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Is Free Will Just an Illusion?
NPR Science Friday: What would it mean to live in a world in which people are simply mechanical devices responding to natural laws beyond their control, bobbing like corks in a sea of causes? If
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The Happiness of Pursuit
TIME: If you’re an American and you’re not having fun, it just might be your own fault. Our long national expedition is entering its 238th year, and from the start, it was clear that this
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Why Brainteasers Don’t Belong in Job Interviews
The New Yorker: Imagine that you are the captain of a pirate ship. You’ve captured some booty, and you need to divide it among your crew. But first the crew will vote on your plan.
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Why Healthy Eaters Fall for Fries
The New York Times: LAST Tuesday, Connor Moran, a limit-the-red-meat, increase-the-greens, eat-salad-for-lunch kind of guy, stopped into a Bronx Dunkin’ Donuts for his usual black coffee, no sugar, no cream. He walked out with a
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Using Money to Buy Happiness
Scientific American: We live in America with two bits of contradictory received wisdom — that you’d be a lot better off if you made more money, and that money can’t buy you happiness. Now two
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Training Can Increase Empathy
Scientific American: Can you train someone to be a nicer person? A recent study using meditation techniques shows that it might be possible. The research is published in the journal Psychological Science. [Helen Y. Weng