-
Steve Jobs and LSD: A Q&A on hallucinogenic drugs
The Star-Ledger: In the cascade of news coverage about Apple founder Steve Jobs following his death on Oct. 5, it was reported that he had taken LSD, the hallucinogenic drug popularized in the 1960s. The Apple innovator, who was 56 at the time of his death from pancreatic cancer, said taking the drug was "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life." In another interview, Jobs said Microsoft would have been a better company had founder Bill Gates "dropped acid." That statement is at odds with the anti-drug message most young people hear from parents and teachers.
-
Kind Words Can Lead to Harsh Consequences
Yahoo! Canada: Politeness has a place, but not in high-stakes situations, according to researchers. Whether a pilot is making an emergency flight or a doctor is trying to help a patient make a surgical decision, the sort of vague, evasive responses that help us avoid hurting someone's feelings can have disastrous consequences, according to a team of scientists, including Jean-François Bonnefon and Wim de Neys of the National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Toulouse in France, and Aidan Feeney of Queen's University in the United Kingdom. The more sensitive an issue, the more polite we tend to become, according to the researchers.
-
The Default Choice, So Hard to Resist
The New York Times: IN the wide-open Web, choice and competition are said to be merely “one click away,” to use Google’s favorite phrase. But in practice, the power of digital distribution channels, default product settings and traditional human behavior often matters most. In a Senate hearing last month about Google, Jeremy Stoppelman, the chief executive of Yelp, pointed to that reality in his testimony. “If competition really were just ‘one click away,’ as Google suggests,” he said, “why have they invested so heavily to be the default choice on Web browsers and mobile phones?” “Clearly,” he added, “they are not taking any chances.” Read the whole story: The New York Times
-
Spülung für die Seele
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Wer sich wäscht, fühlt sich auch frei von Schuld Wenn sich Menschen waschen, reinigt das auch ihre Seele. Mit dem Wasser verschwinden die schlechten Gefühle ebenfalls im Abfluss, berichten die Psychologen Spike Lee und Norbert Schwarz von der Universität Michigan in einer Übersichtsarbeit (Current Directions in Psychological Science, online). Zahlreiche Studien belegen demnach, dass sich Menschen durch bloßes Waschen von dem Gefühl befreien könnten, unmoralisch zu sein, sagt Lee. Auch das Urteil über andere Menschen wird durch physische Reinigungen erheblich beeinflusst. Read the whole story: Süddeutsche Zeitung
-
Whether We Know It Or Not, We Can “See” Through One Eye At A Time
Although portions of the visible world come in through one eye only, the brain instantaneously takes all that information and creates a coherent image. As far as we know, we “see” with both eyes at once. Now a new study suggests that the brain may know which eye is receiving information—and can turn around and tell that eye to work even harder. “We have demonstrated for the first time that you can pay attention through one eye, even when you have no idea where the image is coming from,” says Peng Zhang, who conducted the study with University of Minnesota colleagues Yi Jiang and Sheng He.
-
Good Manners are Bad for You
Scottish Sunday Express: Psychologists say that although being polite helps get us through awkward social situations, it can have hidden perils in emergencies. They found that our tendency to be vague and evasive in order to spare someone’s feelings can cause confusion when a person’s safety is at risk. Examples include a nurse failing to spell out a doctor’s potential error to avoid embarrassment, or an air controller lacking assertiveness with a pilot in trouble. The study, published in the journal Current Directions In Psychological Science, said we resort to “politeness strategies” when forced to point out someone’s mistake or bad choice.
