A Trip to OMSI

We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather that we have been having and rode our bikes up to OMSI to check out the new exhibit.  (Take a second to click on that link so the rest of the post makes sense to you.)  It was well worth it, even though Owen was just starting to get sick and crashed hard at the end of the visit.  

We found out a lot of very interesting things about ourselves.  The only problem was that I scored better on many of the "tests" than I should have, since I knew what they were measuring and sometimes even knew the method beforehand because of all those mandatory research experiments in college!  Oh well- it was still fun.

First we explored our physical identity and genetics.  We discovered that Kraig's face is more symmetrical than mine, thus making him theoretically more attractive since humans prefer symmetrical facial features.

Symmetrical, indeed.  Goof.

We also found out that the chances of having another baby that is just like Owen is about one in 70 million!  Shucks!

 Make a baby?  They make it look so easy!  Har har har.

We also took some tests to see how "male" or "female" our brains are.  The scoring was based on a spatial reasoning test to determine how "male" the brain is since men generally have higher spatial and mathematical intelligence, as well as a facial coding test since women usually have higher emotional intelligence.  The results?

 This is J's score- 117 male, 103 female.  

This is Kraig's score:  117 male, 93 female.

Before we jump to any conclusions, you should all know that I cheated.  Like I said, I knew what they were testing so I realized off the bat that the spatial test was asking "trick" questions.   Thus I scored perfectly on it.  Oops!

Now THIS was interesting.  A camera took photos and manipulated them according to whether the participant chose to "smoke", "eat unhealthily", or "not use sunscreen" for the rest of their life.  It showed the effects of those choices over time.

J's original

 J as an elderly woman who made healthy choices.  Yikes!  I hope my hair turns gray?

Elderly J who smoked.  Ooof.

Now, before you go and think that Kraig got really unlucky in the aging wife department, let's take a look at his photos.

 Elderly Kraig after making healthy choices

 Obese elderly Kraig

 Elderly Kraig who smoked

Yikes!  

I guess it is time to bust out the anti-aging cream and keep an eye on our diet, no?

That was depressing, now on to the next.

There were lots of tests that we did to determine gender biases, personality traits, and group identity. 

Part of the race and gender bias portion included taking a photo of yourself and making it a different gender or ethnicity.  THIS was VERY interesting.  Unfortunately we didn't have the time to allow Kraig to do it, but here are a few of my results....

Me as a hispanic man.

 Me as an Asian woman.

Me as a caucasian man.

Weird, right?!  Very cool.

We also morphed Owen into an astronaut.  

We decided to cut out early for the day and go outside for some fresh air and a snack.  We found this carved into the bench!!

Vandalism is so not cool, but hey, those are our initials!  (We didn't do that, if you can't tell).

As usual, Portland was ready for her closeup.

Poor Owen started to crash- as you can see- so he snuggled up in the sling for a bit before we headed back home.

Poor guy!  It was nice to get out in the sunshine, though, since we spent the rest of the week holed up and battling sickness!