Author Archive
‘Myopic Misery’: The Financial Cost of Sadness
Nobody likes to feel bad. Sadness saps our energy and motivation. Melancholy wrecks our health and invites disease. Misery leaves us—well, miserable. Yet many experts believe that these negative emotions ... More>
Let Us Eat Cake: The Paradox of Scarcity
Everyone knows by now that the U.S. is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, but for all the hand-wringing, nobody really knows why. Experts have offered many theories about ... More>
How to Spot a Scoundrel: Fidgeting and Trust
Imagine the original job interview. The first one ever, back on the prehistoric savannahs of eastern Africa. It wouldn’t have been exactly like a modern job interview, because early humans ... More>
Do anti-tobacco ads work? Ask a ‘neural focus group’
While watching TV this weekend, I happened on a gruesomely powerful anti-smoking advertisement. It featured former smokers who were missing body parts—a woman with missing fingers and a handsome young ... More>
Going the Distance: Stereotypes and Hard Work
I plead guilty to trading in stereotypes. For example, I’ve somehow gotten the idea that East Africans are especially good distance runners, and I think I’ve even said as much ... More>
