned in more thanEdgerton to Ohio, Italy, England, 60 years at MIT. His reply wasand France. Looking for a remote “Tell everyone everything you know,site to do the final tests, just close deals with a handshake, workweeks before D-Day, Doc discov- like hell, and have fun!”ered Stonehenge; it remained a Good advice….lifelong interest. His photographsrevealed an absence of German 12

Shorter HumanHeight has its Meritsand Demerits by Thomas T. SamarasS ince we were born, our minds dangerous trend, including the world- have been imprinted with renowned anthropologist, Ashley certain concepts related to Montagu. In addition, our height bias human height. Unfortunately, has caused billions of people to suf- not all these concepts are correct. In fer abuse as children and prejudice fact, our idolization of greater human as adults. To challenge this bias, I height is based on much misinfor- wrote a book called, The Truth About mation, and many researchers view Your Height. The following summa- rapid growth and taller height as a rizes my findings. 13

Almost forty years ago, my focus of people on our resources, envi-was longevity and not height. My ronment, economy, food and waterthesis was based on the Second needs, and energy demands. MyLaw of Thermodynamics. This law findings are summarized next.says that all systems become dis-ordered with time, and the level The value of small or large bodyof disorder is related to increased size depends on our how it helpsmass and energy. I applied this individuals and the human race tothesis to humans and predicted survive and develop in our environ-that as our body got larger and ment. Thus, in our earlier history,used more energy, it would become strength and tall height were usefuldisordered faster and this in turn in warfare and hunting large ani-would accelerate our aging. I also mals. However, in an environmentdecided to assess the impact of of scarcity, smaller bodies needincreasing the body size of billions14

less food, water and It is well known that tainly an advan-other resources and taller people get high- tage. However,thus promote survival. er-level jobs and make this does notFor example, in today’s more money than short- prove that small-world, a population of er people. This is cer- er people are lesssmaller people would capable. Afterameliorate many of our all, the Ancientproblems. We would Egyptians, Greeksneed less food, water, and Romans werefarmland, and energy short but veryto support billions of productive. Insmaller people. While addition, mod-some experts may ern Chinese,argue that taller peo- Japanese, Indiansple are more produc- and South Koreanstive, Edmundson and have also shownSukhatme found small- great achieve-er size rarely reduces ments in spite ofproductivity. being substan- tially shorter than Europeans. On an individu- al basis, shorter people have fast- er reaction times, greater endur- ance and higher maxi- mum oxygen uptake per kilogram of body mass. They are also more agile because 15

practitioners are cer- tainly extremely profi- cient in keeping older people with various ail- ments alive but this is not a sign of better health. A Gallup poll found that 86% of thethey can rotate faster ball, swimming, rowing US work force had atand are stronger in pro- and field events.portion to their weight. least one chronic healthShorter people excel in Taller people in devel-long-distance running, oped countries have problem or was obese.diving, certain skiing higher life expectanciesevents, horse racing, than shorter people in In contrast, Dr. Haroldracecar driving, gym- developing countries.nastics, weight lifting, For this reason, many Elrick ,MD and his teamboxing, wrestling, mar- experts assume that tall-tial arts, figure skating, er height is a reflection studied short popula-and ballet. Under simi- of better health and lon-lar conditions and train- gevity. Unfortunately, tions in Hunzaland,ing, shorter people are our greater life expec-less likely to damage tancy in the developed Vilcabamba, andtheir backs and joints world does not mean webecause of reduced are healthier. Instead, Abkhazia, and foundstress on these struc- many experts associatetures. A large study our life expectancy with people over 75 yearsof car accidents found reduced infant mortal-smaller bodies were ity, improved sanitation of age to be exception-less likely to suffer from and immunization pro-injuries and deaths. In grams, and better med- ally vigorous in mindcontrast, taller people ical care. Our medicalexcel in basketball, foot- and body in spite of low calorie and protein intake and lack of med- ical facilities. In the West, most studies find taller peo- ple have lower coro- nary heart disease (CHD) than shorter people. Recent stud- ies indicate that people 16

