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Take Notes From the Pros
The New York Times: When it comes to taking lecture notes, Laura Gayle, a sophomore at Florida State University, has her methods. A smiley face connotes an important person. If the professor says, “Make sure you know this,” she uses an asterisk. A triangular button signals a video clip played in class. Later, she will organize the notes, write a video summary and check uncertainties against the textbook or with the professor. For “Introduction to Classical Mythology,” she’ll even alphabetize a list of Greek gods and goddesses. Then, a few days before the exam, she puts it all up for sale.
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The Self, Motivation & Virtue Project
Request for Proposals: EXTENDED DEADLINE The Self, Motivation & Virtue Project Marquette University, with a generous grant from the Templeton Religion Trust, is pleased to announce a new research initiative on the topics of the self, motivation, and virtue. Approximately ten research proposals at $190,000 each will be funded through this initiative. Awards are intended to support research from September 1, 2015 through May 31, 2017 (two academic years and one summer). Letters of Intent are due no later than December 1, 2014. (This is extended from the original November 15 deadline.) Full proposals are by invitation only, and are due no later than June 1, 2015.
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Not Everyone Wants to Be Happy
Scientific American: Everyone wants to be happy. It's a fundamental human right. It's associated with all sorts of benefits. We, as a society, spend millions trying to figure out what the key to personal happiness is. There are now even apps to help us turn our frowns upside down. So everyone wants to be happy—right? Well, maybe not. A new research paper by Mohsen Joshanloo and Dan Weijers from Victoria University of Wellington, argues that the desire for personal happiness, though knitted into the fabric of American history and culture, is held in less esteem by other cultures.
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Why Don’t More People Want to Donate Their Organs?
The Atlantic: In 1998, Adam Vasser, a 13-year-old teenager who loved playing baseball, was vacationing in Montana with his family when he suddenly came down with what felt like the flu. When he had trouble breathing and his ankles became swollen, his parents took him to a nearby clinic where the doctor on duty checked his vitals and sent him directly to the hospital across the street. By the time the family arrived at the hospital a few minutes later, Adam was in complete heart failure. For months, Adam waited in a hospital for a heart transplant, during which time his heart was only able to pump with the assistance of a left-ventricular assist device (LVAD).
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Humans have innate grasp of probability
Nature: People overrate the chances of dying in a plane crash and guess incorrectly at the odds that a coin toss will yield 'heads' after a string of several 'tails'. Yet humans have an innate sense of chance, a study of indigenous Maya people suggests. Adults in Guatemala who have never learned a formal number system or a written language did as well as formally educated adults and children at estimating the probability of chance events1, the researchers found. Children are born with a sense of number, and the roots of our mathematical abilities seem to exist in monkeys, chickens and even salamanders.
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When It Comes to Making Choices, Ignorance Really Can Be Bliss
New York Magazine: There is an established notion of the "happy idiot" — someone who doesn’t know a lot, knows he doesn’t know a lot, and doesn’t care. Think about Joey Tribbiani from Friends or Fry from Futurama. Though simple-minded and rather oblivious to their surroundings, both characters tended to come out on top. New research suggests that there may be something to this frequently invoked trope. Not knowing a lot — and being aware of your own ignorance — can make decisions easier and, as a result, lead to greater happiness. Decisions are a big part of life in the 21st century. Never before have we had to make so many of them.
