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Should Obesity Be a ‘Disease’?
The New York Times: IN June 2013, millions of Americans contracted a disease. They developed it not because of some pathogen or illness, but thanks to the American Medical Association’s decision to label obesity a “multi-metabolic and hormonal disease state.” On its surface, this seemed like a good move: Calling obesity a disease provides a clear warning of the significant health risks associated with excessive weight. And the obesity-is-a-disease message sparked attention, funding and research aimed at finding medically driven remedies. We wondered, however, if there also might be psychological ramifications inherent in that message.
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Hole-y Phobia May Have Evolutionary Origins
Scientific American: If the sight of Swiss cheese makes you melt or the thought of a honeycomb gets you buzzing, you may suffer from trypophobia, the most common phobia that you've probably never heard of. Trypophobia is the fear of holes. People with the phobia experience panic attacks, increased heart rate and hot sweats when they see clusters of holes. A visual scientist who suffers from trypophobia decided to investigate the phenomenon with his colleague. They performed spectral analysis on images that induce trypophobia and found that the fear-inducing images all had similar characteristics related to luminescence, contrast and light wavelengths.
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La Mindfulness aiuta a fare scelte più intelligenti (Mindfulness helps you make smarter choices)
La Stampa: Bastano 15 minuti di meditazione Mindfulness (o Consapevolezza) per compiere scelte o prendere decisioni migliori, più intelligenti. Un solo quarto d’ora e ne beneficia dunque non solo il cervello, ma anche la propria vita, dimostrano ancora una volta l’efficacia di questo metodo tanto semplice quanto utile.
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Deep Learning: Teaching Computers To Tell Things Apart
NPR: WhatsApp may be Facebook's latest prize, but it's not the company's most ambitious investment. In recent months, the social networking giant has begun funding something potentially far more revolutionary: artificial intelligence. And it's not alone. Google and as of last week, Netflix, are all getting into a new kind of AI known as . Deep learning programs are able to perceive their world in a way unlike any other computer program, and these companies hope that deep learning programs will one day be able to sort your photos, recognize your voice, and do a whole lot more. Computers can already recognize some things. Take the scanner at the supermarket.
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Overdosing on Incentives
Stock options, gift certificates, and lump sums of cash are the tools of choice that employers use to motivate staff to strive for success. It’s widely assumed that the promise of a monetary bonus improves a worker’s drive, concentration, and performance. But a new study shows that these motivational rewards may have the opposite effect on some people. In these individuals, the potential for a bonus can send the brain’s reward centers into overdrive and interfere with their ability to process information, a team of American and European researchers has concluded. The chemical in question is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a variety of roles in the brain.
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A History of Humans Loving Inanimate Objects
Pacific Standard: Around mid-February, someone on Reddit posted a meme that declared the following: “Sometimes, when I grab a cup from my cabinet, I will grab one that’s in the back and never gets used because I think the cup feels depressed that it isn’t fulfilling it’s life of holding liquids.” The sentiment proved popular. “I used to work at a toy store and if anyone ever bought a stuffed animal I would leave its head sticking out of the bag.. so it could breathe,” commented one Redditor. “I actually cried when we switched microwaves when i was a kid. I felt like we should have given it a proper burial or something,” wrote another.
