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How to Be Good
Slate: If you encountered a robot on the street, you would want it to give you the right of way instead of just rolling over your foot, right? Making room for a passerby is simple, but it’s just one of the many human “values” that we seek to make our increasingly prolific machine creations obey. Computer scientists like Stuart Russell and technologists in companies building advanced artificial intelligence platforms say that they want to see A.I. “provably aligned with human values.” A scientist at the A.I. startup Anki recently assured Elon Musk and others that A.I. will be “friend”—not “foe.” ...
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How to Give Workers a (Better) Break
New research from Baylor University identifies two key factors that can help employees make the most of their workday breaks.
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Does Frequent Sex Lead to Better Relationships? Depends on How You Ask
Newlyweds who have frequent sex don’t report greater relationship satisfaction than those who have less sex, but their automatic behavioral responses tell a different story.
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Sarcasm Spurs Creative Thinking
Scientific American Mind: “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence,” that connoisseur of witticisms, Oscar Wilde, is said to have remarked. But not everyone shares his view. Communication experts and marriage counselors alike typically advise us to stay away from this particular form of expression. The reason is simple: sarcasm carries the poisonous sting of contempt, which can hurt others and harm relationships. By its very nature, it invites conflict. ... And yet behavioral scientists Li Huang of INSEAD business school, Adam D. Galinsky of Columbia University and I have found that sarcasm may also offer an unexpected psychological payoff: greater creativity.
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Loneliness can literally hurt your heart, scientists say
The Washington Post: That pang in the middle of your chest when you feel lonely may not just be in your head. Researchers reported in the journal Heart this week that poor social relationships could actually hurt your heart. The study involved what is known as a meta-analysis of 23 previous studies involving 181,000 people. This involves taking the raw data, pooling it and reanalyzing it. In total, the studies included 4,628 cases of cardiovascular disease and 3,002 stroke cases. The researchers found that being lonely or socially isolated appeared to be associated with a 29 percent increase in risk of heart disease and with a 32 percent increase in risk of stroke. ...
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Who was a real US president, Alexander Hamilton or Chester Arthur? Most Americans get the answer wrong.
Discover: Americans aren’t exactly known for our knowledge of history (or geography, for that matter). But we should at least know our own presidents, right? Enter these researchers, who used an online survey to measure how well people can distinguish real US presidents from others with well-known or presidential-sounding names. They found that, while people were actually able to recognize 88% of US presidents by name (the exceptions including lesser known presidents like Franklin Pierce and Chester Arthur), they were also likely to incorrectly identify several non-presidents, including Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin.