of a lower economic stance abuse. When and stroke. My findingsclass have high rates I did a study based were published in theof CHD, independent of on worldwide data, I Indian Heart Journalother risk factors. We found shorter popula- about a year ago. I chal-also know that people tions not only had lower lenged Western studieswith a lower income heart disease than tall- because early in theare shorter, and have er Western people but 1900s, CHD was rarehigher rates of obe- in many cases were in Europe and the US;sity, smoking and sub- entirely free of CHD yet people were shorter than today. If being tall reduces CHD, then why isn’t it lower today than in the early 1900s? In addition, a twentieth century study found Northern Europeans had much higher heart disease compared to shorter Southern Europeans, and based on 2 million World War I recruits, Davenport and Love reported that tall recruits had more heart problems than shorter ones. Extensive research shows shorter people tend to live longer. For example, a US gov- ernment report found Asians had the lowest 17

overall death rate and than men. Many experts years longer than tall-were shorter than other attribute this to female er men. The heights ofethnic groups. Latinos hormones. However, the men were obtainedand Native Americans smaller size seems to from military recordswere taller and had be the explanation as and the population washigher mortality rates. Stindl reported years genetically homoge-The Blacks and Whites ago. For example, US neous since they inter-were the tallest and men average 9% taller married due to theirhad the highest mortal- than women and have a isolation. Their life-ities. Everyone knows 9% lower life expectan- style and diet was alsothat women live longer cy at birth. The same very similar. Thus, the many variables in life- inverse relationship style and diet that con- applies to men and found Western studies women in Japan were minimized in this and Poland. study. These findings were consistent with a Salaris, Poulain Spanish study of one and I published million deceased men a paper on that found shorter men male longevity lived longer. in an isolated Sardinian vil- I would like to note lage. The men that tall people can live in this village a long time and many were shorter can reach 100 years of than the rest age. The famous econ- of Sardinia and omist, John Kenneth had the highest Galbraith, was 203 cm percentage of tall and lived for 98 centenarians. years. If tall people We found that experienced slow and shorter men protracted growth, they lived about two 18

should have better longevity com- would add large amounts of gar-pared to early maturers. However, bage, carbon dioxide and other pol-tall people need to keep their weight lutants to our landfills, atmospherelow, eat a healthful diet and exer- and water supplies. If we assumecise regularly. housing, furniture, and transporta- tion vehicles are made proportion- Most people are unaware that ately larger to accommodate big-as the body gets taller and main- ger people, the demand for wood,tains the same proportions, weight metals, minerals and plastics wouldincreases as the cube of the height increase by several hundred millionincrease. For example, a 10% tons.increase in height increases weightby 33%. Surface area does notincrease as fast as weight e.g. sur-face area would increase by 21%.The reason for the disproportion-ately larger increase in body weightwith height is due to the fact thatwhen we get taller, we also getwider and thicker. As a result, apopulation averaging 10% taller,increases demands on our annualfood, water and energy needs by33%. For example, if a populationof 300 million Americans increasedby 10%, we would require 50 mil-lion more tons of food, 30 trilliongallons of water, and 16 quadril-lion BTUs (BTU-the amount of heatenergy needed to raise the temper-ature of one pound of water by onedegree F) of energy. Obviously, this 19

An increase in economic costsis also related to a population oflarger people. For our 10% tallerUS model, the costs of additionalfood, water, energy and naturalresources are substantial. Othercosts related to increasing humansize are related to garbage disposaland clean water production. We willneed to invest much of our incomein providing drinkable water to ourpopulation, which is already a prob-lem in much of the world. Healthcare costs would also increase dueto sicker people. Our diet and lifestyle have already created hugeexpenses in this area and increasedheight will increase them further.When all these factors are com-bined they would require an annualUS expenditure of about $1 trillionUS dollars. As can be seen, increasing bodysize is not free. If taller, heavierpeople were much more creativeor productive, bigger size mightbe justified. Yes, many tall peo-ple are successful and productivebut are these due to their tallerheight? I doubt it. It is more like-ly that success is due to motiva- 20

