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Flummoxed by Failure—or Focused?
The Wall Street Journal: Many people think of intelligence as static: you are born with lots of brains, very few, or somewhere in between, and that quantum of intelligence largely determines how well you do in school and in life. The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has never liked this view. "I hardly ever use the word intelligence," says Mr. Tyson, who directs the Hayden Planetarium in New York. "I think of people as either wanting to learn, ambivalent about learning or rejecting learning." He speaks from experience: As a young man, he was booted from one doctoral program but managed to get into another and complete his Ph.D.
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Can You Be Addicted to Social Media?
Everyday Health: These days, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t caught up in a world of status updates, re-tweets, followers and check-ins. Social media has certainly made it easier for people to connect with each other and share information. And with Facebook boasting more than 900 million monthly users and a record-breaking IPO, the social media space is only going to expand. The problem is, the fast-paced, instant-gratification nature of social media creates an environment where we often feel highly compelled to broadcast our thoughts and experiences to others.
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A Climate for Conspiracy: Imaginary Plots and Global Warming
The Huffington Post: I am writing this article knowing full well that it will be used as evidence against me -- evidence that I have been duped by a powerful cabal, a vast conspiracy to... to do what? Well, take your choice. Perhaps to convince a naive public that NASA landed men on the moon? Or to hide the fact that our president is African? Or the fact that al Qaeda didn't mastermind 9/11? Or to falsely link HIV with AIDS, or smoking with lung cancer? Conspiracy theorists have sounded alarms about every one of these nefarious plots and more, and many conspiracy theorists embrace several imaginary plots. None of these claims has ever been proven.
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The Most Underrated Part of Your Resume
Men's Health: The “Interests” section on your resume—you know, the one career experts tell you to take off—is making a comeback. Employers can predict how well you will perform at your job according to your interests, says a new study in Perspectives on Psychological Science. Employers link your interests to responsibilities on the job, says Christopher Nye, Ph.D, the study’s lead researcher and a psychological scientist at Bowling Green State University. But it isn’t as simple as writing that you’re interested in accounting when applying to be an accountant. Employers look for subtle connections that will prove you’ll mesh well with the company—or the “person-environment fit,” Nye says.
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Why Facial Disfigurements Creep Us Out
Science: Whether we realize it or not, most of us have a knee-jerk reaction when we see someone with a facial disfigurement, such as psoriasis, a cleft lip, or a birthmark. We may sit away from them on the bus, hesitate to shake their hand, or even give a barely masked look of revulsion. A new study suggests these disgust reactions stem from an ancient disease-avoidance system that normally prevents us from catching illnesses. Essentially, we treat facial disfigurements like infectious diseases. Psychologists have recently begun to uncover where disgust comes from, with some researchers believing the emotion is similar to fear.
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Give Time to Feel Less Time-Squeeze
Scientific American: Meetings, calls, kids, dogs, errands, exercise—and all those emails! Who doesn't feel starved for time these days? But a new study suggests that you can feel like you have more time—by donating some to others. The research is in the journal Psychological Science. [Cassie Mogilner et al.,"Giving Time Gives You Time"] There really are only 24 hours in a day—seven or eight of which are (ideally) spent sleeping. And a time commitment does take time. But researchers found that if people felt like they had done something for others, their perception was that they had gotten more done than people who killed time, spent time on themselves or got unexpected free time.
