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The (Paradoxical) Wisdom of Solomon
King Solomon, the third leader of the Jewish Kingdom, is considered the paragon of wisdom and sage judgment. It’s said that during his long reign, people traveled great distances to seek his counsel. Yet it’s also true—and much less well known—that his personal life was a shambles of bad decisions and uncontrolled passions. He kept hundreds of pagan wives and concubines, and also loved money and boasted of his riches. He neglected to instruct his only son, who grew up to be an incompetent tyrant. All these sins and misjudgments contributed to the eventual demise of the kingdom.
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Temptation in the Neurons
Lack of self-control is at the root of many personal and social ills, from alcoholism to obesity. Even when we are well aware of the costs, many of us are simply unable to curb our desires and control our impulses. Indeed, so daunting is this psychological challenge that an estimate four in every ten American deaths is attributed to self-control failure of one kind or another. Yet many other people do succeed at self-regulation, all the time and seemingly with ease. Why is that? Why, in the face of everyday temptation, do some individuals fail miserably while others coast by unscathed? Psychological scientists have been puzzling over this problem for years, but the answer remains elusive.
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Daydream Believing: Imagining Connections
Imagine this scenario. You’re working away in your cubicle, and a co-worker strolls by, humming a tune. You recognize it as an old ballad, Suzanne, and you immediately think of your friend, Suzanne, who you haven’t talked to in a while. How is she? She was frustrated at work last time you chatted. Wonder if she’s okay now. And then you remember—it’s her birthday next week. You should buy her a little something, but what? She loves daisies, and she usually gathers for her birthday with a small group of family and friends, including Drew. Wonder what Drew is up to these days. . . . Then, snap! You’re back in your cubicle, and work is demanding your attention.
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The Perils of Adolescence
Adolescence is a perilous time of life. It’s a time of heightened risk taking—reckless driving, risky sex, excessive drug and alcohol use. For decades the prevalent view—the common wisdom of parenting manuals—was that teenagers feel invulnerable, immortal. They simply perceive less peril in dicey situations, and believe they have much more control than they actually do. In short, they underestimate life’s very real risks and dangers. But scientists who study adolescent decision making now dispute this common parenting wisdom. Teenagers do indeed underestimate risk—sometimes—but at other times they overestimate how risky and harmful a situation is.
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The Psychology of the Firefighter
Regulatory flexibility may help to explain why some firefighters who experience trauma develop PTSD and other don’t, researchers find.
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Hungry? Don’t Go Shopping.
Hunger is one of our most basic and primitive drives. When we are deprived of food, for whatever reason, we become intensely focused on satiating that craving. We want calories, and we want them now. Everything else—including time and money—is merely an aid for finding and acquiring rich, caloric food. This makes sense. It’s survival. Yet beyond this fundamental drive for satiety and nutrition, surprisingly little is known about hunger’s influence on our behavior. New research suggests that hunger’s power may extend beyond eating and nutrition, indeed that it may influence judgments and decisions completely unrelated to those stomach pangs.