tion, opportunity and family and When famous shortersocial support—the business and people meet theiracademic achievements of smallerUS Asians prove the point. Some admirers in person, theyof the world’s greatest achievers often hear:have been shorter than averageas illustrated next. “I thought you would be taller.” When famous shorter peoplemeet their admirers in person,they often hear: “I thought youwould be taller.” This assumptionis unwarranted because the world’shistory is full of famous shorterpeople. Let’s take a look at some ofthem who range from less than 152to 170 centimeters.In the case of business success, Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of NewYork City is on the short side. Others include Andrew Carnegie, AristotleOnassis, Armand Hammer, Ross Perot, Herbert Haft, and David Murdock.Famous short leaders include Churchill, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, PresidentMadison, Alexander the Great, Ben-Gurion, Joan of Arc, Vietnamese GeneralGiap, Admiral Nelson, Prince Eugene of Austria, and General Krulak. 21

In music, Mozart, Mahler, Beethoven and Stravinsky were on the short side.If we look at artists, we find Picasso, Juan Miro, Thomas Benton (US),Salvador Dali, and Michelangelo.In the movies, Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, andRichard Dreyfus are well-known shorter actors.Great athletes include Tara Lipinski, Maradona, Pele, Jorge Campos, ScottHamilton, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Olga Korbut, and Suleymanoglu.Famous scientists include: Millikan, Michelson, McClintock, Einstein, Steinmetz,and Buckminster Fuller.Great writers include John Keats, Alexander Pope, Voltaire, Jean Paul Sartre,Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and Upton Sinclair. 22

A natural question in Robert Wadlow (1918–1940) is the tallest per-response to this paper son in medical history for whom there is irrefut-is: Can we do anything able evidence. Wadlow reached 8 ft 11.1 in (2.72about increasing body m)in height and weighed 439 lb (199 kg) at hissize? Many research- death at age 22. His great size and his continueders, such as Stini, growth in adulthood were due to hyperplasia ofWalker, Kaplan, and his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormallyFarb, have attributed high level of human growth hormone. He showedour increased height no indication of an end to his growth even at theand lean body weight time of his death.to over nutrition, nothealthier nutrition. We Source:Wikipеdia.orgalso know that a nutri-tious but low calorie diet 23produces smaller ani-mals that are healthyand live longer thanthose that eat all theywant. However, there isanother factor to con-sider. We are not farfrom allowing parentsto have their childrenmade taller throughgenetic engineering. Ifwe do this, what willstop us from producingtaller children for eachsubsequent genera-tion? We could producea world of giants. To myknowledge, virtually allscientists and govern-

ments ignore this sce- weight and chronic nutrition is a worldwidenario. They don’t see disease. Today we eat problem. A healthful butthat continued increas- twice as much protein moderate calorie dietes in body size would as we need. However, starting before preg-only multiply the harm- many sources, such as nancy and continuingful aspects of greater Tufts University, have through life would avoidnumbers of people. reported that red meat excessive growth and and processed meats the harmful ramifica- When we were hunt- promote cancer, heart tions discussed in thiser gathers and agricul- disease, and diabetes. article. Our health andturalists we ate sim- Considerable research productivity would alsoply and did not have has shown high protein improve through bet-access to high sugar, diets during infancy ter nutrition. However,fat and salt diets. Meat and childhood promote these improvementswas not hormone and faster growth and later won’t happen unless wefat laden. During the obesity. de-emphasize our ado-industrial revolution, ration of rapid growthwe saw a progres- In conclusion, it is and tall height.sive increase in animal obvious from the obe-protein intake along sity epidemic that overwith increased height,Post Note:This May 2014, a large, 50-year study found shorter men lived longer.Citation: He Q, Morris BJ, Grove JS, Petrovitch H, Ross W, et al. (2014)Shorter Men Live Longer: Association of Height with Longevity and FOXO3Genotype in American Men of Japanese Ancestry. PLoS ONE 9(5): e94385.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0094385 24

