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Our Futures Look Bright – Because We Reject the Possibility That Bad Things Will Happen
People believe they’ll be happy in the future, even when they imagine the many bad things that could happen, because they discount the possibility that those bad things will actually occur, scientists have found.
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The Secret to Success Is Giving, Not Taking
Scientific American: We all know what successful people look like. They are are the ones who do whatever it takes, the ones with the sharp elbows, the ones who know how to take what is theirs. But there is a different, better path to success, argues Adam Grant, in “Give and Take.” Grant, a professor of management at Wharton, shares research which suggest that some of the most successful people — not just in business, but in many realms — are in fact classic “givers,” people who genuinely try to help those around them. How could this be? He took questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Read the whole story: Scientific American
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New Research From Psychological Science
Read about the latest research published in Psychological Science and Clinical Psychological Science. Perceived Causality Can Alter the Perceived Trajectory of Apparent Motion Sung-Ho Kim, Jacob Feldman, and Manish Singh In this study, the authors used apparent motion to examine how perceptions of causality influence people's interpretation of motion. Participants were shown a display of alternately flashing red boxes appearing at each end of a semicircular occluder. The red boxes appeared to collide with and move green boxes (also located at either end of the occluder).
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For Obesity, the Future Is Now
Obesity is largely a failure of self-control. I know it’s possible to quibble about calories and carbs and dietary fat, but fundamentally, obesity comes down to valuing fattening foods today, in this moment, more than we value a healthy future. We know, rationally, that we should forego the French fries and brownies for some greater payoff down the line, but the moment’s temptations make it hard to keep our eyes on that future reward. We do have the cognitive ability to project days or weeks or even years into the future, but we don’t do it when we’re making food choices in the here and now. What if we could trick ourselves into keeping our heads in the future?
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What a Conspiracy Theorist Believes
The New Yorker: On a four-point scale, from one (strongly disagree) to four (strongly agree), please rate the following statements: “The Apollo moon landings never happened and were staged in a Hollywood film studio”; ”Princess Diana’s death was not an accident but rather an organized assassination by members of the British Royal Family who disliked her”; “The Coca-Cola Company intentionally changed to an inferior formula with the intent of driving up demand for their classic product, later reintroducing it for their financial gain”; and “Carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human activities cause climate change.” Questions like those formed the core of one of the most intriguing studies…
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Is the Music of the 1960s Really the Best Ever?
The Huffington Post: I had the good fortune to come of age during the richest musical epoch -- well, ever. The Grateful Dead, the Beatles, Dylan, Janis Joplin, Zappa. I could go on and on. The '60s witnessed an unparalleled burst of musical creativity, ranging from Cream to CCR to Hendrix and to Neil Young and Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell. There is simply no match -- not before nor since -- for this outpouring of enduring song. And what's more, nobody really disputes this. ... For analysis, Krumhansl grouped these song samples into five-year periods, so that each of 11 periods contained excerpts from ten songs.
