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Gchat Venting Is Only Making You Madder
New York Magazine: There is really only one way I deal with indignation, be it righteous or ridiculous, if I happen to be at a computer when it happens: I take it to Gchat. I find a friend with the little green dot next to their name, and I’m off, maniacally pouring my (often misspelled and typo-ridden) frustrations into the little chat window. Melissa is typing. Melissa has entered text. But it’s all fair. Sooner rather than later, I’ll likely be on the receiving end of a similar rant from a friend, talking (typing?) them down about some irritating thing their boss or boyfriend or whoever did.
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The science of sleeping in, and why you probably shouldn’t
PBS: I hate sleeping in, but that’s mainly because I can’t. Almost every day, since I was a teen, regardless of whether it’s a weekday, weekend or holiday, I wake up at 6 a.m. As an early bird, I admit to some delusions of morning grandeur — “Let’s wake up early Saturday and climb a mountain!” — but being a morning lark has proved annoying to others in my life, particularly those who function by “catching up” on sleep over the weekends. Maybe you’ve experienced this too? Your boyfriend/girlfriend/life partner/spouse groans as you roll out of bed at the crack of dawn, eager to climb mountains.
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Empathy Is Actually a Choice
The New York Times: ONE death is a tragedy. One million is a statistic. You’ve probably heard this saying before. It is thought to capture an unfortunate truth about empathy: While a single crying child or injured puppy tugs at our heartstrings, large numbers of suffering people, as in epidemics, earthquakes and genocides, do not inspire a comparable reaction. Studies have repeatedly confirmed this. It’s a troubling finding because, as recent research has demonstrated, many of us believe that if more lives are at stake, we will — and should — feel more empathy (i.e., vicariously share others’ experiences) and do more to help. Read the whole story: The New York Times
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How to Go From Evaluation to Inspiration
TIME: We live in a culture saturated with evaluation. In school, we learn to take tests. We take the tests, and depending on the outcome, either feel really smart or really stupid. We then prepare for college entrance exams. And then graduate entrance exams. And then occupational entrance exams. Then on the job, we are constantly being evaluated, evaluated, evaluated. With all this evaluating, we have little time left for inspiration. We have little time left to explore the full range of possible roles in life, and see which really activates us. This matters.
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The Magic Of Words
NPR: The philosopher George Berkeley famously argued (contra John Locke) that we can never have truly abstract ideas — ideas stripped of all particulars and details. When I think of a triangle, I imagine a particular triangle, not some abstract idea of "triangle." When I think of a dog, I imagine a golden retriever or a Yorkie or a mutt — not a "general" dog that embodies only the essence of "dogness," devoid of all nonessential features.
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Another Reason to Oppose the Death Penalty
Pacific Standard: If you support the death penalty, in spite of the many compelling arguments to the contrary, you must concede it is only morally acceptable if carried out in a fundamentally fair way. Surely the decision to impose this most final of punishments must not be subject to the biases or whims of jurors or jurists. Well, newly published research suggests who lives and who dies is determined, to a significant degree, by gut-level instinct. It finds the decision to impose a death sentence is based in part on a completely irrational construct: Whether the convict has what is perceived as a trustworthy face. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
