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Two Strikes and You’re Out (But Only If You’re Black)
The Huffington Post: I came of age in a Jersey Shore community with high racial tension. A major road divided the town, and separated black homes from white homes. But we all met in the integrated schools, and that's where I witnessed racial discrimination firsthand. I vividly remember this one incident from eighth grade. Word spread one morning through the corridors that there would be a fight in the boys' lavatory in the afternoon, between a black boy and a white boy. This was not uncommon, and we all crowded around to witness the event, but in the end hardly a punch got thrown. Our eighth grade English teacher had gotten wind of the coming fight, and immediately broke it up.
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The single best goal you can set for 2015
Fortune: It’s a new year—time for those resolutions. Even the U.S. government is getting into the act by providing a list of the most popular resolutions and tips on how to achieve them. Some 45% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, according to Statistic Brain. The most popular are losing weight and getting organized. So, in the spirit of the New Year, here’s one resolution that, if you make and keep, will make you happier, more powerful, and help others around you develop their potential more completely. The resolution: become less judgmental, particularly about people, but also more generally. Read the whole story: Fortune
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The Paradox of Choice, 10 Years Later
Pacific Standard: Ten years have passed since the publication of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, a highly influential book written by the psychologist Barry Schwartz. If the title doesn’t sound familiar, the idea behind Schwartz’s argument should: Instead of increasing our sense of well-being, an abundance of choice is increasing our levels of anxiety, depression, and wasted time. Whether you’re deliberating between breakfast cereals, TV shows, career paths, pension plans, or lifetime partners, the amount of options out there can be overwhelming. In modern America, however, the freedom to decide who you are and who you’re going to be is mandatory.
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How to Look Smarter
The Wall Street Journal: While trying to look intelligent, a lot of people do things that make them look dumb. For instance, people use big words or put on a poker face—tactics that can backfire for some, studies show. A growing amount of research is teasing out how people form first impressions of others’ intelligence—and how well it works when you try to manage those impressions. The cues people look for in assessing each other’s intelligence are simple. But they aren’t always easy to pull off under pressure. They include showing self-confidence, speaking clearly and smoothly, and responding thoughtfully to what others are saying, research shows.
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Turning a New Year’s Resolution Into Action With the Facts
The New York Times: DESPITE the best intentions for the new year, the reality is that by next month, gym memberships will lapse, chocolate will replace carrots and Candy Crush will edge out Moby Dick. It’s not (only) that we’re undisciplined slugs. It’s that much of what we know — or think we know — about habits is wrong. Here’s a primer that might help keep you off the couch and on the treadmill. MYTH 1 We fail to change our habits — or start good new ones — because we lack willpower. Not really, said Wendy Wood, a professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California.
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Is Obesity a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
The Huffington Post: There are lots of people of normal, healthy weight who, when they look in the mirror, see a fat person. Many of them know that their perceptions are skewed, because trusted friends and family have testified that they are slender, yet they can't deny what they see in their reflection and mind's eye. Such distorted perception is especially common among teenagers, and it has been linked to poor self-esteem and eating disorders. Adolescents who see themselves as overweight are more likely to use diet pills, laxatives, vomiting and extreme dieting to lose their imagined weight.
