m.fastcompany If you Google “morning routine,” you’ll receive more than 24 million search results, and for good reason: Early risers seem to get more done and live happier lives. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs understand the benefits of having an early-morning routine: Starbucks’s Howard Schultz, GE’s Jeff Immelt, and Xerox’s Ursula Burns are just some of the early birds famous for rising before 6 a.m. to get ahead on their work. But a morning routine is only half of a productive day; the other is the evening routine that precedes it. Here are seven evening routines of famous and successful creatives, and how you can apply them to your own life. Swedish Director Ingmar Bergman Read Before Bed “Do you know what moviemaking is? One study by the University of Sussex found that just six minutes of reading a day is enough to reduce stress by 68%--an excellent excuse to start curling up with a good book before you turn in for the evening. Composer Ludwig Van Beethoven Went To Bed Early
The Science of Why We Don't Believe Science Illustration: Jonathon Rosen "A MAN WITH A CONVICTION is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point." So wrote the celebrated Stanford University psychologist Leon Festinger (PDF), in a passage that might have been referring to climate change denial—the persistent rejection, on the part of so many Americans today, of what we know about global warming and its human causes. Festinger and several of his colleagues had infiltrated the Seekers, a small Chicago-area cult whose members thought they were communicating with aliens—including one, "Sananda," who they believed was the astral incarnation of Jesus Christ. Through her, the aliens had given the precise date of an Earth-rending cataclysm: December 21, 1954. Festinger and his team were with the cult when the prophecy failed. Read also: the truth about Climategate.At first, the group struggled for an explanation.
Why Saying This Four-Letter Word Can Transform Your Productivity Perfectionists are often reminded that "done is better than perfect." But it turns out there’s another reason we should all try to create more "done" moments in our workdays. Saying the word done can help you get more accomplished on your to-do list. "Telling ourselves that we’re done creates not only an emotional reaction but a physiological response as well," says Leslie Sherlin, a psychologist, neuroperformance specialist, and the cofounder of the brain-training company SenseLabs. According to Sherlin, when we’re concentrated on a task, the brain’s electrical activity is heightened. A neurochemical shift in the brain occurs simultaneously. "What we want to do if we want to set ourselves up for increasing productivity is put minor or smaller challenges in front of us so we build up that ‘done’ moment," says Sherlin. How to create more opportunities to say "done": Break Tasks Into Smaller Chunks Productivity has a snowball effect. Work In 10-Minute Segments Take Microbreaks Done.
Why science is so hard to believe There’s a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s comic masterpiece “Dr. Strangelove” in which Jack D. Ripper, an American general who’s gone rogue and ordered a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union, unspools his paranoid worldview — and the explanation for why he drinks “only distilled water, or rainwater, and only pure grain alcohol” — to Lionel Mandrake, a dizzy-with-anxiety group captain in the Royal Air Force. Ripper: “Have you ever heard of a thing called fluoridation? Mandrake: “Ah, yes, I have heard of that, Jack. Ripper: “Well, do you know what it is?” Mandrake: “No. Ripper: “Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face?” The movie came out in 1964, by which time the health benefits of fluoridation had been thoroughly established and anti-fluoridation conspiracy theories could be the stuff of comedy. To which some people in Portland, echoing anti-fluoridation activists around the world, reply: We don’t believe you.
Money Makes You Less Rational Than You Think Kinja is in read-only mode. We are working to restore service. Two year ago, Berkeley researchers showed that people who drive expensive vehicles are four times more likely to cut off drivers of lower status vehicles. The researchers concluded that higher social class can predict increased unethical behavior. This supports my theory that Lexus drivers are the worst. if I get cut off, its almost always by a Lexus. (My personal sample size is higher for the Lexus brand than other luxury automobiles.) Flagged In my experience people in luxury brands tend to drive without regard for other drivers, usually driving erratically (very slow then very fast, similar to people that are texting; swerving around without checking lanes, never signalling, drifting out into the middle of an intersection during a red light then not going when the light turns green; generally like self-important pricks) people in expensive sporty looking cars tend to drive more aggressively, cutting people off, etc.
