-
Multibillion-dollar map of human brain might not be worth it
Los Angeles Times: The Obama administration is reportedly considering funding a multibillion-dollar effort to map the human brain. This so-called Brain Activity Map project is inspired by the success of the Human Genome Project in mapping the genetic code. The proposal was outlined in the journal Neuron last summer by a group of leading researchers, among them geneticist George Church of Harvard Medical School, one of the originators of the genome project. This is an endeavor with exciting potential, but we should think about the pros and the cons before proceeding.
-
Is Giving the Secret to Getting Ahead?
The New York Times: Just after noon on a Wednesday in November, Adam Grant wrapped up a lecture at the Wharton School and headed toward his office, a six-minute speed walk away. Several students trailed him, as often happens; at conferences, Grant attracts something more like a swarm. Grant chatted calmly with them but kept up the pace. He knew there would be more students waiting outside his office, and he said, more than once, “I really don’t like to keep students waiting.” Grant, 31, is the youngest-tenured and highest-rated professor at Wharton. He is also one of the most prolific academics in his field, organizational psychology, the study of workplace dynamics.
-
Forecasting Fox
The New York Times: In 2006, Philip E. Tetlock published a landmark book called “Expert Political Judgment.” While his findings obviously don’t apply to me, Tetlock demonstrated that pundits and experts are terrible at making predictions. But Tetlock is also interested in how people can get better at making forecasts. His subsequent work helped prompt people at one of the government’s most creative agencies, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency, to hold a forecasting tournament to see if competition could spur better predictions. ... Five teams entered the tournament, from places like M.I.T., Michigan and Maryland.
-
Seeing Happiness in Ambiguous Facial Expressions Reduces Aggressive Behavior
Encouraging young people at high-risk of delinquency to see happiness rather than anger in facial expressions appears to dampen their levels of anger and aggression
-
Living With Less. A Lot Less.
The New York Times: I LIVE in a 420-square-foot studio. I sleep in a bed that folds down from the wall. I have six dress shirts. I have 10 shallow bowls that I use for salads and main dishes. When people come over for dinner, I pull out my extendable dining room table. I don’t have a single CD or DVD and I have 10 percent of the books I once did. ... Does all this endless consumption result in measurably increased happiness? In a recent study, the Northwestern University psychologist Galen V. Bodenhausen linked consumption with aberrant, antisocial behavior.
-
Girls May Leave Science Because They’re So Good At Everything Else
BuzzFeed: The argument that women are underrepresented in math and science careers because they're just not as good at math refuses to die, but a new study proposes an alternate explanation: women may be leaving these fields in greater numbers because they're more likely to be good at other things. In research published in Psychological Science, psychologist Ming-Te Wang and his coauthors measured the math and verbal abilities of 1,490 high school seniors and then followed up with them when they were 33. Read the whole story: BuzzFeed
