PANTS ON FIRE…..We Are All Liars (Of Sorts) On some level, we are all phonies, it’s just a matter of whether or not we are good or bad ones. In his new book Keep It Fake: Inventing an Authentic Life, Eric G. Wilson tells the story of his life as a liar,…
Sigmund Freud once told a female colleague: “The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my 30 years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?’” Female sexuality has long confounded researchers and eluded popular understanding. We have spent decades…
OCTOBER 24, 2013 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ONLINE COMMENTS POSTED BY MARIA KONNIKOV Several weeks ago, on September 24th, Popular Science announced that it would banish comments from its Web site. The editors argued that Internet comments, particularly anonymous ones, undermine the integrity of science and lead to a culture of aggression and mockery that hinders substantive discourse. “Even a…
New research reveals that we’re more focused and creative in the great outdoors By Kevin Charles Redmon, Have you been staring cow-eyed at a computer all morning? Fiddling with your iPhone in line at Starbucks? Checking Twitter and ESPN every four minutes on your tablet? Good. Here’s a little quiz. What one word…
Fighting for no reason—how we’re hard-wired to be hostile I’ve been doing a lot of reading about relational psychology, and one fascinating chapter from a book on non-verbal communication which mentions that one of the predictors of a satisfying relationship is the ability to successfully read (or “decode”) the emotions of your partner. Let’s be…
A recent study from the University of Illinois claims that a certain level of alcohol can push the mind out of its comfort zone, creating space for new insights and boosting the problem-solving process. It also found that people who’ve had a drink are quicker at solving really, really complicated problems. For example: can you…
Relationship Between Artistic Success And Mating Success Your date lets it slip: “I’m an artist.” Do these words scream “code red” or “take me to bed”? According to some scientists, even human beings are just trying to make it in the animal kingdom, and everything we do can be…