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Horizons for Social Sciences and Humanities
The Lithuanian EU Presidency’s Conference “Horizons for Social Sciences and Humanities” will be held September 23–24, 2013 at Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania. For more information visit horizons.mruni.eu/.
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The Presumptuous Power Holder
Louis XIV, the vain French king who held the longest reign in European history, epitomized absolute monarchy. But his blind pursuit of power—highlighted by the four wars he waged —left the French people demoralized and the treasury bankrupt. The self-proclaimed Sun King fully expected others to sacrifice and suffer to satisfy his own ambitions. Psychological scientists Jennifer Overbeck and Vitaliya Droutman point to Louis XIV as an extreme example of power holders who pursue their goals without considering or understanding the desires of the people they represent.
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Young versus old
BBC: A new study shows it’s more that we have bad moments than bad days. There’s some good news if you’re older. Although people, on average, do worse on memory tests as they age, it turns out that they perform more consistently. … “We were able to show that good and bad days of performance actually exist, but that the variability of those days is not as large as one would expect,” says Florian Schmiedek of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. … In all nine cognitive tasks assessed, the older group actually showed less performance variability from day to day than the younger group.
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Here’s What Happens When You Extend a Deadline
The Huffington Post: In June, the Obama administration pushed back the deadline for employers with 50 or more workers to provide health insurance for their employees by a full year -- until Jan 1, 2015. Admittedly, the implementation of anything as complex as the Affordable Care Act is going to take time, and those involved have been working furiously to try to meet the government's deadlines. So at least with respect to this particular part of the ACA, everyone has an additional year to get everything just right. Sounds like a good thing, doesn't it? Only -- how furiously do you think everyone with this new extended deadline is working now? Are they still burning the midnight oil...
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Study: To The Human Brain, Me Is We
Forbes: A new study from University of Virginia researchers supports a finding that’s been gaining science-fueled momentum in recent years: the human brain is wired to connect with others so strongly that it experiences what they experience as if it’s happening to us. ... “The correlation between self and friend was remarkably similar,” said James Coan, a psychology professor in U.Va.’s College of Arts & Sciences who co-authored the study. “The finding shows the brain’s remarkable capacity to model self to others; that people close to us become a part of ourselves, and that is not just metaphor or poetry, it’s very real. Literally we are under threat when a friend is under threat.
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‘Sesame Street’ Widens Its Focus
The New York Times: On “Sesame Street,” a distressed cow has a big problem. She made it up the stairs to the beauty parlor but now, her bouffant piled high, she’s stuck. Cows can go up stairs, she moans, but not down. Enter Super Grover 2.0. Out from his bottomless “utility sock” comes an enormous ramp, which, as the cow cheerily notes before clomping on down, is “a sloping surface that goes from high to low.” ... “This is working,” said Rosemarie Truglio, senior vice president, curriculum and content. Still, they acknowledge there are challenges in measuring a young child’s scientific understanding, and experts are only just beginning to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
