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Why It Feels So Terrible to Drop Your Kid at College
For an adult who is no longer young but not yet old, there is perhaps no better preparation for death than sending a child to college. That’s not because it’s a reminder of the ceaseless march of age, though it is. It’s not because it unleashes a stampede of wild memories, though it does. And it’s not because it’s a moment that marks multiple beginnings and endings, although those fires do ignite and extinguish. It’s because adulthood distances you from the experience of dreading things that are certain to come about eventually. It’s not that you dread more things, or graver things, when you’re a kid—time seems to lurch slowly, death seems long off, bills don’t stack up, and all the rest.
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Steven Pinker: Can Numbers Show Us That Progress Is Inevitable?
It might seem like the world is getting worse and worse. But psychologist Steven Pinker says that across the board, data suggests we've made a lot of progress. The question is — will it continue? About Steven Pinker Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and the Johnstone Family Professor in the Harvard Department of Psychology. His research covers everything from visual cognition and psycholinguistics to social relations. He is the author of several books, including his most recent: Enlightenment Now: the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
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Helping with a Police Chase
Student Handouts for the Eyewitness Testimony Unit of Reinventing Introductory Psychology. Video Questionnaire from Video Memory Test from Video
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People Pick Gifts That Will “Wow” Rather Than Satisfy Recipients
Gift givers tend to focus on the “big reveal,” choosing the gift that will surprise and delight the recipient in the moment over the one that will bring long-term satisfaction.
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Does Concentration Blunt Our Sense of Smell?
A study indicates that when we’re distracted by something visual, we can actually miss an unrelated smell.
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Moral Outrage Can Backfire When It Goes Viral
Moral outrage feels good. If you see a social media post that you view as racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive, a stinging reply can be an irresistible temptation. But if too many people take the bait, all that criticism can come across as piling on, which creates sympathy for the original transgressor.
