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The psychology of insiders and outsiders can explain why we have such a hard time agreeing on reality
Quartz: On Oct. 19, an estimated 70 million Americans tuned in for the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In theory, voters watching the debates should experience a common version of reality: everyone is hearing the same words, spoken by the same people. Whereas the New York Times and Fox News may report on the presidential campaign quite differently, watching a debate offers an unfiltered version of each candidate in real time. Yet when Republicans and Democrats watch the exact same event, they somehow walk away with radically different conclusions about what just happened. This is because people do not see the world objectively.
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Don’t Look Now! How Your Devices Hurt Your Productivity
NPR: I'll admit it. I even take my phone with me when I head to the restroom, to fire off a few texts. Or I'll scroll through my email when I leave the office for lunch. My eyes are often glued to my phone from the moment I wake up, but I often reach the end of my days wondering what I've accomplished. My productivity mystery was solved after reading The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High Tech World, by Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and Larry Rosen, a research psychologist and professor emeritus at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
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Why do long-suffering Cubs fans keep coming back for more?
ESPN: CHICAGO -- Greg Maddux was the Opening Day starter in his Braves debut when he beat his former team in Chicago in April of 1993. Cubs fan Dan Lepse remembers it well. "Cubs lost 1-0," he said. "Coldest I have ever been in my life." ... Psychologist and "happiness researcher" Stephen Schueller likened the addiction and devotion Cubs fans have to their team to learned helplessness. "As things replay over and over, it's easy to rationalize away a one-year thing," said Schueller, assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern. "You fail so often, you feel there's nothing you can do. "You're doomed to fail because you're a Cubs fan. It's a little sad.
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Individuals’ Well-Being Linked With When and How They Manage Emotions
Using reappraisal to regulate our emotions in situations we actually have control over may be associated with lower well-being, researchers find.
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How Superstitions Are Affecting Your Behavior
U.S. News & World Report: Are you spooked by Friday the 13th, black cats crossing your path or having to walk under a ladder? Do you often knock on wood after mentioning your good fortune or throw salt over your left shoulder after spilling it to ward off bad luck? If so, you're among the legions of people who are superstitious: A 2014 Harris Interactive/Statista survey of 2,236 adults across the U.S. found that 33 percent of people believe finding and picking up a penny is good luck, and 21 percent believe knocking on wood prevents bad luck. A previous Gallup news poll found that 25 percent of people in the U.S. say they are "very" or "somewhat" superstitious in general.
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The Strange Tale of an X-rated Haunting
BBC: On the 28th May 1960, at precisely 7:40pm, AD Cornell valiantly attempted to ‘haunt’ a cinema audience who were sitting down to enjoy an X-rated film. Before emerging from the shadows, Cornell draped himself in a white muslin sheet, the fabric covering him from head to toe. He then emerged before the unsuspecting audience and was bathed in the light of projector. He moved in front of the screen, from the left edge to the right edge and back again. For Science! Cornell, a Cambridge-based parapsychologist, was conducting experiments in “apparitional experiences”.
