Entrepreneurial Bum Seeks Advice!

[sebbysteiny]

A sign that says 'my dog and my scruffy clothes are fake, my need to pay my bills is not'. People are paying now for a parody / entertainment.

[KickAssClown]

Well. To address some of the questions, the ones that I can answer.

Originally Posted by Sebby

What exactly is your experiment trying to prove / disprove?

Well, it's not so much prove/disprove. As testing a hypothesis. I am curious to know just what kind of reaction one would get if you honestly, and simply asked people to contribute to you and your endevours. Conventional sense would indicate that people would not spare change more often than not. Also conventional sense would indicate that asking for money, or other forms of support would garner more resentment than anything. However my hypothesis, though not clearly iterated, goes along the lines of "Given a chance to support a member of the community, would the community support them?"

Also this encroaches into the terrorty of altruism, trust and a few other interesting areas of inquiry. I am interested to know if people are how people think they are.

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

keeping EVERYTHING the same, except the story of why you're doing it, see how that effects the collection total...

Originally Posted by Sebby

A sign that says 'my dog and my scruffy clothes are fake, my need to pay my bills is not'. People are paying now for a parody / entertainment.

Originally Posted by prgmdave

do the same thing BUT - use two very similar locations in terms of number of people, demographics of people, locations look/feel similar but change the message on your board

I am not going to be disguising myself, and I am not going to be dishonest about my dealings. The story I am going to be posting is going to be non-fiction.

I plan on dressing as I would to go to school and bringing study materials, and othersuch. An interesting facet of this, is that I dress rather eccentricly, so I can vary my wardrobe and check the difference it makes.

I am going to keep the information clear, concise, and understandable. I am limiting it to one sandwhich board sign. I might have a card table. I am going to bring books, paper, pens, pencils, erasers, and time cards, to time my day.

Originally Posted by prgrmdave

What will the data tell you, though? It seems to me that there are too many variables to accurately draw any conclusions from such an experiment.

I am not sure exactly. I am just going to collect the data, then see what I can make of it. I am only interested in a few of the variables, the others I can rule out. Like intention is not part of this. Only action. If a person thinks one thing but does acts contrary, I am not going to hold it against them.

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

That's too much, and people won't be willing to share personal data. To keep your numbers going, only measure things that you can obtain w/o asking... i.e. genders and approximate ages (ranges like <18, 18 - 30, 30 - 45, >45...). If you try collecting things like renters, owners, etc., you may be lucky enought to have 5% of your participants share, but that's not enough and you won't be able to draw any valid conclusions from it.

Well I've had several ideas along this account. For one, this would be anonymous. I am not going to record names, or anything like that. Two I am going to keep a list of my goals. A person can donate money for specific use. IE get myself new clothing, pay my rent, aquire a bike, aquire a bike trailer, food, and even suggestions like "save for retirement", or other things like that. To donate for specific use though, I am going to require they fill out a small simple form. General donations will be taken without questions, or specific information. Though I might simply ask them if they rent.

Originally Posted by InfiniteNow

Also, from a morality standpoint (subjective too, I know), you have to realize that you are likely to convince others that this mooching off others thing is okay... Heck, it's scientific... Not such a positive thing.

I suppose you can take that view, but I see it as asking my community for assistance. How is the society, or the community to know what I need and/or want if I don't ask for it? Or otherwise express a desire for it.

Though I do realize the potential subversive message that I could be sending out with this.

As for duration of the experiment, well I need to meet bills at least once a month, so I will probably continue this experiment from setup date till I get a job, or otherwise make a form of income.

That is one of the aims of this, is that I need to make subsistance, but I am not willing to sacrifice my future to do so. Hence I need a job that allows me the free time to study, and work on my projects, with the hope that my projects will net me wealth in the near (1-5 years) future.

Thanks and keep the input coming.

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by KickAssClown

I am not going to be disguising myself, and I am not going to be dishonest about my dealings. The story I am going to be posting is going to be non-fiction.

You might want a point of comparison. What happens when you DO disguise yourself... when you ARE dishonest... If that's truly what you want to pull out of the data...

[Zythryn]

Good points about needing to narrow the focus or add experiments to get certain results.
I like the option of different locations.
As a matter of fact, I would suggest one roadside spot, and one one or just outside the school grounds.

[moo]

There's always the old "Give me $50k or the rabbit dies" ploy...

moo

[pgrmdave]

So, KAC, how goes the bumming about?

[Pyrotex]

Originally Posted by KickAssClown

I am going to go ahead and perform a socialogical experiment. Here's the setup....I was wondering if anyone had anything advice on how to conduct this experiment....

