A story goes that Conrado and Dominga, proud parents of a bouncing baby boy, were at a loss on what to name their bundle of joy. Conrado wanted the child to be a Junior, but Dominga protested, insisting that the child should be christened as Domingo, the male version of her name. After much wrangling, the couple finally agreed to meet halfway. The child would have a six-letter first name, three of which would come from Conrado, and the other three from Dominga.
The child, who grew up to be flexible with an unusual liking for strawberry-flavored food, became the eternal object of amusement. His name: CONDOM.
I am not sure if Condom ever lived a full life without loopholes (sorry, folks, I can’t tame the urge to inject a little pun), but here is my point: People’s names can have a sometimes powerful effect. And, believe it or not, this principle may just be applicable to the coming May 2010 elections.
Recently, I stumbled upon a research made by Richard Wiseman, a U.K.-based psychologist, saying that people’s political views are, to some extent, shaped by their names. Interestingly, during the 2000 U.S. Presidential campaign, a study showed that people whose names began with the letter B were especially likely to make contributions to the Bush Campaign, while those whose surnames began with the letter G were more likely to give their share to the Gore campaign kitty.
Here’s more. Some studies show that those with names toward the beginning of the alphabet appeared more prominent than their alphabetically-challenged peers. In other words, those whose initials came early in the alphabet were more likely to be successful in life than those whose names are near the end of the alpha list.
Now, since my family name starts with an R, a mere 8 letters away from the last letter of the alphabet, I find the study theoretically fascinating, but I’m glad the effect is minimal in practical terms.
Still, I wonder if the study would have a real effect on this year’s elections. For instance, would the presidential bet whose family name start with A win over the V? In the gubernatorial race in Pampanga, would the sitting governor whose nickname starts with E prevail over the Comelec-declared governor whose alias starts with N?
Talking about letters, another research done by Nicholas Christenfeld and his co-workers in the University of California showed that men with positive initials — such as A.C.E, H.U.G. and J.O.Y. — lived about four and half years longer than average. Intriguingly, those with negative initials – P.I.G., B.U.M., and D.I.E – died about three years early. Does this mean that the commencement speaker at the Ateneo with the victorious initials, M.V.P., would come out of the plagiarism imbroglio unscathed? Would the incumbent president of the country have an extended political life by getting a landslide victory in the second district of Pampanga, or would the voters speak out and limit her sphere of influence in the Greater Manila Area?
Hmm, what an interesting wait-and-see.
Now, I know it is almost impossible at this stage of the campaign for the politicians to change their initials to something more positive or the beginning of their nicknames with the first few letters of the alphabet. But they can perhaps mask their Zs and their negatives by highlighting their affirmative traits and advocacies.
No condoms, please.
The child, who grew up to be flexible with an unusual liking for strawberry-flavored food, became the eternal object of amusement. His name: CONDOM.
I am not sure if Condom ever lived a full life without loopholes (sorry, folks, I can’t tame the urge to inject a little pun), but here is my point: People’s names can have a sometimes powerful effect. And, believe it or not, this principle may just be applicable to the coming May 2010 elections.
Recently, I stumbled upon a research made by Richard Wiseman, a U.K.-based psychologist, saying that people’s political views are, to some extent, shaped by their names. Interestingly, during the 2000 U.S. Presidential campaign, a study showed that people whose names began with the letter B were especially likely to make contributions to the Bush Campaign, while those whose surnames began with the letter G were more likely to give their share to the Gore campaign kitty.
Here’s more. Some studies show that those with names toward the beginning of the alphabet appeared more prominent than their alphabetically-challenged peers. In other words, those whose initials came early in the alphabet were more likely to be successful in life than those whose names are near the end of the alpha list.
Now, since my family name starts with an R, a mere 8 letters away from the last letter of the alphabet, I find the study theoretically fascinating, but I’m glad the effect is minimal in practical terms.
Still, I wonder if the study would have a real effect on this year’s elections. For instance, would the presidential bet whose family name start with A win over the V? In the gubernatorial race in Pampanga, would the sitting governor whose nickname starts with E prevail over the Comelec-declared governor whose alias starts with N?
Talking about letters, another research done by Nicholas Christenfeld and his co-workers in the University of California showed that men with positive initials — such as A.C.E, H.U.G. and J.O.Y. — lived about four and half years longer than average. Intriguingly, those with negative initials – P.I.G., B.U.M., and D.I.E – died about three years early. Does this mean that the commencement speaker at the Ateneo with the victorious initials, M.V.P., would come out of the plagiarism imbroglio unscathed? Would the incumbent president of the country have an extended political life by getting a landslide victory in the second district of Pampanga, or would the voters speak out and limit her sphere of influence in the Greater Manila Area?
Hmm, what an interesting wait-and-see.
Now, I know it is almost impossible at this stage of the campaign for the politicians to change their initials to something more positive or the beginning of their nicknames with the first few letters of the alphabet. But they can perhaps mask their Zs and their negatives by highlighting their affirmative traits and advocacies.
No condoms, please.
