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Stuck in a rut? How to appreciate your life again, according to science
A new job, apartment or relationship can all come with a sheen of excitement. But that luster fades after a while. And everything seems a bit duller. There's a term for that phenomenon, says Tali Sharot, a cognitive neuroscientist at University College London and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: habituation. It's "our tendency to respond less and less to things that are repeated or constant."
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In the Race to Artificial General Intelligence, Where’s the Finish Line?
To hear companies such as ChatGPT’s OpenAI tell it, artificial general intelligence, or AGI, is the ultimate goal of machine learning and AI research. But what is the measure of a generally intelligent machine? ... “There’s no such thing as general intelligence, artificial or natural,” agrees Alison Gopnik, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Different kinds of problems require different kinds of cognitive abilities, she notes; no single type of intelligence can do everything.
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A Form of Benevolence Increases Tolerance of Domestic Violence Against Women
Violence against women is a particularly urgent problem in India and other countries where gender inequality is high. But those who worry about women being the victims of random violence in public are more likely to tolerate domestic violence against women in private, according to a new study.
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Opinion: Surgeons give patients too many opioids. A few simple steps could curb excess prescribing
America’s opioid epidemic is as bad as it has ever been. Although the sharp increase in opioid overdose deaths over the last decade is largely attributed to the rise in fentanyl distributed through drug cartels, a startling number can be traced to prescriptions. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 45 people died each day in 2021 from a prescription opioid overdose — about one-fifth of all opioid-related deaths. ... Inexpensive solutions grounded in evidence on human behavior can be powerful tools in our campaign against opioid addiction.
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Make Something With Your Hands (Even if It’s Hideous)
I once decorated a mirror with shells, but I keep it in a closet. I’m fond of it, even though it looks a little sloppy. Sometimes I’ll debate whether to toss it, and then gently put it back on the shelf. As it turns out, a lot of us have strong attachments to things we make — even when they’re kind of hideous, said Michael Norton, a professor of business administration at Harvard and the author of “The Ritual Effect.” Dr.
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Tools to Bolster Executive Function Skills in Kids
Podcast: This episode features two researchers who review the ways executive functioning skills are used throughout daily life, the process the researchers used to involve their community, and their intervention’s success.
