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Scientific Proof That No One Cares About Your Awesome Vacation
New York Magazine: If you’ve even traveled a little bit, you know this is true: People who can’t relate to your trip hiking the Inca Trail, or wine tasting in Tuscany, or Zorbing in New Zealand, don’t really want to hear about it. Sure, they may listen politely for a minute, but apart from asking questions, there isn’t really much they can say in reply. This is the basic premise at the heart of a new paper in Psychological Science: the idea that although extraordinary life experiences are exhilarating at the time, they may carry a social cost.
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New Online Media, Old Human Behavior
The Wall Street Journal: “I’m open to new things, but I’m worried for my children’s generation. They’re consumed. They don’t play outdoors or spend time with friends anymore. The nuances of face-to-face communication have been lost. They ‘write’ a ‘letter’ and then—what do the children call it?—‘mail’ it, and someone far away finds out what they’re thinking. Weird.” Some ancient Egyptian parent must have had such worries. For millennia, new technologies have outpaced traditional human interactions. Consider giving directions over the phone: “When you’re off the freeway, there are two streets to the right.
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Why Dogs Look Like Their Owners
Fast Company: If you spend enough time strolling along sidewalks or into public parks, eventually you'll see a dog that bears an eerie resemblance to its owner. The experience is common enough for art to imitate it: recall the famous montage in the movie 101 Dalmatians with those uncanny human-canine couplets. And if for some reason these encounters have escaped you, just take a look at the following pairs of photos showing people and their twin-like pets: The similarity is--well, pick whatever description you're most comfortable with, but it's certainly evident. And it's evidence-backed, too.
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Personality Traits Linked to Specific Diseases
Pacific Standard: How likely are you to suffer a stroke? How about a heart condition? Or arthritis? New research suggests the answer depends, in part, on your personality. “Personality traits are not merely predictors of general health,” writes a research team led by psychologist Sara Weston of Washington University in St. Louis, “but also serve as risk factors for the development of a number of diseases.” Analyzing data from a large sample of senior citizens, the researchers found a link between personality types and the likelihood of suffering from a number of late-life medical problems, including a stroke, lung disease, and high blood pressure. Read the whole story: Pacific Standard
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Quality of Words, Not Quantity, Is Crucial to Language Skills, Study Finds
The New York Times: It has been nearly 20 years since a landmark education study found that by age 3, children from low-income families have heard 30 million fewer words than more affluent children, putting them at an educational disadvantage before they even began school. The findings led to increased calls for publicly funded prekindergarten programs and dozens of campaigns urging parents to get chatty with their children. Now, a growing body of research is challenging the notion that merely exposing poor children to more language is enough to overcome the deficits they face.
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Is Powerlessness the Key to Successful Negotiation?
Leigh Steinberg, the real-life inspiration for the title character in the film Jerry Maguire, is one of the most successful agents in the history of American sports. He is also a master negotiator. It’s said that when he signed quarterback Steve Bartkowski as his first client in 1975, he realized that the NFL rules allowed him no power to bargain over salary. The Atlanta Falcons had drafted his client, so if he was going to play pro ball, it was the Falcons or nothing. So what did Steinberg do? He offered Bartkowski’s services to the Atlanta Falcons for a whopping $750,000—more than any football player had ever been paid.