THE HALO EFFECT:THE IMPORTANCE Of THE FIRSTIMPRESSION by Rob Hutchinson website www.ispectrummagazine.comT he halo effect is a cognitive bias B does not necessarily mean they are that results in the judgement of the good at C and D, but we assume they are. character of another person being This also works in a negative way too - if unduly influenced by the overall someone is a thief we may assume theyfirst impression. This bias is widespread are a bad person, although it is possiblethroughout society and can heavily influ- that there are good aspects to their char-ence feelings of attraction. An example of acter too. Edward Thorndike coined thethe halo effect at work would be when we phrase originally and research has shownform a favourable opinion about someone how it is especially relevant in not justdespite knowing little about them. Just attraction but the judicial process andbecause someone is good at doing A and education systems. 25

Experimenting with the halo effect Thorndike was Nisbett and Wilson (1977) aimed the first research- to try and discover how aware er to support the people were of the halo effect. For halo effect with something that is such a key influ- any empirical evi- ence in how we judge people anddence. In his article ‘The Constant make inferences, surely we wouldError in Psychological Ratings’ in have an inkling of the process?1920 he created the name the halo Nisbett and Wilson didn’t think so,effect, due to noticing in a past and designed a clever experimentstudy that estimates of character to test out their hypothesis. Collegetraits in a person were very posi- students were asked to evaluatetive and highly correlated. Was it a psychology professor as theypossible that this person could watched a videotape of him beinghave so many good characteristics interviewed. The students wereacross the board? In hope of find- divided into two groups, with eaching a cognitive bias Thorndike car- group shown a different interviewried out his own experiment. He of the same instructor. The profes-asked two commanding officers to sor was a French speaking Belgianevaluate their men in physicality, who spoke English with a noticeableleadership, personal qualities and accent. In one tape he appeared asintelligence. Thorndike wanted to almost the perfect professor - kind,see if the rating of one characteris- respectful and likeable. However,tic corresponded to another. In fact in the other he came across as athere was a huge correlation, with cold and distrustful person with asoldiers rated all highly or almost rigid teaching style. After the videoall negatively in all categories. students in both groups were asked to evaluate the professor based on physical appearance, mannerisms 26

and his accent. They ings had absolutely no attractive we also thinkwere also asked how bearing at all on if they they are mean or uncar-much they thought they thought they would like ing. An experiment thatliked the teacher on an the professor or not. demonstrates the halo8 point scale. As a final Without realising it, we effect well was carriedpart of the study some make inferences and out by Dion & Berscheidof the students were judgements, all the in 1972. They wantedtold that the research- time thinking they are to investigate the rela-er was interested to our own and not influ- tionship between theknow if how much they enced by anything else. halo effect and attrac-thought they would like tion. Sixty participantsthe professor had any Attractiveness com- were given three pho-bearing on their ratings monly produces the tos to look at, one ofof him, whilst others halo effect. How each an attractive individu-were asked the opposite of us views attractive- al, one of an average- how much the charac- ness in a person differsteristics they just rated drastically, but it is like-influenced their liking of ly that if we find some-the teacher. Amazingly, one physically attractivethe students had no we will also see themidea why they gave as having other goodthe responses they did. qualities such as intelli-They could not draw a gence and a good senselink between their lik- of humour. Numerousing of the teacher and studies have shownthe ratings of the char- how the production ofacteristics. This clearly a halo effect is tiedshows that the students into our attraction to awere totally unaware of person - it is very rarethe halo effect in action. that if we find a personIn fact, they were con-vinced that their rat- 27

