Why great ideas come when you aren’t trying History is rich with 'eureka' moments: scientists from Archimedes to Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein are said to have had flashes of inspiration while thinking about other things. But the mechanisms behind this psychological phenomenon have remained unclear. A study now suggests that simply taking a break does not bring on inspiration — rather, creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander. The discovery was made by a team led by Benjamin Baird and Jonathan Schooler, psychologists at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The researchers presented 145 undergraduate students with two 'unusual uses' tasks that gave them two minutes to list as many uses as possible for everyday objects such as toothpicks, clothes hangers and bricks. Jeremy Mayes / GETTY IMAGES Archimedes made his breakthrough discovery of displacement while relaxing in the bath. “We’ve traditionally found that rapid-eye-movement sleep grants creative insight.
Our Steam Sale Confessions Steam sales are the best and worst thing about playing games in the modern age. It turns out that when hundreds of games go on sale for ludicrously cheap prices, we can't help but buy ALL OF THEM, even when we know we have no chance of playing them. It's comfort-buying. In an effort to make ourselves (and perhaps you) feel better about our purchases, we're baring our Steam sale shame for all to see, and giving some recommendations along the way. Keza MacDonald What did you buy? How much of it will you actually play? Any recommendations? Total Spent: £90 ($150) in the most recent Winter sale. Mitch Dyer What did you buy? How much of it will you actually play? Any recommendations? Total Spent: I don't want to talk about it. Meghan Sullivan What did you buy? How much of it will you actually play? Any recommendations? Total Spent: I don’t want to know. Brian Albert What did you buy? How much of it will you actually play? Any recommendations? Total Spent: $120. Jon Ryan How much did you buy?
Lies das! – Bitly ermittelt die Bestzeiten für Posts auf Twitter und Facebook Zunächst einmal: Auf Facebook, Twitter und Co. sollte man nur dann etwas posten, wenn man auch was zu sagen hat. Viele reden dort nur, und man fragt sich zuweilen: Wer will das überhaupt wissen? Aber gut: andere Geschichte. Diese ist vor allem für jene spannend, die Social Media nutzen, um möglichst viel Gehör zu finden (und hoffentlich etwas Interessantes zu sagen haben). Intuitiv ist dabei wohl jedem klar: Nachts, wenn sowieso nur noch ein paar Eulen wach sind, ist vielleicht nicht die beste Zeit, etwas zu posten, das viele Menschen erreichen soll. Aber welche Zeiten sind dann die besten für einen Tweet oder eine Facebook-Meldung? Je nach Netzwerk sind die Bestzeiten für Postings nämlich durchaus verschieden. Zur Erklärung: Die unteren Grafiken zeigen auf der X-Achse (von Links nach Rechts) die Uhrzeiten: ganz links 1 Uhr nachts, ganz rechts 24 Uhr. Nun zum Ergebnis im Detail:
Think You're Thinking? 6 Reasons to Think Again 1. I base my decisions on facts. A special shout-out to Nobel Prize winners Daniel Kahneman and the late Amos Twersky for giving us the “availability heuristic,” which explains the quick and ready answers and facts that pop in our heads which, alas, have nothing to do with thinking and are the ones we’re most likely to rely on when we make a choice or decision. Quick quiz here: The animal most likely to kill an American? 2. Not true, either. 3. Probably not. It’s far more likely, actually, that you’re overestimating your ability to think, as well as your skills and chances at success, so you can scrap all those affirmations meant to boost your self-esteem and try taking a hard look at yourself, even though the likelihood is that you’re not going to come up with an assessment that’s actually realistic. Garrison Keillor had it right: “Welcome to Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” 4. 5. 6. Kahneman, Daniel.
