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Anger Gives You a Creative Boost
Scientific American: We all know anger is bad… right? Generally, it’s unpleasant to feel and it often leads to undesirable outcomes. After all, when was the last time you lost your temper with your boss and was pleased with the outcome? However, perhaps you can also think of times when anger wasn’t so bad. Perhaps, in some contexts, feeling angry was actually beneficial. This counterintuitive idea was pursued by researchers Matthijs Baas, Carsten De Dreu, and Bernard Nijstad in a series of studies recently published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
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Be all you can be
St. Albert Gazette: It is estimated that, each week, three billion hours are spent worldwide playing video games. It’s a $30-billion industry with appeal that crosses international boundaries. World of Warcraft alone has logged almost six million years worth of gamers’ time globally. But why? What is it about the electronic arts that satiate the gamers’ thirst? Until now, most research has been dedicated towards investigating the effects of gaming, both beneficial and detrimental. We know, for instance, that video games can increase reaction time, visual acuity and the body’s dopamine levels.
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Most students drink not for the taste, but to get drunk: Study
Straits Times: The majority of people, particularly college students, drink alcohol not because of its taste, but to get drunk, a study found. 'They intend to get intoxicated,' Scott Geller, a psychologist and professor from the University of Virginia, was quoted as saying by USA Today. Although the individual may be well aware that drinking too much alcohol can have bad consequences, it is hard to stop them if they want to get intoxicated, he said. Read the full story: Straits Times
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How Do I Remember That I Know You Know That I Know?
“I’ll meet you at the place near the thing where we went that time,” says the character Aaron in the 1987 movie Broadcast News. He and the woman he’s talking to have a lot of common ground, the shared territory that makes conversations work.
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‘Shrimp On A Treadmill’: The Politics Of ‘Silly’ Studies
NPR: Biologist Lou Burnett was in his car when his cellphone rang recently. It was a CNN reporter, asking about the fact that his research had been featured in a new report about wasteful government spending. That was news to Burnett, who works at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. "I was pretty irritated," he recalls. The report, put out by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), blasted the National Science Foundation, a major government funder of research, saying it squandered taxpayer money on questionable science projects, including one pursued by Burnett and his colleagues that involved putting shrimp on a tiny treadmill.
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The Spoiler Paradox: How Knowing a Spoiler Makes a Story Better, Not Worse
Huffington Post: Storytelling is a universal human trait, spanning cultures, civilizations and time. We love a good story, and since we have been telling stories for thousands of years, we know what makes for a good story and exciting experience. Or do we? One of our favorite parts of a good story is the ending, and we go through great lengths just to avoid overhearing the ending of a movie we haven't seen or a book we haven't read. And when we unfortunately do overhear the end, we feel our experience is now spoiled. After all, that's why they call them "spoilers." Read more: Huffington Post