looking individual and results showed that assess them first physi-the last of an unattract- overwhelmingly the cally, as we are able toive individual (how did more attractive indi- construct an impressionthey make sure that vidual was judged to of if we like someone oreach individual fell into have the most desir- not before we even talkthe category of attrac- able personality traits, to them. Interestingly,tive, average and unat- demonstrating that just once this first impres-tractive to each partici- because someone is sion is made it is verypant? Good question…). good at A (being phys- difficult to change it.Participants were asked ically attractive) they This is not just applica-to judge the photos are good at B (warm), ble to attractiveness, asalong with the charac- C (friendly) and so on. the halo effect can beter traits they thought Essentially, first impres- produced in the worldthat each individual in sions count. When meet- of business and media.the photos had. The ing someone we usually At a job interview we 28

all know how important a The halo effectfirst impression is, and in our day-to-the likelihood is that if day livesyou make a good onethen the interviewer The halo effect is particu-will assume you are larly prominent in the worldnot just good at what of business. One exampleyou do, but are in can be found in how man-fact a good person. In agement go about makingthe media many of us redundancies. Do people losehave people we look their jobs because they wereup to, be it actors the worst at what they did oror athletes. They the most expendable? Youare good in their would assume that the oneschosen sport orcareer, and if who would go are thosethey advertise with the least experi-a new product, ence, shortest time atfor example, the company or on theshampoo, we may biggest wage. However,even go out and buy it it is not as cut and drybased only upon theirendorsement. Are they as that. Often those whoexperts in shampoo? dodge the bullet are being pro-Doubtful, but if we tected by the halo effect, whichview them as a is a common bias in performancegood and trust- appraisals. If a supervisor is bas-worthy person, ing an evaluation on purely onewe assume theyknow what they are talking aboutand the shampoo really is going togive you the smoothest hair in theoffice. 29

characteristic, such as dedication whole office! It is not necessary thatto the job, the halo effect comes the one characteristic they evalu-in to play. If an employee turns ate and generalise from be a mis-up ten minutes early every morn- taken view - someone can be verying then he or she would surely be intelligent and rightly appraised asassumed to be highly dedicated to being so, but if they generalise thisthe company. However, if they turn intelligence into meaning they areup early because their train arrives an all round good employee this isat a certain time and and not out not necessarily true. How can theof a desire to get cracking on a halo effect be avoided? By mak-Monday morning, then the supervi- ing informed decisions and lookingsor has been conned into giving a at staff as a whole and not basinghigh score for nothing. Especially if evaluations on individual character-that employee did virtually nothing istics. This may well be easier saidall day when the supervisor cannot than done, as Nisbett and Wilsonsee them. If the supervisor draws previously showed, people are verya general impression based on unwilling to accept that their viewsone characteristic then this person have been influenced by anythingmight well keep their job - even if other than their own judgement.they are the least productive in the 30

Have you ever noticed How many people speak ple, even though theyhow you can view oth- badly of someone after are the minority iners in your life as all they have died? Even if their respective coun-good or all bad? Doesn’t in life the person was tries. Could the haloit seem strange that if truly awful with hardly effect be influencing thesomeone we know, and a grain of goodness in police when they stopview as generally a good them, after death we a suspect? If this sus-person, does something tend to latch onto some pect acts aggressivelywrong we are surprised pinprick of light or one towards them, swearsand say how out of good deed, and remem- or does any other actioncharacter it was and ber them for this. Not that gives a negativethat they should be for- only is this active with first impression, thengiven? After all, every- our friends and family, the police may wellone makes mistakes. it also extends to those decide that this per-But if someone we don’t in the public eye. Of son warrants searching.like and view as a bad course, this isn’t true For example, if a sus-apple makes a mistake for everyone. pect is stopped and iswe come down on them seen smoking in thelike a ton of bricks and The stop-and-searchremark how it’s just so policies of the policetypical of them. Our have been brought intoperceptions have been question over the lastinfluenced by general- few years in Englandising one characteristic and the United States.to the whole person. Claims of racial profil-There is one period in ing have been strong-time that this becomes ly made as evidenceeven more pronounced shows that the major-- at the time of death. ity of stop-and-searchWhen people die our suspects are black peo-perception of them canundergo a huge change. 31