This Is What Happens When You Don't Get Enough Sleep (Infographic) You know what it feels like when you don't get enough sleep. You're grumpy, you're groggy, and you probably just don't really feel like yourself. But did you know that sleep deprivation can have serious long-term consequences on your body and mind? Fortunately, the folks over at the Huffington Post have put together an infographic that details what some of those effects may be. Long story short: get enough high-quality sleep if you want to be your best self! 8 Tips To Help You Live To Be 100 In my last article, I gave you the labs you should run to know how quickly or how slowly your body is aging. The Psychology of Flow (in under 300 words) What is it like to be fully alive, right now, engaged with what you are doing? That’s the psychology of flow. When the happiness and creativity expert Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was studying how painters work, he noticed an odd thing. But when the painting was finished, they rapidly lost interest in it. What was this special state of mind that seemed to absorb the whole of your being? When you’re in a flow state: an hour can pass in the blink of an eye,you feel what you are doing is important,you’re not self-conscious,action and awareness merges,you feel in full control,and the experience is intrinsically rewarding. To create a flow experience, you need: The experience of flow has been studied amongst surgeons, writers, artists, scientists, athletes and people just socialising and playing games. Flow states require a balance, though, as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says in his book on the subject, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience Image credit: Catherine Mullhaupt
Introverts -- Portrait of an Introvert People don’t outgrow introversion, so the introverted adult was once an introverted child. What is true of one is true of both. Contrary to popular opinion, introverts are not asocial, nor are they friendless loners who lack social skills. Friendships Sebastian Pfuetze/Taxi/Getty Images It is not easy for introverts to make new friends because getting to know someone takes so much energy. Social Preferences Introverts need a lot of personal space. Preferred Activities Introverts enjoy activities they can do alone or with just a few others. Social Behavior Introverts tend to be quiet and subdued. Social Interaction While introverts may appear to lack social skills or be antisocial, neither is true. Verbal Expression If given a choice, introverts would rather express their ideas in writing than in speech. Emotions and Emotional Responses Introverts become emotionally drained after spending time with others, particularly strangers. Other Traits and Preferences
Twitter lance une lettre d'information hebdomadaire 10 Mind-Blowing Theories That Will Change Your Perception of the World Reality is not as obvious and simple as we like to think. Some of the things that we accept as true at face value are notoriously wrong. Scientists and philosophers have made every effort to change our common perceptions of it. 1. Great glaciation is the theory of the final state that our universe is heading toward. 2. Solipsism is a philosophical theory, which asserts that nothing exists but the individual’s consciousness. Don’t you believe me? As a result, which parts of existence can we not doubt? 3. George Berkeley, the father of Idealism, argued that everything exists as an idea in someone’s mind. The idea being that if the stone really only exists in his imagination, he could not have kicked it with his eyes closed. 4. Everybody has heard of Plato. In addition to this stunning statement, Plato, being a monist, said that everything is made of a single substance. 5. 6. Enternalism is the exact opposite of presentism. 7. So, what is the debate? 8. What’s the point? 9. 10.
Sleep and the Teenage Brain by Maria Popova How a seemingly simple change can have a profound effect on everything from academic performance to bullying. “Sleep is the greatest creative aphrodisiac,” Debbie Millman asserted in her advice on breaking through your creative block. In Dreamland: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep (public library) — the fascinating exploration of what happens while you sleep and how it affects your every waking moment, and also among the best science books of 2012 — David K. Biology’s cruel joke goes something like this: As a teenage body goes through puberty, its circadian rhythm essentially shifts three hours backward. Randall points out that those early school start times originated in an era when youths either had a job after school or had to complete chores on the farm, so the schedule was designed to fit everything in; thus, the teenage circadian rhythm has only become problematic in the past century or so. The school, however, stuck with the plan for the academic year.
Seasonal Affective Disorder: Shining a light in your ear 'can brighten your winter mood' By Lauren Paxman Updated: 13:31 GMT, 9 November 2011 As the nights get longer, those who suffer from the winter blues will be planning ways to escape to the sunshine. But there may be a much simpler way of cheering yourself up... simply shining a bright light into your ear canal. Up to one in four Britons suffer from seasonal affective disorder, with seven per cent of the population having full-blown SAD. Ear's an idea: The effects of seasonal affective disorder could be combated by channeling light to the brain down the ear duct It is caused by the brain not receiving enough daylight which is needed to trigger serotonin, a hormone that regulates mood. Two clinical trials, run by Valkee - who make a device that can shine light into your ear - and the University of Oulu in Finland, have found that carefully targeted light can help prevent the condition. Juuso Nissilä, Valkee's co-founder and chief scientist said: 'We presented earlier that the human brain is sensitive to light.