Glad to be of assistance! How's this:

Sell the sandwich board and use the money to buy a nice shirt. Practice asking people what they want in front of a mirror until you can do it with grace and appropriateness. Get a job waiting tables at a nice restaurant. Don't piss the customers off. Use the money to take classes at a local community college. Learn to pass the courses with grace and appropriateness. Don't piss the teachers off.

Use your college status and your work experience to get a job at a nicer restaurant. Use the increased wages to take more or better quality courses. Repeat several times, until you have an associate degree and a respectable income. Appeal to a quality college for entrance and a scholarship, based on your associate degree and your obvious ability to achieve what you set your mind on. Your track record and bulldog determination will be your best friends.

And good luck! I'm on your side. Don't forget that. I am on your side.

[KickAssClown]

I have thought about that route Pyrotex. Really I have. Not only have I thought about it but I have tried it and it doesn't fit my plans. I understand that such things fit the majority's plans, however as I have been told I am at least 3-4 sigmas from the norm.

I refuse to do food service, so instead I did construction. I have been attending community college since I was 16 and I am now 20, so far I have only a track record of failure. I can accept failure as it is not a set back but a step in the direction that I am pursuing, serving to teach me what I don't know. The school system and the various people who pay for my education can not accept failure as a natural part of learning. It would seem that they feel it is a waste of their time, effort, and money.

Hence my idea. Also my idea isn't to the exculsion of attending college, in fact quite the opposite.

Now, this is not excuse but explination, I know I CAN take the popular path and it would ultimately work out, serving the objective that the popular path leads to but for me that is not good enough. The popular path will not lead to where I need to go. Hence my unconventional nature.

In chico, CA we have a community college 10-20 miles outside of town, and a CSU in town. A large percent of the permanent population of Chico are either undergraduates with an Associate's or graduates with a Bachelors. When competing for a job at a fast food resturant, I am competing often enough with some one who would be seen to be far more qualified than I am.

On top of that Out of towners from the larger city have been buying up Chico property and developing because of the housing market. So the population is quickly outstripping the job market.

Once again I would like to take a moment to say this is simply what it is. It's not an excuse but an explination of the situation so that you all can better understand my position and why I have chosen the path that I have. I make no apologies for my life strategy. I know where I am going, and how I am going to get there, it just takes time and some people around me are less than patient. Many people are of course looking for the "get rich quick" route to fame and wealth. I am not looking for such things.

I still plan on doing this experiement. However I realize I need time to plan out the specifics of it so I have it planned for the beginning of next year.

Slow and steady wins the race.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by KickAssClown

I have thought about that route Pyrotex. Really I have. Not only have I thought about it but I have tried it and it doesn't fit my plans. I have been attending community college since I was 16 and I am now 20, so far I have only a track record of failure. I can accept failure as it is not a set back but a step in the direction that I am pursuing, serving to teach me what I don't know. The school system and the various people who pay for my education can not accept failure as a natural part of learning. It would seem that they feel it is a waste of their time, effort, and money.

Have you thought about why it is that you "fail?" How do you define failure?

I know personally that I tend to perefer to hire people who have tried many things and have not succeeded for exactly the reason you seem to have: its a real learning experience. People who have had nothing but success tend to be the ones who have succeeded by being lucky enough to ride someone's coattails or simply be in on the rising tide that raises all ships.

Its the answer they give me when I ask them why they failed that tells me everything.

Failure is in the eyes of the beholder,
Buffy

[KickAssClown]

I fail for a number of reasons. One of the most prevalent is that I feel no urgency of the situation. Most Students get themselves whipped up into a frantic frenzy, where they must do everything now, now, now. I myself refuse to take time out of my sleep and personal care (feeding, socializing, education) to accomplish things which I know I will accomplish on my own anyway, irregardless of whether I do so while in that school sememster or not.

By fail I mean I get c's d's or f's. I realized recently that is because what I have assumed to be 40 hours of work turns out to be 60 hours of work. 12 units is 60 hours of work per week or more. This next spring semester I plan on taking 6 units of classes with an expected commitment time of 30 hours a week, leaving me 30 hours a week to work on my personal projects.

I don't do things which do not serve my purposes. What serves my purpose is wide but none the less certain things like Fast Food work do not serve my purpose, they serve only to hinder my progression towards my objectives and therefore are to avoided whenever and where ever possible. I value my time greatly, it's one of the only things I truly have which is truly limited.

So failure in class is but only a step towards success. Teaches me either way what I don't know but need to know more about. My standards (and tolerances) of success and failure differ greatly from that of much of the society. I feel personally that my standards are much higher than that of the majority, but then again I could be wrong hence my constant awareness and evaluation of my life plan, standards, and tolerances.