car next to his or her but it is likely that the form opinions. In thechild, blowing smoke police’s first impression classroom a teacherin their direction, this of a suspect, or the sus- may see a child act-one negative action pect’s initial behaviour ing naughty on the firstwould make most of us is a contributing factor. day and generalize fromassume that the per- In the United States, that one situation thatson has an unfavour- where in some minority the child is always badlyable personality. From communities the police behaved and treat himthis we extrapolate one are viewed with sus- as such for the restbad aspect to cover picion and aggression, of the school year. Inthe characteristics of the suspect’s response court a jury may judgethe person as a whole, to the police is more based on first impres-which is essentially how confrontational, mak- sion rather than thethe halo effect works. Of ing it more likely that a facts. The question is,course, this still doesn’t halo effect is produced. now that you are awareexplain why more black The halo effect is very of the halo effect, willpeople are stopped and powerful in helping or it stop you judging bysearched than whites, hindering us when we first impression alone? The research suggests that you won’t. 32

R ecording the story of human- age and destruction of documents. kind is an important, sometimes The printing press, heralded as one arcane job assigned to scribes, of the most significant inventions printers, publishers and librari- of humankind, employed many ofans. Scribes in ancient times received the same standards used by thetraining to record and duplicate error scribes. The scribes and printers offree books, laws and stories. The their time were critical of how theyscribes took care in their use of the recorded history. They ensuredink, paper, format, corrections, stor- today’s generations the ability to33

Recording History Accurately During A Time Of Technological Innovation: editorial on the importance of preservation by Mark Miller Iowa, USAenjoy copies of books hundreds of text by digitizing it into bits andyears old as well as books thousands bytes; as technologies evolve weof years old. Classic books, fables and need to secure history and record itpoems passed down from generation accurately. One new challenge forto generation – from story tellers, publishers is to create digital mediato clay tablets and to paper. Today that will stand the test of time.we see a new format for books andliterature. Similar to the past, con-temporary scholars seek to preserve 34

A group from London, sought to uncover and cases the sites had com-Internet Week Europe restore some of the first pletely disappeared.2010, has renewed websites to appear on The exhibit archivedinterest in how we the World Wide Web. the formative years ofhave archived digital The sites they restored digital culture. Curatormedia since the birth were only 20 years old, Jim Boulton said of theof the web by creating yet the software and importance of the eventan exhibition organized hardware had become “Today, when almost aby Jim Boulton. They fragmented. In some quarter of the earth’sThe first look at the World Wide Web. 1993 35

Choosing formats. Library of Congress Digital Preservationpopulation is online, In 100 years the inter- can not predict, withthis artistic, commer- net will look vastly certainty, what text willcial and social history different from today. survive the next 1,000is being wiped from the Technology will change; years, but we can useface of the earth. Unless HTML 5 will not be the techniques to makewe act now to archive standard internet lan- preservation more like-our recent digital past, guage. Media compa- ly.we are in real danger nies of today buy and Librarians and publish-of losing the building sell technologies rap- ing professionals studyblocks of the web that idly - formats evolve the past to anticipatehave so shaped mod- with each sale. 200 the future. By lookingern culture.”1 years from now it’s at what we have saved possible that the inter- from the past, they can net could be replaced see what we need to with something entirely preserve for the future. new: today we see the Take the Dead Sea development of the first Scrolls for example. quantum networks. We Archaeologists have 36

recovered an amazing amount from text was reproduced overthe fragmented text. Almost time. Archaeologists whoevery book from the Hebrew restored the Dead Sea ScrollsBible was part of the origi- worked in a basic mindset similarnal manuscripts found in to the digital archaeologists from1947. It’s incredible to London in 2010 by uncovering,see scientists identify searching through and restoringthe circumstances that files.allowed sometimesfragmented scrolls to Increasingly media is transferredsurvive more than 2,000 years or originates in a digital format,– the type of ink, the arid condi- and much of the information is nowtions, the lack of tanning materi- considered digital-born. The textals, the type of parchment, stor-age techniques and they way the Dead Sea Scrolls Before Unraveled (Habermann, Abraham Meir, 1901) 37