learning.blogs.nytimes Philosophy — the study of knowledge and truth — can change lives. Just ask Peg O’Connor, a college professor who writes about how philosophy gave her the tools and concepts to battle alcoholism. In this Text to Text lesson, we pair her essay “In the Cave: Philosophy and Addiction” with Plato’s well-known allegory of the cave from “The Republic.” Background: In Book VII of “The Republic,” Plato paints a picture of ordinary people imprisoned in a shadow-world cave, unaware of the true reality hidden from them. Plato’s allegory is a powerful metaphor for contemplating a divide between ignorance and enlightenment — between the “visible” world and the “intelligible” realm — and writers have applied it to all sorts of subjects. I introduce the notion of addiction as a subject of philosophical inquiry here for a reason. Below, we offer excerpts from both texts along with links to the original sources — plus discussion and writing questions. Excerpt 1: From Book VII of “The Republic,” by Plato
Lasting Relationships Rely On 2 Traits Gottman wanted to know more about how the masters created that culture of love and intimacy, and how the disasters squashed it. In a follow-up study in 1990, he designed a lab on the University of Washington campus to look like a beautiful bed-and-breakfast retreat. He invited 130 newlywed couples to spend the day at this retreat and watched them as they did what couples normally do on vacation: cook, clean, listen to music, eat, chat, and hang out. And Gottman made a crucial discovery in this study—one that gets at the heart of why some relationships thrive while others languish. Throughout the day, partners would make requests for connection, what Gottman calls “bids.” The wife now has a choice. People who turned toward their partners in the study responded by engaging the bidder, showing interest and support in the bid. These bidding interactions had profound effects on marital well-being.
10 Greatest Ideas in the History of Science by Big Think Editors While science often moves forward in awkward leaps and bounds, Peter Atkins compiled a list of 10 concepts that are considered "so rock solid, that it is difficult to imagine them ever being replaced with something better." So our friends at RealClearScience's Newton blog write about Atkins's 2003 book, Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science. While Atkins's picks might be incredibly worthy ones, many are also a bit hard to comprehend, so a guide to these concepts can be found on the Newton blog here, and are summarized briefly below. The 10 Greatest Ideas in the History of Science: 1. "The power of evolution comes from its ability to explain both the unity and diversity of life; in other words, the theory describes how similarities and differences between species arise by descent from a universal common ancestor." Read more here. 2. "It wasn't until 1952 that scientists determined that DNA was the molecule responsible for transmitting heritable information."
La morte dell'individualità L’idea che siamo individui dal pensiero libero ha plasmato la società occidentale per secoli. I dati però ci mostrano che ciò che domina realmente è il pensiero di gruppo. Per gran parte della nostra storia ci è stato insegnato che la verità e la morale vengono da Dio e dal Re, e che il libero arbitrio è solo una questione teologica. Nel corso del tempo i concetti di razionalità e individualità hanno profondamente modellato i governi e le culture dell’Occidente. Ma fino a che punto siamo individui con libertà di pensiero ? Una recente ricerca sta iniziando a scoprire il grado in cui ci comportiamo come individui indipendenti. Per sviluppare questa nuova scienza sono stati studiati dei veri e propri laboratori viventi. Ciò significa che se nell’ufficio tutti gli altri mangiano le ciambelle, anche tu probabilmente inizierai a farlo. Il fattore più trainante nell’adozione di nuovi comportamenti è stato il comportamento dei coetanei. La logica dietro a tutto questo è semplice.
Anti-Soviet warrior puts his army on the road to peace: The Saudi businessman who recruited mujahedin now uses them for large-scale building projects in Sudan. Robert Fisk met him in Almatig - World - News With his high cheekbones, narrow eyes and long brown robe, Mr Bin Laden looks every inch the mountain warrior of mujahedin legend. Chadored children danced in front of him, preachers acknowledged his wisdom. 'We have been waiting for this road through all the revolutions in Sudan,' a sheikh said. 'We waited until we had given up on everybody - and then Osama Bin Laden came along.' Outside Sudan, Mr Bin Laden is not regarded with quite such high esteem. And 'this job' is certainly an ambitious one: a brand-new highway stretching all the way from Khartoum to Port Sudan, a distance of 1,200km (745 miles) on the old road, now shortened to 800km by the new Bin Laden route that will turn the coastal run from the capital into a mere day's journey. He is a shy man. Within months, however, Mr Bin Laden was sending Arab fighters - Egyptians, Algerians, Lebanese, Kuwaitis, Turks and Tunisians - into Afghanistan; 'not hundreds but thousands,' he said. 'No, I was never afraid of death. How many?
Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains By NPR Staff Teens can’t control impulses and make rapid, smart decisions like adults can — but why? Research into how the human brain develops helps explain. In a teenager, the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls decision-making, is built but not fully insulated — so signals move slowly. “Teenagers are not as readily able to access their frontal lobe to say, ‘Oh, I better not do this,’ ” Dr. Frances Jensen tells Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross. Jensen, who’s a neuroscientist and was a single mother of two boys who are now in their 20s, wrote The Teenage Brain to explore the science of how the brain grows — and why teenagers can be especially impulsive, moody and not very good at responsible decision-making. “We have a natural insulation … called myelin,” she says. This insulation process starts in the back of the brain and heads toward the front. “The last place to be connected — to be fully myelinated — is the front of your brain,” Jensen says. Interview Highlights Copyright 2015 NPR.