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The Forgotten Art Of Doing Nothing
Lifehacker: Let's face it. We're all addicted to technology. Scuttling around, trying to do something productive every minute. We're also the first generation in the history of mankind with a plethora of apps and devices to help us maximize our productivity, and our potential. Thanks to my ever-handy smart phone, my brain 24x7 processing all the bits of information I feed into it, churning them into useful bits. Life is short. Time is money. Perhaps that's why we're all running around like crazy trying to squeeze the most out of our day. Possibly this is why we all constantly check our mails to stay on top of issues - last thing at night, and first thing when we get up in the morning.
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Precrastination: Worse Than Procrastination?
The Atlantic: Do you park in the first spot you see, even if it means a longer, grocery-laden walk back from the store later? When unloading the dishwasher, do you quickly shove all the Tupperware into a random cabinet, thereby getting the dishes-doing process over with faster—but also setting yourself up for a mini-avalanche of containers and lids?
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Why Saying Is Believing — The Science Of Self-Talk
NPR: From the self-affirmations of Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live to countless videos on YouTube, saying nice things to your reflection in the mirror is a self-help trope that's been around for decades, and seems most often aimed at women. The practice, we're told, can help us like ourselves and our bodies more, and even make us more successful — allow us to chase our dreams! Impressed, but skeptical, I took this self-talk idea to one of the country's leading researchers on body image to see if it's actually part of clinical practice. David Sarwer is a psychologist and clinical director at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders at the University of Pennsylvania.
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The Limits of Friendship
The New Yorker: Robin Dunbar came up with his eponymous number almost by accident. The University of Oxford anthropologist and psychologist (then at University College London) was trying to solve the problem of why primates devote so much time and effort to grooming. In the process of figuring out the solution, he chanced upon a potentially far more intriguing application for his research. At the time, in the nineteen-eighties, the Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis (now known as the Social Brain Hypothesis) had just been introduced into anthropological and primatology discourse.
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Asking Advice Makes a Good Impression
Scientific American: What do you do when you can’t figure out how to finish a tricky task at work? Or you’re lost on those back roads? Or you’re trying a new DIY project in your house and just can’t seem to make it look like the photo that inspired you on Pinterest? In life, when you’re stuck in a conundrum, there are many solutions. For example, you could invest more time and effort by brainstorming alternative approaches, using trial-and-error (until you get that paint line just right), or looking up tricks of the trade online. But there is one thing most people know to avoid for sure: asking for advice. It’s inconsiderate—we don’t want to bother others.
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When men drink, their smiles get more ‘contagious’
The Washington Post: When bros share brews, they also start sharing smiles, according to a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science. That could explain why men are much more likely to drink in excess than women are -- they just have more fun. Humans and some other animals experience something called "emotional contagion". Without realizing it, your emotional state is affected by the facial expressions and cues of the people you interact with. If someone is smiling genuinely, you're likely to "catch" that smile -- especially if they're a close friend or family member. People often tout alcohol as a lubricant in social settings.
