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Economic Growth Can’t Buy Happiness
New psychological findings show why a country’s economic growth doesn’t always translate into greater happiness for its citizens.
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Homework: A New User’s Guide
NPR: If you made it past the headline, you're likely a student, concerned parent, teacher or, like me, a nerd nostalgist who enjoys basking in the distant glow of Homework Triumphs Past (second-grade report on Custer's Last Stand, nailed it!). Whoever you are, you're surely hoping for some clarity in the loud, perennial debate over whether U.S. students are justifiably exhausted and nervous from too much homework — even though some international comparisons suggest they're sitting comfortably at the average. Well, here goes. I've mapped out six, research-based polestars that should help guide you to some reasonable conclusions about homework. ... Better yet, how much is just right?
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The Use of Apps for Mental Health Has Outpaced the Scientific Evidence
The New York Times: One of every five Americans will experience major depression or anxiety every year. Unfortunately, most who suffer go untreated. To meet the need, a cottage industry has developed: Well-intentioned and enterprising individuals have designed over 3,000 apps dedicated to mental health, only some of which are free. The apps vary in function but most fall in line with the current zeitgeist of Track Thyself (whether it be calories, weight, steps or depression). The good news is that these kinds of apps increase access to health support and that access is portable. But their use should be supplemental, rather than a primary therapeutic avenue.
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Speak and Spell: How Dictation Software Makes Us Rethink Writing
Wired: IF I’VE WRITTEN you an email on my phone lately, you might have noticed something slightly off about it. It doesn’t read like email from me used to. I use fewer contractions, fewer adverbs, and I’m more likely to ramble. What’s changed is that, a year ago, I discovered that Android and Apple phones have become so good at transcription, it’s now much faster for me to talk than type. (And that’s saying a lot: I was a fast phone-typist.) So while sending texts and emails or using chat apps on my phone, I started talking it out—then quickly cleaning up any wrong words. There are shockingly few. I’d estimate that fully two-thirds of all messages I compose on my phone are now spoken. ...
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Coincidence or Conspiracy? Studies Investigate Conspiracist Thinking
A psychological study in Europe has overturned some long held assumptions about people who hold conspiracy-beliefs.
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Less Pain, Less Joy: A New Look at Acetaminophen
The Wall Street Journal: Consider this trade-off the next time you have a headache: Would you take a medicine that didn’t just ease the pain but muffled your happiness too? A recent study suggests that acetaminophen—found in Tylenol, Excedrin and a host of other medications—is an all-purpose damper, stifling a range of strong feelings. Throbbing pain, the sting of rejection, paralyzing indecision—along with euphoria and delight—all appear to be taken down a notch by the drug. For most people, this over-the-counter palliative doesn’t demand much thought: Take the right dose and the pain goes away. But it may not be that simple.
