Distractions
Skip the Small Talk
Researchers measured the length and type of conversations happy people have. Apparently, happy people skip the small talk. (Or perhaps, skipping small talk keeps you happy.) Instead, happy people dove into deeper conversations: The happiest participants had twice as many substantive conversations and only a third as much small talk as those who are least content. Click... »
An Asteroid Killed the Dinos After-all
After careful review, a single 10km wide asteroid impact near the Yucatan remains the best explanation for the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago. The impact spewed rock so high, some of it likely was shot into orbit, whereas other pieces entered the upper atmosphere, reheating as they fell back to the ground.... »
Remembering Happiness
Did reading this sentence make you happy? Or do you merely remember reading it as a happy experience? Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our “experiencing selves” and our “remembering selves” perceive happiness differently. »
Nouriel Roubini Launches Book
Attention NYC socialites, the party-animal himself is releasing a new book. This is bound to occupy prime shelf space on my bookshelf. Here’s the description: This myth shattering book reveals the methods Nouriel Roubini used to foretell the current crisis before other economists saw it coming and shows how those methods can help us make sense... »
The Flip Side to Everything
The opposite to everything you believe may also be true. Assume your assumptions are wrong. »
This is What Hard Work Looks Like
Most of us think sitting in front of a computer all day is hard work. The service economy survives off the back of production that is often outsourced to countries with cheap labor. What we don’t see is the blood, sweat and tears that go into gathering resources or producing goods to satisfy the... »
Our Place in the Universe
Oxford professor Richard Dawkins presents a series of lectures on life, the universe, and our place in it. »
Bored to Death
Is it really is possible to be bored to death? Researchers have found that people who live tedious lives are twice as likely to die young. I doubt boredom causes health problems. It’s more likely that the type of people who get bored are the same types that suffer health problems.... »
94% of Cynics Agree: something’s fishy
Kaufmann recently conducted research looking at the views and opinions of economic bloggers and published their findings in a report entitled: Kauffman Economic Outlook A QUARTERLY SURVEY OF LEADING ECONOMICS BLOGGERS The findings unveil what one might expect from typically cynical bloggers – things are not right. One must remember that people write when there’s... »