# How can I change the lives of 40 people in 1 hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240 "2014-02-25T18:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrea\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/1 "2014-02-25T18:09:48Z")
I’m a student at one of the most unusual schools in the world. An eccentric billionaire created the university one year ago to make young people into superheroes (seriously). My team has been tasked with organizing a group activity this weekend and we could use your help coming up with an activity that will “change the way the participants think about the world” or have a significant positive impact on them. The weirder the ideas, the better. I promise to film whatever we end up doing and post it here as a follow-up. We definitely will be respecting the law and not doing anything overly dangerous but other than that we’re open to ANYTHING. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/2 "2014-02-25T18:13:36Z")
Homelessness simulation? Go live under a bridge, eat at the soup kitchens, spend the days in the public library, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/3 "2014-02-25T18:21:43Z")
Blindfold yourselves and be guided around a large city’s core and then be left alone. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/4 "2014-02-25T18:34:37Z")
Take a tour of a slaughterhouse. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/5 "2014-02-25T18:39:28Z")
Lobby Congress to raise taxes on eccentric billionaires. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/6 "2014-02-25T18:51:33Z")
Well, Jesse Pinkman was kind of on the right track. He just needed better aim and shouldn’t have stopped to ride the playground equipment and stare into space. Really need a lot more information that what you’ve provided. What do you mean by ‘superhero?’ What do you mean by ‘change lives?’ I have a friend who goes to [In-N-Out](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger) every Christmas and buys several dozen burgers and then drives around and gives them to the homeless. Does that count? If you want to do something that stands a reasonably good chance of making a permanent impact on 40 people in the space of an hour that doesn’t involve just handing them cash or some other tangible good, I have an idea that involves parent education. I’ll get back to you after midterms tonight. On second reading, I see that it has to be something that changes the perspective of _your_ student group, _not_ forty other people outside the group. I can think of a way to modify my idea so that it applies to you, but it would take several months of preparation prior to the one-hour event. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/7 "2014-02-25T18:54:00Z")
I second the slaughterhouse. Or you could have a weekend dedicated to [the blue eyes/brown eyes experiment.](http://www.janeelliott.com/)That really makes the issue of discrimination hit home. Work for an hour in a sweat shop and meet the production standards, like in[this show](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s6103). . interview an illegal alien. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Duke\_Of\_Prunes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Duke\_Of\_Prunes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Duke_Of_Prunes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/8 "2014-02-25T19:23:34Z")
Get yourselves some wheelchairs and bind your legs to them so you cannot rise up. Go about your normal activities for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/9 "2014-02-25T19:27:10Z")
Since the OP is looking for advice, this is better suited to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/10 "2014-02-25T19:44:24Z")
Please start an “Ask the Superhero” thread! I would love to hear more about the school, what classes you take, and more about what kinds of changes the school hopes to bring about. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/11 "2014-02-25T19:57:48Z")
Visit a children’s hospital ward and ask them what they’d do if they knew they were going to live to be a hundred. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/12 "2014-02-25T19:59:04Z")
Picket for mutant rights. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/13 "2014-02-25T20:08:56Z")
Go feed $100 worth of quarters into parking meters. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/14 "2014-02-25T21:04:44Z")
Reach out to a group that feels the complete opposite of you politically. If you are liberal, a Conservative Group or vice versa. Spend some time with them, get to know them as people beyond their political beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/15 "2014-02-26T01:14:37Z")
Go to a children’s hospital with toys and hand them out to sick kids. I have an innate gift for getting stuffed animals from those claw games at arcades and Denny’s. I give them to my wife who works in a hospital, and she gives them to Moms and Dads who are forced to bring their kids along with them to their medical appointments, which almost always means the family is struggling because they can’t arrange for child care. The kids are either scared or bored in those situations. In either case, those stuffed animals go a long way. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/16 "2014-02-26T01:21:20Z")
Get 40 women pregnant in one hour. (Or is this for serious answers only?) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/17 "2014-02-26T01:33:14Z")
We’ve already covered the homeless, sick kids and some others. So have them spend an hour with: An unmarried teen mother. Someone who earns minimum wage. A prostitute. An elderly person trying to survive on Social Security. A woman who’s been abused/raped. A heroin addict. Someone who’s anorexic. Someone who’s morbidly obese. A child molester or rapist. Someone who kept a woman or a child in captivity. Someone who killed while DUI. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/18 "2014-02-26T01:43:41Z")
Get them transferred to a proper University. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/19 "2014-02-26T03:47:52Z")
My first thought was a.shotgun but then I read past the title and realised you wanted to.change lives in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![mythoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mythoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mythoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240/20 "2014-02-26T04:20:59Z")
> [@andrea\_green](#): > > I’m a student at one of the most unusual schools in the world. An eccentric billionaire created the university one year ago to make young people into superheroes (seriously). My team has been tasked with organizing a group activity this weekend and we could use your help coming up with an activity that will “change the way the participants think about the world” or have a significant positive impact on them. > > The weirder the ideas, the better. I promise to film whatever we end up doing and post it here as a follow-up. > > We definitely will be respecting the law and not doing anything overly dangerous but other than that we’re open to ANYTHING. Something that breaks their concept of what is possible. I can make a non-physical energy that about 90% of people can feel, some very acutely. Some as they walk by will notice! While my method is technological, just unexplained by current science. There are videos that show how to do it. Try it and read the comments which shows it works for most everyone who comments. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/r0IzqGdncE4/hqdefault.jpg "Energy Ball Exercise - Feel Your own Cosmic Energy") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0IzqGdncE4) Another thing is I would look into learning some tips from Landmark Education leaders, they can defiantly impact people, though they take longer. One trick is addressing what the audience will think to things said, address their listening so they don’t zone out. Connect to their objections, fears and doubt to put them out of the way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-change-the-lives-of-40-people-in-1-hour/682240.md?page=2)