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Stuff Happens, And The Way We Talk About It Matters
NPR: When discussing the Oregon shooting at Umpqua Community College last week, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush explained that "stuff happens," suggesting that such events can't be prevented and, by implication, that legislators — and gun control laws — are not responsible.
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Telecommuting Isn’t Always a Win-Win Situation
HealthDay: Many people dream of giving up their daily commute and padding to work in their pajamas and slippers. But telecommuting has to be carefully thought out and implemented to be successful, new research says. A growing number of companies offer work-from-home options even though there is conflicting evidence about the effectiveness of this approach, the study authors said. ... "Our intent is to provide a balanced picture of what we know and do not know based on the scientific findings.
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Can We End the Meditation Madness?
The New York Times: I AM being stalked by meditation evangelists. They approach with the fervor of a football fan attacking a keg at a tailgate party. “Which method of meditation do you use?” I admit that I don’t meditate, and they are incredulous. It’s as if I’ve just announced that the Earth is flat. “How could you not meditate?!” I have nothing against it. I just happen to find it dreadfully boring. ... After spending the past four decades studying mindfulness without meditation, the Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer has identified plenty of other techniques for raising our conscious awareness of the present.
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The Power of Precise Predictions
The New York Times: IS there a solution to this country’s polarized politics? Consider the debate over the nuclear deal with Iran, which was one of the nastiest foreign policy fights in recent memory. There was apocalyptic rhetoric, multimillion-dollar lobbying on both sides and a near-party-line Senate vote. But in another respect, the dispute was hardly unique: Like all policy debates, it was, at its core, a contest between competing predictions. Opponents of the deal predicted that the agreement would not prevent Iran from getting the bomb, would put Israel at greater risk and would further destabilize the region.
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THE SCIENCE OF WHEN YOU NEED IN-PERSON COMMUNICATION
Fast Company: In the debate over whether people should work in the office, or remotely, the in-the-office folks have one good point. A lot of things happen when we interact face-to-face that don’t necessarily happen virtually. Human beings had little ability to communicate with those who weren’t physically close to them until the past century, and our brains don’t evolve as rapidly as technology. Fortunately, understanding the science of what happens when people interact in person helps us see what’s best done that way, and when virtual meetings are fine. ...
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Look Who’s Talking
Slate: It can be startling when you first hear it: otherwise reasonable friends spouting their dogs' inner monologues, as if it’s only natural for them to speak out loud. Is that food stop choking me I need that food, the strange voice might say. I am a dog give me that OK thanks look a tree. ... “The first thing people do is treat their pets like people, so a precondition is that they perceive minds in their pets,” said Kurt Gray, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
