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What Twins Can Teach Us About Nature vs. Nurture
The day my identical twin boys were delivered by an emergency cesarean, I noticed a behavioral difference. Twin A, who had been pushed against an unyielding pelvis for several hours, spent most of his first day alert and looking around, while Twin B, who had been spared this pre-birth stress, slept calmly like a typical newborn. My husband and I did our best to treat them equally, but Twin A was more of a challenge to hold — we called him “our lobster baby” — while Twin B was easily cuddled. As the boys developed, we saw other differences. Twin B rehearsed all the ambulatory milestones — crawling, walking, cycling, skating, etc.
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Why It Feels So Terrible to Drop Your Kid at College
For an adult who is no longer young but not yet old, there is perhaps no better preparation for death than sending a child to college. That’s not because it’s a reminder of the ceaseless march of age, though it is. It’s not because it unleashes a stampede of wild memories, though it does. And it’s not because it’s a moment that marks multiple beginnings and endings, although those fires do ignite and extinguish. It’s because adulthood distances you from the experience of dreading things that are certain to come about eventually. It’s not that you dread more things, or graver things, when you’re a kid—time seems to lurch slowly, death seems long off, bills don’t stack up, and all the rest.
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Steven Pinker: Can Numbers Show Us That Progress Is Inevitable?
It might seem like the world is getting worse and worse. But psychologist Steven Pinker says that across the board, data suggests we've made a lot of progress. The question is — will it continue? About Steven Pinker Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist and the Johnstone Family Professor in the Harvard Department of Psychology. His research covers everything from visual cognition and psycholinguistics to social relations. He is the author of several books, including his most recent: Enlightenment Now: the Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
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People Pick Gifts That Will “Wow” Rather Than Satisfy Recipients
Gift givers tend to focus on the “big reveal,” choosing the gift that will surprise and delight the recipient in the moment over the one that will bring long-term satisfaction.
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Moral Outrage Can Backfire When It Goes Viral
Moral outrage feels good. If you see a social media post that you view as racist, sexist, or otherwise offensive, a stinging reply can be an irresistible temptation. But if too many people take the bait, all that criticism can come across as piling on, which creates sympathy for the original transgressor.
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Getting Kids to Eat More Vegetables
If you want a child to eat more vegetables, it might help to use plates illustrated with pictures of vegetables. Researchers tested 235 preschoolers in day care centers. At lunchtime, they gave half the children a segmented plate with pictures of fruits and vegetables in the compartments. They explained that the pictures indicated where the foods were to be placed. The other half used plain white plates. After three days, they switched plates — the first group got the plain plates, the second those with illustrations. The children served themselves from serving bowls and ate as much as they wanted.
