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It turns out money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it the right way
Quartz: We’ve all heard the maxim that money can’t buy happiness. But remember how happy you were at dinner with friends last week, or watching Star Wars in the cinema, or buying all four of the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan novels? None of that would have been possible without good old money. Now researchers from the University of Cambridge have confirmed what many may have secretly expected: that there is indeed a link between spending money and happiness. Their study, published in Psychological Science last week, found that life satisfaction increases with spending—but only if people use money in line with their personality type. Read the whole story: Quartz
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This unusual test reveals how smart you are
The Washington Post: Last summer, a couple of researchers ran a funny experiment about honesty. They went to an Israeli shopping mall and recruited people, one-by-one, into a private booth. Alone inside the booth, each subject rolled a six-sided die. Then they stepped out and reported the number that came up. There was an incentive to lie. The higher the number, the more money people received. If they rolled a one, they got a bonus of about $2.50. If they rolled a two, they got a bonus of $5, and so on. If they rolled a six, the bonus was about $15. (Everyone also received $5 just for participating.) Before I reveal the results, think about what you would do in that situation.
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There are two types of problem-solvers: ‘insightfuls’ and ‘analysts’
Wired: Consider these three words: pine, crab, sauce. Name a single word that will combine with each of them to make a compound word or familiar phrase. Take a moment to think about this, and then continue reading. The solution is apple (pineapple, crabapple, apple sauce). The interesting thing about this type of puzzle is that, like many real-world problems, it can be solved in more than one way. For instance, you can solve it by trying out various possibilities. What goes with pine? Tree goes with pine. Tree also goes with crab, but it doesn't go with sauce. How about cone? And so forth. Cognitive psychologists call this kind of linear thought "analysis". Read the whole story: Wired
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Seeing the Benefits of Failure Shapes Kids’ Beliefs About Intelligence
Parents’ beliefs about whether failure is a good or a bad thing guide how their children think about their own intelligence, according to new research from Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research indicates that it’s parents’ responses to failure, and not their beliefs about intelligence, that are ultimately absorbed by their kids. “Mindsets—children’s belief about whether their intelligence is just fixed or can grow—can have a large impact on their achievement and motivation,” explains psychological scientist Kyla Haimovitz of Stanford University, first author on the study.
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How to Be Good
Slate: If you encountered a robot on the street, you would want it to give you the right of way instead of just rolling over your foot, right? Making room for a passerby is simple, but it’s just one of the many human “values” that we seek to make our increasingly prolific machine creations obey. Computer scientists like Stuart Russell and technologists in companies building advanced artificial intelligence platforms say that they want to see A.I. “provably aligned with human values.” A scientist at the A.I. startup Anki recently assured Elon Musk and others that A.I. will be “friend”—not “foe.” ...
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How to Give Workers a (Better) Break
New research from Baylor University identifies two key factors that can help employees make the most of their workday breaks.