From the Front Lines of Happiness Research

Some scientists are kind of weird. How about these guys, who enjoy hobbling sheep?

Consider “Release from Restraint Generates a Positive Judgment Bias in Sheep” (Applied Animal Behavior Science, 2010). In this study, 20 young merino ewes were trained to distinguish between two buckets, one of which led to food and another to the appearance of a dog — a highly unpleasant sight for a young ewe. Half of the animals were then bound at their legs and isolated from the other animals for six hours, three days in a row. On release from their imprisonment, this experimental group was shown a new, “ambiguous” bucket, which did not clearly lead to either food or dog. The previously imprisoned animals, despite their elevated stress levels, were much more likely to approach the ambiguous bucket than were a control group of ewes. Against all odds, they were, in a word, optimistic that the bucket might lead to something good.

I love this result. It supports the ancient wisdom that a life free from suffering would lead nowhere good -- to increased fearfulness, perhaps -- and that bad experiences are necessary, if nothing else to teach us that failure is not the end of the world. Once you've been hobbled in solitary confinement for a while, the prospect of seeing a dog seems a lot less daunting.