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No, Your Children Aren’t Becoming Digital Zombies
The Wall Street Journal: The other day, a newspaper writer joined the chorus of angry voices about the bad effects of new technology. “There can be no rational doubt that [it] has caused vast injury.” It is “superficial, sudden, unsifted, too fast for the truth.” The day was in 1858, and the quote was about the telegraph. Similarly, the telephone, radio and television have each in turn been seen as a source of doom. Mobile devices like smartphones are just the latest example. Parents fear that they will make teenagers more socially alienated and disconnected—worries echoed and encouraged by many journalists and writers.
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Beyond the Ivory Tower
On Being: When we talk about the relationship between colleges and the world, we tend to focus on economics. But what is the place of institutions of higher education in the communities they inhabit? How can and should they nurture students as citizens and leaders for the emerging 21st century world? Read the whole story: On Being
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Safe Crossings: The Power of Eye Contact
It can be a dangerous world for pedestrians. Studies on French roads report that nearly 60% of drivers do not stop at all for pedestrians crossing the street at designated crosswalks. New research suggests that pedestrians may have a better shot at crossing safely if they make direct eye contact with oncoming drivers. Decades of research have shown that eye contact has a powerful effect in social interactions. People are far more likely to comply with requests — for example, donating money — when the person making the request looks them in the eye.
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Anorexia May Be Habit, Not Willpower, Study Finds
The New York Times: Women who suffer from anorexia are often thought of as having an extraordinary degree of self-control, even if that discipline is used self-destructively. But a new study suggests that the extreme dieting characteristic of anorexia may instead be well-entrenched habit — behavior governed by brain processes that, once set in motion, are inflexible and slow to change. The study’s findings may help explain why the eating disorder, which has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, is so stubbornly difficult to treat.
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Anxious About Math? Count an Elephant’s Toenails
Science Friday: A new study in the journal Science finds that an iPad app that prompts parents and kids to solve nightly number problems together greatly improves student achievement in math. The app, Bedtime Math (featured on Science Friday before), creates a kind of math storytime. One example of the kinds of problems the app can provide is a question about elephants. Read the whole story: Science Friday
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Feeling Like a Fraud on the Job
Ferdinand Demara is one of history’s most infamous impostors. After serving in the US Army during World War II, Demara masqueraded as a monk, a surgeon, a prison warden, a cancer researcher, a teacher, a civil engineer, a hospital orderly, a sheriff’s deputy, a psychologist, and a minister—faking his credentials at every turn.
