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Neural Nostalgia
Slate: As I plod through my 20s, I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon: The music I loved as a teenager means more to me than ever—but with each passing year, the new songs on the radio sound like noisy nonsense. On an objective level, I know this makes no sense. I cannot seriously assert that Ludacris’ “Rollout” is artistically superior to Katy Perry’s “Roar,” yet I treasure every second of the former and reject the latter as yelping pablum. If I listen to the Top 10 hits of 2013, I get a headache. If I listen to the Top 10 hits of 2003, I get happy. Why do the songs I heard when I was teenager sound sweeter than anything I listen to as an adult?
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The Science Of Menu Design: How Restaurants Can Make You Choose A Salad Over A Cheeseburger
Fast Company: Responding to the rise of American obesity rates, some politicians have proposed regulations that would require restaurateurs to reduce portion sizes, eliminate drive-thrus, and limit soft drink sizes. Brian Wansink, author of Slim By Design, marketing professor, and the director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, thinks the restaurant industry can police itself--and make more money--by leveraging the power of menu design.
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In Hiring, Resume Info Could Help Employers Predict Who Will Quit
Replacing an employee isn’t just expensive. When an employee leaves, organizations often have to plan for dips in productivity and loss of institutional knowledge, not to mention having to dedicate time and effort to hire and train a new employee. Given all of these costs, many organizations are interested in identifying strategies that will help them retain their employees. New research shows that information included in most resumes could serve as a cheap and effective predictor for how long someone is likely to stay in a new job, suggesting that retention might be boosted early on in the initial screening process. Psychological scientist James A.
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Guys Prefer Electric Shocks to Boredom
Scientific American: How often have you longed to have time to just sit quietly and think? Well, be careful what you wish for. Because a study shows that many people find such interludes incredibly unpleasant. So uncomfortable, in fact, that they would rather zap themselves with electricity than be left alone with their thoughts. The shocking results appear in the journal Science. [Timothy D. Wilson et al, Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind]In the experiment, participants were asked to sit alone in a room for up to 15 minutes…with no cell phone, no reading material, no music—so, nothing to entertain them, save their own rambling thoughts.
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The Restaurant Menu That Nudges People Toward Healthy Food
The Atlantic: The diner menu is a peculiar thing: It's meant to be scrutinized when one is, at best, hungover. But it's packed with a dizzying array of options that requires a sharp mind to parse. Its offerings are usually basic comforts, yet it has the comprehensiveness and heft of the Book of Deuteronomy. Do you go with the "Boss Hog" sandwich, with its puddle of BBQ sauce, or do you atone for whatever brought you to the diner in the first place by ordering the house salad?
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Bouncing to the Beatles Breeds Benevolent Babies
Pacific Standard: As part of our ongoing inquiry into the evolutionary origins of music, we’ve noted a line of research that links altruistic behavior with synchronized sounds. A study from England found eight- to 11-year-olds who made music together were also more compassionate than their peers. Another from Germany found four-year-olds who had sung and marched together were more likely to help one another pick up spilled marbles. New Canadian research presents further evidence of this dynamic—and finds it applies at a much younger age.
