What is “Gaslighting”
slighting is a form of intimidation or psychological abuse in which false information is presented to the victim, making them doubt their own memory and perception. The classic example of gaslighting is to change things in a person's environment without their knowledge, and to explain that they "must be imagining things" when they challenge these changes. Popular usage of the term can be traced to at least the late 1970s.[1] The term derives from the 1938 stage play Gas Light,…
1 min read
What are the marketing tricks built into menus?
a nymag.com Excerpted from Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It): Puzzles, anchors, stars, and plowhorses; those are a few of the terms consultants now use when assembling a menu (which is as much an advertisement as anything else). “A star is a popular, high-profit item—in other words, an item for which customers are willing to pay a good deal more than it costs to make,” Poundstone explains. “A puzzle is high-profit but unpopular; a…
3 minutes
Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert discusses the science of happiness:
What makes us happy? A. Some of the things Grandma told you were exactly right. Find a nice boy, settle down: good advice. It turns out marriage is a cause of happiness. Grandma might have told you to find a good job and make some money. That advice is not terrible advice. More money makes you happy, but it doesn’t do a whole lot for you, and once you’re in the middle class, more money does very little. The…
2 minutes
At last there’s proof: 44% of Americans are crazy
cording to the latest Pew poll on US attitudes on international affairs, 44% of Americans think that the world's leading economic power is... China. Only 27% think it's the United States. Here's the somewhat blurry chart from the report. As Barack Obama would say: Let me be clear. People who think this are crazy. Or, to be more gentle, they are really woefully misinformed about what the world is like. You could address this point with, you know, "facts." Almost…
1 min read
Can playing video games increase reaction time?
many everyday situations, speed is of the essence. However, fast decisions typically mean more mistakes. To this day, it remains unknown whether reaction times can be reduced with appropriate training, within one individual, across a range of tasks, and without compromising accuracy. Here we review evidence that the very act of playing action video games significantly reduces reaction times without sacrificing accuracy. Critically, this increase in speed is observed across various tasks beyond game situations. Video gaming may therefore…
1 min read
A Man’s Head Proportions Speak Volumes About Him:
study published in October's Psychological Science found that people use a facial trait called the width-to-height ratio to instantly gauge the aggressive potential of others. The team from Ontario's Brock University included Department of Psychology Centre for Neuroscience researchers Cheryl McCormick, Justin M. Carré and Catherine J. Mondloch. McCormick, who led the effort, said the project came on the heels of a 2007 study in the United Kingdom that showed that not only do males develop facial traits during…
2 minutes
The economic argument for never giving another gift.
sed on these surveys, I've concluded that we value items we receive as gifts 20 percent less, per dollar spent, than items we buy for ourselves. Given the $65 billion in U.S. holiday spending per year, that means we get $13 billion less in satisfaction than we would receive if we spent that money the usual way—carefully, on ourselves. Americans celebrate the holidays with an orgy of value destruction. Worldwide, the waste is almost twice as large. But doesn't this…
2 minutes
Is there a drive-through everything these days?
the past few decades, the drive-through model has undergone category creep. Drive-through flu shots are the latest innovation, joining such services as pharmacies (though you might want to check your order), banks (though the number of windows is said to be shrinking thanks to electronic banking), and, in Southern California, drive-through dairies. Some 23 states, including Arizona, still permit drive-through liquor stores; New Mexico, which once led the country in drunk-driving fatalities, banned them in 1998, though some dispute…
1 min read