of digital-born mediadoes not exist outsideof bits and bytes. It isfragile. This fragility willpose new problems forfuture generations ofdigital archaeologists.Professional archivistsof today make an effortto ensure success forfuture treasure hunt-ers. They study thedigital equivalent to theconditions that allowedthe Dead Sea Scrollsto survive. Some oftoday’s professionalsdelve into the type ofcomputer code, file for-mats, electronic stor-age devices, meta dataand duplicate recordsused for communica-tion. The goal for con-temporary digital pres-ervationists: make suredigital media is inter-pretable in the indefi-nite future. The valueof rare books, news-papers, magazines, 38

research, photographs, As valuable as digital- 2012. Few people withart and music are part born media can be, we whom we discussedof what is regarded as need to remember it is Lambert knew of hisimportant. The mes- also inherently fragile accomplishments. Insage of the value of with a short shelf life. fact, the Preservationthese works seems to This became evident Society for his homebe getting out to the when my editor and county had no recordsgeneral public. In pop- I began research on of his achievements.ular culture today we George Lambert, a two We conducted our orig-witness examples from time Olympic medal- inal research by look-the recent past that ist and WWII veteran. ing at his online obitu-may prove instructive Born in a small, Iowa ary. On the first visitto us about our future. town in the United to the obit, everythingIn the 2014 movie States he passed away seemed fine and nei-Monuments Men, the in Wisconsin, US in ther of us had thoughtcharacter Frank Stokesstates, “You can wipeout an entire genera-tion, you can burn theirhomes to the groundand somehow they’llstill find their way back.But if you destroy theirhistory, you destroytheir achievements andit’s as if they neverexisted.” This dialogechoes the future valuein digital-born media. 39

to print or save the tively short lifespans of Athletes like Georgewebsite for future read- websites are dynamic Lambert can’t guaran-ing. Weeks later, when URLs, companies which tee themselves a leg-we went back to reread stop supporting a blog acy because of theirthe obit, we received or publishing platform greatness. Sports pub-a 404 error: the page and fragmentation of lishers and media boss-was already missing. hardware/software. es will have to makeJust six months after The speed in which sure a story of a lifethis Olympic medal- websites appear or dis- is truthfully preservedist died, his obit went appear is so dynam- through the years. Onmissing! Lambert’s obit ic that the Modern the other hand, a funhad the typical lifes- Language Association example of an ath-pan of a webpage: 10 has changed their cri- lete who built a last-months.1 Factors that teria for a bibliogra- ing legacy was Johnnymay contribute to rela- phy. Much of their rea- Weissmuller, one of soning stems from the the best competitive short life-span of web- swimmers of the 20th pages. MLA no longer century. Weissmuller’s requires a URL for text name is recognized by cited from a webpage. many swimmers, but Author, the company for the majority of the publishing the mate- public it’s the char- rial, the format for the acter from the movie publication, date pub- Tarzan of the Apes lished along with the for which he is most volume and issue num- well known. Tarzan bers are the recom- has been described mended way to cite a as one of the best- digital material. known literary charac- ters in the world.2 Even though the copyright for the movie expired 40

Johnny Weissmuller in the United States, the Weissmuller lega- (1904 – 1984) the character name is cy. While his athlet- 5 time Olympic still trademarked by ic awards may be the Edgar Rice Burroughs, grander of achieve-swimming champion Inc. Those interested ments, his legend sur- in the movie should vives on the back of download the trail- the movie. There are er at https://archive. greater athletes whose org/details/Tarzan_ fame is less well pre- the_Ape_Man_trailer. served; a total of The movie served in about 17,500 Olympic large part to preserve medals have been won by thousands of athletes, many great- er than Weissmuller. Weissmuller may or may not have known it at the time, but his acting has permanent- ly placed his swim- ming accomplishments on the podium of his- tory. As long as the movie remains avail- able in formats people can collect, his swim- ming legacy will live longer than so many other athlete’s accom- plishments. 41

