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Let’s Survey Citizens to See What They Think of This

On December 27, the Canadian Press reported that Defence Research and Development Canada, the research arm of the Canadian National Defence agency, paid the University of Toronto $13,750 to survey citizens about superheroes, one of “several planned on the subject” to pose “a range of philosophical statements” to agree or disagree with. Sample questions: can superheroes fly through the air, see through walls, hear whispers from miles away, become invisible, and/or walk through walls? “This work will not only allow cultural scientists to better understand the spread of non-natural and religious concepts,” said a justification for the study, “but also allow the Canadian Armed Forces ... to design messages that are more memorable for their target audiences.” The university was hired because the military has “no modelling or analytic capability to understand how its actions will impact the psychological meaning space of individuals.” (RC/Canadian Press) ...Which is why they were pretty confident that recruits didn’t need jackets during Canadian winters.