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It’s Not Me, It’s You
The New York Times: WHEN Jeryl Brunner, a writer in Manhattan, was in her 20s, she had a friend who was just the sort of acquaintance people scoop up in their social net when they are young and trying to carve out a life in a new city. The friend was fun, outgoing and stylish, and always up for a night of dancing at Area, or a weekend jaunt to a Neiman Marcus outlet in New Jersey. But as Ms. Brunner neared 40, the reasons for their spending time together became less clear. “It’s almost like we were in different movies,” said Ms. Brunner, now 46. “We didn’t connect on this fundamental view of what was important. I don’t obsess about material things.
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Quiet, Please: Unleashing ‘The Power Of Introverts’
NPR: From Gandhi to Joe DiMaggio to Mother Teresa to Bill Gates, introverts have done a lot of good work in the world. But being quiet, introverted or shy was sometimes looked at as a problem to overcome. In the 1940s and '50s the message to most Americans was: Don't be shy. And in today's era of reality television, Twitter and widespread self-promotion, it seems that cultural mandate is in overdrive. Read the whole story: NPR
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A New Study Shows How to Boost the Power of Pain Relief, Without Drugs
Placebos reduce pain by creating an expectation of relief. Distractions relieve it by keeping the brain busy. When combined, they make for a potent pain reliever, a study shows.
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Facebook and Twitter ‘more addictive than tobacco and alcohol’
The Telegraph: Resisting the urge to check social networking sites for updates is more difficult than turning down a drink, according to a study of people's everyday desires. The survey of 250 people found that sleep and sex were the two things people most longed for during the day, but that the urges to keep on top of social networks and work were the hardest to resist. In contrast alcohol and tobacco prompted much lower levels of desire despite their reputation for being addictive. Researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in America fitted participants with devices which logged nearly 8,000 reports about people's everyday desires.
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Waaraan kan u het moeilijkst weerstaan? Seks, alcohol, roken of e-mail lezen?
Express.be: Werken en communicatie zijn verslavender dan slapen, seks, alcohol en sigaretten. Dat meldt de website Science Daily op basis van een onderzoek van Roy Baumeister van de Florida State University en Kathleen Vohs van de University of Minnesota bij 205 volwassenen. Die moesten een apparaat op hun lichaam dragen dat tijdens de dag hun verlangens registreerde. Het onderzoek bracht in totaal 7.827 rapporten over individuele verlangens op. Read the whole story: Express.be
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Scaling the heights of power
The Sydney Morning Herald: Want to add a few centimetres to your stature instantly without the help of heels or a hat? Just picture yourself in a situation where you are in charge. Researchers have found those in powerful positions actually consider themselves taller than they really are - by about an inch on average. This effect may have been at work in the aftermath of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico when BP Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg controversially declared: "we care about the small people".
