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At Harvard, men paid to assemble Lego Bionicle models built an average of 10.6 when their finished work stayed on the desk??? but only 7.2 when the experimenter dismantled it as they worked, handing back the same plastic pieces to be built again.
45+ min ago (855+ words) Edited by Lachlan Brown A small Harvard experiment found that men built more Lego models when their finished work remained intact. The result raises a precise question about effort and visible progress. At Harvard, a small experiment gave men a…...
Across 355 cities in 40 countries, researchers handed in 17,303 supposedly lost wallets??? and adding cash raised the share of recipients who contacted the owner from 40% to 51%, making people more likely to send an email when there was money to keep.
2+ hour, 45+ min ago (946+ words) Edited by Lachlan Brown A 17,303-wallet field experiment found that adding cash increased owner-contact rates. The study measured emails and explored the role of self-image and concern for others. Putting cash in a supposedly lost wallet made its recipient more…...
Psychology says people who wake at the same time every morning without an alarm aren't relying on willpower alone??? the sleeping brain can anticipate when morning is coming, with hormone signals beginning to rise about an hour before the eyes are meant to open
21+ hour, 2+ min ago (853+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. Your brain is essentially waking you up before you wake up, orchestrating a biochemical alarm that fires an hour before consciousness arrives. The alarm on my phone…...
Thinking it over tends to improve how people judge your character, mainly if they disagree
2+ day, 1+ hour ago (590+ words) Edited by Christy Jeremia Someone tells you they thought about it for a long time before they landed where they landed. Whether that sentence helps them depends largely on whether you agree with where they landed. Participants who disagreed with…...
Research suggests people who still look young after 60 aren't always the ones with the best genes, they may also be the ones who spent decades treating their bodies as something worth caring for rather than something to be punished into shape
2+ day, 20+ hour ago (620+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. Vanity and longevity may be closer than we think: the people who age most gracefully didn't necessarily win the genetic lottery, but rather spent decades making choices…...
Psychology says people who talk to their dogs like children aren't being immature??? humans instinctively change the way they speak when trying to connect with someone who cannot answer in words, and dogs appear remarkably tuned to that signal
5+ day, 19+ hour ago (1010+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. Our brains automatically shift into "baby talk" mode when addressing anyone—human or canine—who can't verbally respond, a feature that reveals something profound about how humans…...
Filipinos call it gigil: the urge to clench your hands or squeeze something because it is almost unbearably cute??? Yale psychologists only began experimentally studying the same strange response in 2012, eventually describing it as???cute aggression"
1+ week, 18+ hour ago (932+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. The urge to pinch, squeeze, or bite something precious turns out to be universal—and scientists still don't fully understand why tenderness triggers aggression. My grandmother greeted…...
In a computer model of 1,000 fictional 40-year careers, the most highly talented individuals reached the top in only 3% of simulations. Extreme success usually went to moderately talented people who encountered an exceptional run of luck.
1+ week, 1+ day ago (1455+ words) Edited by Lachlan Brown A 40-year computer model shows how talent can improve average outcomes while rare, compounding runs of luck still decide who reaches the very top. Success stories become cleaner in hindsight. The uncertain launch becomes a master…...
Psychology says people who feel more empathy for animals than for strangers aren't morally confused??? they are often responding to the fact that animals cannot advocate for themselves, and the brain registers defencelessness as a call for care
1+ week, 6+ day ago (844+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. Our brains are wired to respond more intensely to helplessness than to need—which explains why you might feel more protective of a suffering animal than a…...
Psychology says people who find it difficult to trust authority figures aren't always rebellious or damaged, they often internalised early that the most trustworthy people are the ones who can explain their reasoning when asked
2+ week, 22+ hour ago (1225+ words) Daniel Moran is a writer at Silicon Canals covering technology, psychology, and culture. The real problem isn't questioning authority—it's authority that can't answer back. At twenty-four I was described, in writing, as “not a natural fit for structure.” This…...