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Jonathan Haidt: He Knows Why We Fight
The Wall Street Journal: Nobody who engages in political argument, and who isn't a moron, hasn't had to recognize the fact that decent, honest, intelligent people can come to opposite conclusions on public issues. Jonathan Haidt, in an eye-opening and deceptively ambitious best seller, tells us why. The reason is evolution. Political attitudes are an extension of our moral reasoning; however much we like to tell ourselves otherwise, our moral responses are basically instinctual, despite attempts to gussy them up with ex-post rationalizations. Our constellation of moral instincts arose because it helped us to cooperate.
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Don’t Punish Yourself Every Time You Spend
The New York Times: My daughter made the cross-country team, and she needed new running shoes. Have you shopped for new trail-running shoes recently? They’re so expensive that it hurt! I was telling someone I know about the experience and said I hoped buying something like shoes never stopped being painful, because I never want to get casual about spending that kind of money. She surprised me by asking this: What good does it do for it to be painful? How did that help? That’s a really good question. I was going to buy the shoes for my daughter anyway. I’m excited she is running cross country.
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It Pays to be a Daydream Believer in a Fast-Moving Age
Express UK: DON’T feel guilty if you ever find yourself staring blankly into space – a study claims that daydreaming is actually good for you. In today’s fast-moving world, the long-lost art of quiet reflection may be increasingly valuable. The brain at rest is used for “constructive internal reflection”. This is critical for learning from past experiences and appreciating future choices, say researchers. Moments spent drifting away aimlessly are especially valuable for young people as it allows them to “understand and manage themselves” in social situations, such as dealing with work colleagues.
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Do shifty eyes really mean you’re lying? Researcher says no, you’re just thinking
MSNBC: Whenever I’ve watched video of myself on TV, I think I look shifty-eyed. I’m asked a question and my eyes dart away from the camera into which I’ve been told to look. At the time, I don’t know I’m doing it, but I am. Psychology professor Howard Ehrlichman of Queens College, City University of New York, has been studying eye movement since the 1970s. In a recent article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, he reviewed some of his work, including recent findings, and argued there’s robust evidence that I’m not being shifty-eyed at all. I’m just thinking. More specifically, I'm accessing long-term memory. Read the whole story: MSNBC
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Supporting Patient Autonomy Is Critical to Improving Health
Even as we spend more on healthcare every year, the number of people with chronic health problems continues to rise in developed countries like the United States. Most of these chronic health problems – such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease – can be addressed through lifestyle changes. But knowing that we should make a lifestyle change to improve our health and actually making that lifestyle change are two very different things.
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Stop acting on impulse
Times Higher Education: Research has shown that people can train their brains to become less impulsive. Psychologists at the universities of Exeter and Cardiff assessed whether asking people to refrain from certain movements while in a simulated gambling situation affected how reckless or cautious they were when betting. The results suggest that training people to inhibit their movements could boost or prime a system in the brain that regulates inhibition across a range of functions. The paper, published in the journal Psychological Science, suggests that more work on the topic could lead to treatments for addiction. Read the whole story: Times Higher Education
