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You’re Probably Not as Conservative as You Think
Pacific Standard: Conservatism the brand seems to be faring better than conservatism the philosophy. That’s the conclusion of new research that finds a serious disconnect between the way people under 30 identify themselves politically, and their actual stands on the issues.
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Don’t let retirement stress marriage: Plan to be busy
USA Today: Author and former financial planner Frank Maselli tells a story of a man who retired and went home to spend his days with his wife. It didn't take long for him to become a major intrusion in his wife's world. He told her the way she did everything was wrong, even the garden she had tended for 25 years. "She had to kick him out of the house," he said. "She made him get involved with a charity group and start going to the gym." It's a huge adjustment to shift from spending two or three hours a night to spending all day together, says author and psychologist Robert Bornstein. "It happens all at once.
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Food aversions: why they occur and how you can tackle them
The Guardian: Like favourite childhood scars, food aversions are deeply personal, often come with a backstory, and are ripe for comparing with others. This is classic ice-breaking conversation territory in the west, where there is no shortage of foods to happily loathe without risk of malnutrition. When I was little, being the only one in nursery who didn't partake in the free milk (yuck!) made me feel special. Taking refuge under my aunt's dining table, during a particularly smelly cheese course, gained me so much attention that the event has become family lore. ... Part of the fun of food-aversions chat is trying to explain them.
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Hong Kong Skyscrapers Appear to Fall in Real-World Illusion
No matter how we jump, roll, sit, or lie down, our brain manages to maintain a visual representation of the world that stays upright relative to the pull of gravity. But a new study of rider experiences on the Hong Kong Peak Tram, a popular tourist attraction, shows that specific features of the environment can dominate our perception of verticality, making skyscrapers appear to fall. The study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The Hong Kong Peak Tram to Victoria Peak is a popular way to survey the Hong Kong skyline and millions of people ride the tram every year.
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Peer Pressure for Teens Paves the Path to Adulthood
The Wall Street Journal: New studies on peer pressure suggest that teens—who often seem to follow each other like lemmings—may do so because their brains derive more pleasure from social acceptance than adult brains, and not because teens are less capable of making rational decisions. And scientists say facing the influence of friends represents an important developmental step for teens on their way to becoming independent-thinking adults.
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People are over confident despite errors
Business Standard: A new study suggests that overprecision is a common and robust form of overconfidence driven, at least in part, by excessive certainty in the accuracy of our judgments. The research, conducted by researchers Albert Mannes of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Don Moore of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, revealed that the more confident participants were about their estimates of an uncertain quantity, the less they adjusted their estimates in response to feedback about their accuracy and to the costs of being wrong. Read the whole story: Business Standard
