Today's Tip

As they say after a vote, the eyes have it.  Or...okay, they don't say that exactly, but it fits here.

Over on the KOST-FM website, of all places, they have an interesting item about a new story from Newcastle University that suggest a way to help stop having things stolen from you -- sort of.

It turns out that would-be criminals really don't like a photo of...eyes!

"For the study, researchers put a poster of a man's eyes above some of the bike racks on campus. The poster had the slogan, 'We are watching you.'

"And they found the bike racks with the eyes above them had 62% fewer thefts than the bike racks without the poster.  In fact, thieves clearly gravitated to the bike racks without the poster . . . because the thefts from those racks went UP 63%.

"The researchers say this works because it's human nature to, quote, 'care what other people think about us, and as a result we behave better when we [think] we're being observed.'" 

I find the study fun and fascinating, but I'm not sure I agree with the researchers' conclusion.  While they certainly might be right -- if I had to guess myself, I'd suggest that the results has as much to do with the fact that if you're going to steal something, you don't want any suggesting that anyone is watching you or that there might be a camera set up.