Sunday, February 6, 2011

The science of hugs

A snippet on research on the duration of hugs, using video from the Olympics.

The thing that struck me about this was the mismatch between the theory and the test statistic. If it really is true that we all experience life in three second bursts, then all hugs should last some multiple of three hugs. The research as reported instead looks at the average. But the average could be three if half of all hugs lasted one second and half of all hugs last five seconds, in which case the theory would hold for no one.

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

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