Chapter 1464 Barnum Effect

After walking out of the store, Hua Chong was confused: "Boss, what's going on with this telescope?"

Xiao Peng explained, "That's called a polarizing telescope, a relatively rare type of astronomical telescope. As you can see, it has two mirror tubes, one thin and one thick, but these two tubes share the same optical path. This is a polarizing telescope. Of course, its rarity doesn't mean it's good. It's just that the manufacturing process for this type of telescope is too complicated and the effect is not very good."

Hua Chong shook his head. "Boss, that's not what I'm asking. Why did you say the telescope was originally yours? Why did he hide it and not sell it?"

Xiao Peng suddenly realized: "Oh, you're asking that! This is easy. Don't I have an observatory in Orange Garden? It has become my bedroom now. This astronomical telescope belongs to the observatory in Orange Garden. Do you think it should be mine?"

"Then why is he here?" Hua Chong asked.

Xiao Peng said helplessly, "You're lucky you asked that. Of course it's because of World War II! This thing is useless to him. You say it's worthless, right? It's an antique after all. You say it's valuable, right? It's a huge thing with no collectible value. And after all, it's something from the Dutch royal family. This guy's ancestors are either related to Natchi, or they are Natchi themselves. That's why he doesn't dare to sell it. I don't need to say more about the rest, right?"

Hua Chong suddenly understood: "Now that he knows your identity, he has to sell it to you whether he wants to or not. He can't hide it anymore. Boss, this is awesome!"

Xiao Peng shook his head in annoyance. "What a bullshit! He was almost jumping up and down with joy at the one million, but when he heard it was me, he directly offered ten million. I don't care about the money, but I'm really annoyed if I have to pay such a high price. If he hadn't agreed just now, I would have simply not bought it and made this public! I'll let him cry over that telescope! Do I look like a fool?"

"Boss, how big is that telescope?" Hua Chong asked.

Xiao Peng gestured: "It's about as high as a two-story building."

"Holy crap. That big?" Hua Chong exclaimed. "Boss, your observatory has been converted into a residence, right? Where would you put this thing?"

Xiao Peng was stunned. "Who said I should keep it? Wouldn't it be better if I bought it and donated it to a university in the Netherlands? Well, Jelena and the others are in Leiden, so I'll donate the telescope to them and let them worry about where to put it!"

Hua Chong coughed dryly and said, "Boss, there are so many people in China saying you want to emigrate, and you're donating things to them? Be careful, there will be more people criticizing you."

Xiao Peng said, "Let them criticize. How can I shut them up? They'll be dumbfounded if I don't immigrate. I'm doing this on purpose! I want them to think I want to immigrate. This way, we can get things done more comfortably! Who can't afford a million dollars to buy peace of mind? Give me the phone number. I'll call Billy and ask him to help me with this."

"Okay!" Hua Chong handed the phone to Xiao Peng, who called Billy to ask him to take care of the matter before hanging up. For Billy, this matter was really too simple; it was just a matter of two standard containers.

Hua Chong sighed, "I know foreigners always feel weird when they see stars. Stargazing is something our ancestors have been doing."

"No, no, no." Xiao Peng shook his head. "Hua Chong, don't be too blindly confident. In fact, when it comes to stargazing, foreigners are just as good as us. Let me put it this way, even though our country's aerospace industry is so well developed now, our modern astronomy actually started very late. Daxia didn't have its first modern astronomical telescope until 1932."

"So late?" Hua Chong exclaimed.

Xiao Peng nodded. "Foreigners are actually no less advanced than us in stargazing. It's just that they went astray in ancient times."

"Took the wrong path? What does that mean?" Hua Chong was puzzled.

"Of course it's the 'Twelve Constellations', the most concentrated embodiment of the 'Barnum Effect.'" Xiao Peng pointed to the side and said, "There's a cafe over there. Let's go have a couple of drinks."

They sat down at the cafe. Xiao Peng asked the waiter for an ashtray, lit a cigarette, and flipped through a book he had just bought. Hua Chong asked, "Boss, I know what you said about the twelve zodiac signs, but what about the Barnum effect?"

Xiao Peng said: "The Barnum effect is a psychological term, which refers to the fact that people are particularly prone to believe in a general personality description. In 1948, psychologist Bertram Fuller proved this psychological phenomenon through experiments. To put it simply, when people use vague and broad adjectives to describe a person, they tend to believe these descriptions and think that they are describing themselves. Fortune tellers are particularly good at this. Whether it is a fortune teller in our country or a gypsy girl holding a crystal ball and tarot cards here, they say some general generalizations, and as an observer, you will find that what they say is not true. Vocabulary is often vague, allowing people to identify with their own identities. It's often a form of psychological suggestion, and the same is true for the twelve zodiac signs. If you look at the descriptions of the twelve zodiac signs, you'll find that many statements apply to everyone. Why do so many people find them so similar? This is another example of "subjective validation" in psychology. For example, if I say you're not good at making friends, but once you find a friend, you open up to them. This statement could apply to anyone. If I say this is a Libra trait, then it's a Libra. If I say this is a Taurus trait, then it's a Taurus trait. That's why I say the twelve zodiac signs are the epitome of the Barnum effect.

Hua Chong tried hard to digest Xiao Peng's words. After a while, he asked, "Boss, why did you just say that the foreign star-watching was going astray?"

After hearing this, Xiao Peng considered for a moment and said, "First of all, you have to understand that Western stargazing was no later than our ancestors. The earliest known work on the stars wasn't from Daxia, but rather "The Gods of Heaven and Enlil," printed on clay tablets during the ancient Babylonian period. But I don't know what these Westerners are thinking. The Daxia people observed the stars and came up with the 24 solar terms to improve people's lives, while Westerners use stargazing for some bizarre purposes. That's why I say they've gone astray."

Hua Chong was even more confused after hearing this: "What's so weird about that?"

Xiao Peng dusted off his cigarette and said, "Isn't astrology itself the most bizarre thing? It's so strange that many people now think astrology is just astronomy, and they talk about the eighty-eight constellations every day. Isn't that weird? If that's not weird, then isn't it also weird that even treating people's illnesses has to be linked to their constellations?"

"Well...it's really weird."