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We Need a Little Fear
The New York Times: The voters have spoken. So, what now? How will our still divided government deal with our mounting threats and challenges? Shared fear can help. A Bedouin proverb says, “Me against my brother, my brothers and me against my cousins, then my cousins and me against strangers.” Human beings are pretty good at uniting to fight at whatever level is most important at a given moment. This is why every story about a team of warriors or superheroes features an internal rivalry, but all hatchets are buried just before the climactic final battle in which the team vanquishes the external enemy.
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Facebook ‘more addictive than sex’
The Times of India: Facebook and email trump sex in terms of sheer irresistibility, researchers say. The German study used smartphone-based surveys to probe the daily desires of 205 men and women, most of whom were college age. For one week the phones, provided by the researchers, buzzed seven times daily, alerting study subjects to take a quick survey on the type, strength and timing of their desires, as well as their ability to resist them. The study found that while the desire for sex was stronger, the study subjects were more likely to cave into the desire to use media, including email and social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
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Can daydreaming boost your creativity?
kyPost: The next time you are called out for daydreaming just say that you’re working on your creative side. Psychological Science developed a study researching the links between daydreaming and creativeness. The results concluded that taking a break to let your mind run free may actually be beneficial. A link between creative problem-solving and daydreaming was found by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In their study, they had participants engage in an “unusual use task”— in which they would take an object and try to figure out as many ways as possible to use it.
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The experience of awe can slow down perceived time in people’s lives
The Washington Times: As anyone trying to juggle a career, family and sleep will tell you: The one universal truth of modern life is that there are not enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done. If only we could stop time in its tracks or, at least, slow it down — wouldn’t that be nice? Maybe we can. Though scientists have yet to discover a way to add more hours to the day — if only — a new study by psychologists at Stanford University and the University of Minnesota brings us one step closer to that elusive goal. If you want to slow time down, then add a splash of awe to your otherwise hyperactive life.
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The Brain Trainers
The New York Times: In the back room of a suburban storefront previously occupied by a yoga studio, Nick Vecchiarello, a 16-year-old from Glen Ridge, N.J., sits at a desk across from Kathryn Duch, a recent college graduate who wears a black shirt emblazoned with the words “Brain Trainer.” Spread out on the desk are a dozen playing cards showing symbols of varying colors, shapes and sizes. Nick stares down, searching for three cards whose symbols match. “Do you see it?” Ms. Duch asks encouragingly. “Oh, man,” mutters Nick, his eyes shifting among the cards, looking for patterns. Across the room, Nathan Veloric, 23, studies a list of numbers, looking for any two in a row that add up to nine.
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Guilty Gift-Giving
The Washington Post: If it’s the thought that counts when giving gifts, why do so many of us get so stressed during the holidays? It’s because you often feel guilty for not giving more even if you can’t afford it. “There’s a lot of guilt and social comparison in holiday shopping,” psychology professor Susan Krauss Whitbourne of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst told Karen Cheney of Money Magazine. Cheney says: “Want to beat your psychology and that post-holiday hangover? Simply use these strategies to get the names crossed off your list -- without crossing into the red.” Read the whole story: The Washington Post