Two other events, from cal room at our local Outreach and Educationmy work in newspaper, library. We discussed Program and partici-sparked my interest in the way in which the pated in the email con-the subject of preser- library archives PDFs versations. Readersvation. In 2000, one of of newly published in Europe can lookupmy jobs was to assist in papers. I mentioned to Digital Preservationpublishing legal notic- him that while I worked Europe.es. It interests me to in the online depart-see the newspaper’s ment, I saw numerous Many of the preser-legal requirements to articles published to the vation techniques sug-make notices archive- newspaper’s blog that gested by these pro-able, assessable, verifi- were not reproduced in grams are ratherable and reproducible. I the print edition. When advanced; but we mayhave inferred that these I asked him if those do simple things thatcriteria were developed stories were preserved can make sure e-books,to ensure the legals’ at the library, he said, digital magazines andhave proper reference “No.” Since then I’ve papers survive longer.in the future. The other begun my journey toevent occurred during learn more. I’ve joineda conversation with the the Library of Congressdirector of the histori- Digital Preservation 42

• Software and hardware that intro- duces incompatible technologies during updates causes fragmen- tation. Publishing in standard for- mats reduces the process of frag- mentation.• Programming languages them- selves change rapidly. Developers build the first websites with HTML 1.0; Current developers use HTML 5. Many outdated technologies from HTML 1.0 do not work with browsers supporting HTML 5.• Relying on the survival of a sin- • Publishers who get locked into gle copy of a work dramatically selling on a single storefront reduces the chance of it’s avail- reduced total circulation. Making ability in the future. Duplication the text accessible on multiple increases the likelihood that a distribution channels increases text will survive. the chances that it will be saved in multiple languages and geo-• Too much low quality informa- graphic areas. tion reduces the overall worth of all work. Placing real value on • Online websites that can be edit- important works can help con- ed by the general public can con- sumers prioritize the information tain errors. Verifying sources can they save. 43

make the text more reliable for PDF, can make tampering withthe future. text difficult.• Too much data creates informa- • We can not guarantee interop- tion overload. Using metadata erability of files in the future, will make the searching of large and technology changes quick- volumes of documents in the ly. Teaching new generations of future more efficient. students the value of media will improve the chances that files• The design of many file formats will survive new challenges. allows readers to open, edit and change content. Fix formats, like44

When we look back at history, can be useful in this field by usingwe can see that man-made and the techniques outlined by theenvironmental catastrophes have preservation groups and by study-caused destruction of countless ing the experiences of people liketexts and artifacts: the fire that Jim Boulton and his digital archae-destroyed the Library of Alexandria, ology exhibit.the Nazi book burning and destruc-tion of what was regarded as degen- REFERENCESerate art. Destruction of librar-ies also occurred in the American 1. Weiss, Rick. “On the Web, ResearchRevolutionary War and the American Work Proves Ephemeral” The WashingtonCivil War. It’s troubling to see some- Post, November 24, 2003, p. A08, Print.thing so important in our historybecoming so overlooked in modern 2. John Clute and Peter Nicholls, Thetimes. We see local communities Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, St. Martin’sslowly deconstructing their physi- Press, 1993, ISBN 0-312-09618-6, p. 178,cal libraries. Blog companies drop- “Tarzan is a remarkable creation, and possi-ping support or changing technolo- bly the best-known fictional character of thegies. Publishers writing APPs that century.”become outdated with upgradesjust months later. Proprietary fileformats that are unreadable tomany. It’s my hope that publish-ers and librarians will be wise topreserve digital-born materials asinnovation of the World Wide Webspeeds along. Communities in 20,100 or 1,000 years deserve to andshould be able to observe their ownhistory. Librarians and archivists 45