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The Philosophy of Data
The New York Times: If you asked me to describe the rising philosophy of the day, I’d say it is data-ism. We now have the ability to gather huge amounts of data. This ability seems to carry with it certain cultural assumptions — that everything that can be measured should be measured; that data is a transparent and reliable lens that allows us to filter out emotionalism and ideology; that data will help us do remarkable things — like foretell the future. ... But Thomas Gilovich, Amos Tversky and Robert Vallone found that a player who has made six consecutive foul shots has the same chance of making his seventh as if he had missed the previous six foul shots.
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The Upside of Power
The Wall Street Journal: We’ve all heard about the loneliness and corruptions of power, but two new academic works suggest that maybe it isn’t really so bad. First, psychologists at UC Berkeley found that people in power are more resilient in the face of rejection than are the rest of us. Researchers reported on five experiments pointing in this direction. In one, volunteers were assigned high or low positions in a workplace and told they weren’t invited to a party. Read the whole story: The Wall Street Journal
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Study: Each Generation Is Happier Than the Last
The Atlantic: You'll be happier in the future than you are now, a new study in the journal Psychological Science found, but your overall well-being also depends on when you were born, and what you've lived through. "Well-being" is a pretty nebulous measure, but it definitely sounds like something you would want to strive for.
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Diet-Soda Mixers Can Lead to Quicker Intoxication
TIME: The study, which compared Smirnoff Red Label plus Squirt (a lemon-lime soda with no caffeine) with the vodka with Diet Squirt, found that the diet cocktail increased BAC by 18%. That’s almost as much as having an additional standard drink and was enough to tip people from being under the legal limit for driving to being unsafe to drive. “One of the key things we found was that even though BAC peaked 18% higher in the diet condition, [participants] didn’t feel any more intoxicated and they didn’t feel any different as to how willing they were to drive a car,” says the study’s lead author Cecile Marczinski, who is an assistant professor of psychology at Northern Kentucky University.
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Dear Valentine, I Hate It When You …
The New York Times: HAVE you decided what to get for your valentine this year? You could try something classic, like chocolates. Or something blingy, like earrings. Or sexy, like lingerie. New research suggests that this may be the most valuable present you’ll ever give. After all, conflict is inevitable in long-term relationships, and the way people navigate it can affect not only their happiness, but their mental and physical health as well. Married couples who are hostile when they fight, for instance, are more likely than gently scrapping spouses to have compromised immune functioning, elevated coronary calcium levels (an early risk factor for heart disease), and slow wound healing.
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Why You Love That Ikea Table, Even If It’s Crooked
NPR: Have you ever spent a couple of hours working on a craft project — or a presentation for work — and then fallen in love with what you've accomplished? Do the colors you've picked for your PowerPoint background pop so beautifully that you just have to sit back and admire your own genius? If so, get in line: You're the latest person to fall victim to the Ikea Effect. The name for this psychological phenomenon derives from the love millions of Americans display toward their self-assembled furniture (or, dare we say it, their badly self-assembled furniture) from the do-it-yourself store with the Scandinavian name.
