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5 New Year’s Resolutions That Might Actually Work
TIME: A normal day in our life might look like this: The alarm clock buzzes. We hit snooze twice and steal another 16 minutes. As we get into the office, yesterday’s work crisis weighs heavily on our mind, but instead we log in and check Facebook for a while. After that, we dip in and out of meetings, chase our inbox, and start on a project that is due in 48 hours. And at 7:15, right before walking out the door, 25 minutes later than planned, we grab a sugar cookie from the communal jar to accompany us on the drive home. Read the whole story: TIME
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Our Pleasure in Others’ Misfortune
The New York Times: The world’s highest-paid athlete began his spectacular downfall by crashing a Cadillac S.U.V. into a fire hydrant and a tree. Initial accounts of Tiger Woods’s 2009 accident reported that his wife had broken the vehicle’s window with a golf club to free him, but when word spread that the couple had been fighting over allegations of his infidelity, the smashed window became a metaphor for his shattered reputation. ... The wicked delight over that turn of events has a German name so apt we’ve adopted it in English. Schadenfreude, or “harm-joy,” is the pleasure derived from another’s misfortune, and Richard H.
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Psychology helps explain why Louis C.K. is so funny
Salon: Did you hear the one about Hurricane Sandy? Did you find it hilarious? Tasteless? Or just lame? Newly published research concludes the answer depends in part on exactly when the joke reached your ear, or inbox. An analysis of responses to humorous quips referencing last year’s devastating storm suggests the adage that “comedy equals tragedy plus time” needs to be modified. A research team led by University of Colorado psychologist A. Peter McGraw concludes that, at some specific point in the days and weeks after a horrible event, there is a “sweet spot” when we’re particularly likely to find humor in the darkness.
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Why Does Time Fly as We Get Older?
Scientific American: Another year; another Christmas around the corner. The conversation around the watercooler these days has evolved into the annual “where has the time gone?” discussion—how quickly the neighborhood kids have become high school graduates; how our hot July beach vacations seem like they were just yesterday; and how we haven’t baked cookies or sent cards or bought gifts yet because time has just been flying by. It’s become a common complaint—almost a joke—that time seems to whiz by faster and faster as we get older. Of course, aging doesn’t grant us the power to disrupt the space-time continuum, so it’s not a real problem. But why do we perceive it to be? ...
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A cure for Wall Street corruption? Science says thinking about time strengthens morality
National Monitor: Wall Street bankers, or really anyone whose job involves working in finance, has gotten a bad rap since the 2008 financial meltdown. It’s no surprise, because priming people to think about money makes them more likely to cheat and act dishonestly. Well, science may have found a “cure,” of sorts: According to new research published in Psychological Science, prompting people to think about time (which, depending on whom you ask, is either the exact same or total opposite of money) appears to strengthen their moral compass.
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The Ticking Clock
You’re sitting at your computer in the middle of a busy work day, merrily tapping away at your keyboard, when all of a sudden you look up at your clock, and panic strikes. That meeting you should have been in started 10 minutes ago! As you rush to join your colleagues you may wonder, What does my tardiness say about me as an employee? Will my colleagues think less of me? I hope I’m not the only one who’s late. So what does meeting lateness actually say about us as employees? Unfortunately, little research has specifically examined the definition, correlates, and implications of meeting lateness.
