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Learning The Hard Truth About Lying
NPR: We all lie sometimes. But if you're in the public eye, the lie can take on a life of its own. NBC's Brian Williams became the victim of his own story last month, exaggerating the danger he faced while reporting in Iraq in 2003. It lead to an on-air mea culpa and a temporary suspension from the anchor desk. A couple weeks later, another public figure, Robert McDonald, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, told a homeless veteran that he was in the special forces — but he wasn't. Coming back from that kind of mistake can be harrowing and life-changing. Read the whole story: NPR
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I Don’t Have a Job. I Have a Higher Calling.
The Wall Street Journal: Travelzoo Inc. ’s 438 employees spend their days trying to find customers a good deal on flight and hotel packages. To hear managers describe their work in meetings, however, booking a customer on a cheap trip to the Caribbean can serve a higher purpose: helping someone get over the death of a loved one or meet a future spouse. “If we all traveled, there would be significantly more peace on Earth,” Travelzoo Chief Executive Chris Loughlin said he has told employees. Can a job just be a job? Not anymore. ... Plenty of employees are fine with being a cog rather than a cathedral builder.
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Thinking of God Makes People Bolder Risk-Takers
Big Think: When people are reminded of God, they are more ready to engage in risky behavior, but not morally wrongful behavior. Isha Aran from Fusion reports on a recent study published in the journal Psychological Science that sought to find out how far 900 online participants could be pushed toward unsafe activities while God was in their thoughts. How much risky behavior would participants engage in knowing God could possibly protect them from negative outcomes? In order to remind participants of God, researcher gave some of the volunteers a word scramble puzzle that contained God-related references or had them read a paragraph about God.
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Is the Environment a Moral Cause?
The New York Times: According to a recent poll, a large majority of Americans, and roughly half of Republicans, say they support governmental action to address global warming. The poll, conducted by The New York Times, Stanford and the research organization Resources for the Future, stands in stark contrast to the vast partisan gulf in political efforts to address climate change. How could it be that so many Republicans view global warming as a problem, but so few on the right are pressuring the government to take action to address it?
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Love in Mind: Cognitive Trickery
World literature is teeming with stories of unrequited love. Men and women fall in love and are not loved in return. Or love is mutual and wonderful, and then it fades for just one. Love deepens or dies unpredictably, and far too many lovers end up valuing and caring for someone who simply does not care for and value them in return. There is no literary theme more compelling, or sadder. This is true of life as well. Love only works when it is balanced, two-way. Indeed, the need for responsiveness is so powerful that lovers often distort reality in order to validate the emotional response they need and desire.
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Mental health research: underfunded and failing to attract young academics
The Guardian: Mental health research needs a boost. It is an area that receives nowhere near as much in public donations as research into cancer or heart disease does. The pharmaceutical industry shies away from it and some say it is a less attractive field for young bright scientists to move in to. Others argue that psychological treatments are perceived as less scientific. This leaves researchers struggling to compete in neuroscience for highly sought after government funding. Yet mental health comes top of a list of public interests for research. Read the whole story: The Guardian
