Category: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

What’s the optimal size of a creative brainstorming group?

bsp; One. Via Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking: The results were unambiguous. The men in twenty-three of the twenty-four groups produced more ideas when they worked on their own than when they worked as a group. They also produced ideas of equal or higher quality when working individually. And the advertising executives were no better at group work than the presumably introverted research scientists. Since then, some forty years of research has reached the…


1 min read
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Why is it so hard for people to change their beliefs?

bsp; Being corrected doesn't lead us to change. It only strengthens our belief in the original falsehood. Via Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator: The science shows that we are not only bad at remaining skeptical, we’re bad at correcting our beliefs when they’re proven wrong. In a University of Michigan study called “When Corrections Fail,” political scholars Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler coined a phrase for it: the “backfire effect.” 3 After showing subjects a fake…


2 minutes
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What do happy people have in common?

bsp; "Researchers... found that happy people are ten times more likely to be other-oriented than self-centered. This suggests that happiness is a by-product of helping others rather than the result of its pursuit." Via Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don't Have in Search of Happiness We Can't Buy: Most life goals can be placed in one of two opposing camps: personal happiness or service to others. In other words, goals are typically self-oriented or other-oriented. The problem is…


1 min read
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Could love be classified as a mental illness?

solutely. "...if we take the symptoms of falling in love and check them against accepted diagnostic criteria for mental illness, we find that most ‘lovers’ qualify for diagnoses of obsessional illness, depression or manic depression.” Via Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation: In the book Love Sick: Love as a Mental Illness, Frank Tallis writes that if we take the symptoms of falling in love and “check them against accepted diagnostic criteria for mental illness, we find that most ‘lovers’…


1 min read
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Are beautiful people more attractive even when you can’t see them?

bsp; Yes. Attractive men smell better to women: Via Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation: Buried deeper in Gangestad and Thornhill’s research, the data started cranking out an even kookier finding: The beauty bias still applies in the dark. Attractive people, the study found, literally smell different. Or more specifically, better. Even when hidden from view, women will still choose symmetrical males, merely on the basis of scent. And more attractive voices often mean more attractive people: Previous research…


2 minutes
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Do some people truly have a “funny face”?

bsp; We find male comedians with feminine features funnier. Which comedian has the most natural "comedy face"? Ricky Gervais. Via Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation: What exactly makes someone funny? Is it comedic timing? Punch lines? Rubber chickens and whoopee cushions? According to Dr. Anthony Little, psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland and an expert in how we perceive facial features, it’s a collection of specific facial characteristics linked to our perception of others. In other…


2 minutes
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Do fast cars really turn women on?

bsp; 100% of women tested experienced elevated testosterone levels after hearing the roar of Ferraris and Lamborghinis. What about cars with weaker engines? They caused women's testosterone levels to drop. Via Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation: Motor Trend magazine described a Maserati as inspiring “visceral, carnal automotive lust.” One UK study suggests this description is literally quite accurate. Researchers assessed the levels of arousal in a group of women, measuring the amount of testosterone present in their saliva.…


1 min read
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What’s a quick way to improve your memory?

bsp; When you need to remember something you just learned, pause and let yourself rest. Research shows memory consolidation takes longer than previously thought. Via Eurekalert: In an article to be published in the journal Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientist Michaela Dewar and her colleagues show that memory can be boosted by taking a brief wakeful rest after learning something verbally new—so keep the pencil for phone numbers– and that memory lasts not…


1 min read

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