10 Practical Uses For Psychological Research in Everyday Life People love to give each other advice. The web is full to bursting with all types of pseudo-psychological advice about life. The problem is, how much of this is based on real scientific evidence? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Why You Should Start Using a VPN (and How to Choose the Best One for Your Needs) 5 Logical Fallacies That Make You Wrong More Than You Think The Internet has introduced a golden age of ill-informed arguments. You can't post a video of an adorable kitten without a raging debate about pet issues spawning in the comment section. These days, everyone is a pundit. But with all those different perspectives on important issues flying around, you'd think we'd be getting smarter and more informed. Unfortunately, the very wiring of our brains ensures that all these lively debates only make us dumber and more narrow-minded. #5. Think about the last time you ran into a coworker or family member spouting some easily disproven conspiracy theory -- somebody who still thinks Obama's birth certificate is a fake or that Dick Cheney arranged 9/11 to cover up his theft of $2.3 trillion from the government. That has literally never happened in the history of human conversation. Getty"OK, so Dick Cheney doesn't have a third arm. The Science: Getty"Check it out, you guys, Carl has something called 'Loose Change' loaded up on his iPhone." #4. #3.
10 Reasons To Include Calisthenics Into Your Routine I’m going to state this straight to your face: You must include calisthenics into your training routine for ultimate development. Pretty straightforward but it is true. Even more. I have tons of reasons why you should use your own bodyweight in your training but I compressed them to 10 most important. At first let me explain you what is ‘calisthenics’. Calisthenics is a form of training where you use only your bodyweight as resistance. 10 Reasons Why You Should Include Calisthenics into Your Routine... Bodyweight training (if you use it properly) is actually easier on joints than weight training. It’s that easy. You can get stronger actually in days not weeks. It’s very important. Even every day. Explosive push-ups, explosive pull-ups, explosive dips, explosive lunges etc. Back Levers, Front Levers, Planches, Human Flags etc. Whether you want bigger muscles, insane strength or those abs, bodyweight training will get you there. Try to make a human flag in crowded place.
The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature. Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. The prisoners rebelled on the second day, and the reaction of the guards was swift and brutal. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Are You Being Monitored At Work? | Upgrade Your Life A 2011 survey found that over half of US employers are monitoring their employees' computer usage. How can you find out if you are one of them? And if you are, what should you do about it? There are two main ways employers track computer usage — with monitoring software on your desktop, and by watching the traffic on the corporate network. Also, many companies have written guidelines about Internet usage and may indicate if they are monitoring you. HR departments should have these policies available for employee review. Monitoring Software on Your Computer Monitoring software tracks all your activity and sends logs to the boss or IT department. On a Windows machine: First, look in the system tray and start up folder. On a Mac: Open Finder and look under applications , click 'utilities' and launch 'activity monitor'. If you see something in any of these places that you're unfamiliar with, search it online to see if it's a monitoring program. So What If You Want A Little Privacy?
Your Evolved Intuitions Part of the sequence: Rationality and Philosophy We have already examined one source of our intuitions: attribute substitution heuristics. Today we examine a second source of our intuitions: biological evolution. Evolutionary psychology Evolutionary psychology1 has been covered on Less Wrong many times before, but let's review anyway. Lions walk on four legs and hunt for food. Certain evolved psychological mechanisms in humans are part of what makes us like each other and not like lions, skunks, and spiders. These mechanisms evolved to solve specific adaptive problems. An an example of evolutionary psychology at work, consider the 'hunter-gatherer hypothesis' that men evolved psychological mechanisms to aid in hunting, while women evolved psychological mechanisms to aid in gathering.6 This hypothesis leads to a list of bold predictions. And as it turns out, all these predictions are correct.7 (And no, evolutionary psychologists do not only offer 'postdictions' or 'just so' stories. Notes
How to Find the Best TV Set Top Box and Ditch Cable Once and For All So do you guys use a set-top box like one of these? Game consoles count too, even though we didn't feature them—they just didn't quite fit in with the others (since they cost a lot more and serve a different primary purpose than streaming video). I'm still stuck on my XBMC box, but the Roku really gave it a run for its money when it comes to streaming Netflix, Hulu, and other stuff. It was probably my favorite, though I was surprised to find I actually kind of liked the Apple TV as well. PS3 downstairs, amazing selection of streaming options. Wii upstairs, it lacks amazon (but I don't subscribe to that anyway) and crunchyroll. That said, I'd rather use a game console. They may be "more expensive" but that's only for chumps who don't know what craigslist is. Our house has a Vizio Costar. Having everything go through the one box is pretty nice. How do you have a Costar? Yeah, the whole game console thing is a little tough. I have an xBox, Roku and an Apple TV. Thorrrr
Top 10 Thinking Traps Exposed — How to Foolproof Your Mind, Part II In the first part of this article, we focused on 5 traps that hinder our ability to think rationally. As a quick recap, we discussed: The Anchoring Trap: Over-Relying on First ThoughtsThe Status Quo Trap: Keeping on Keeping OnThe Sunk Cost Trap: Protecting Earlier ChoicesThe Confirmation Trap: Seeing What You Want to SeeThe Incomplete Information Trap: Review Your Assumptions Now it’s time to complete the list and expose the remaining 5 dangerous traps to be avoided. Let’s dive right in. 6. In a series of experiments, researchers asked students in a classroom a series of very simple questions and, sure enough, most of them got the answers right. This “herd instinct” exists — to different degrees — in all of us. This tendency to conform is notoriously exploited in advertising. Conformity is also one of the main reasons why once a book makes into a well-known best-sellers list, it tends to “lock in” and continue there for a long time. What can you do about it? 7. 8. John Riley is a legend.
How to Tackle Student Loan Debt When Your Grace Period Ends My well written article, I wish something like this was available in 2009 when I graduated. I spent an entire year clueless as to how to tackle the mountain of student debt my wife and I had. However, I pieced together much of the same advice here from various people who shared in my misery. I can honestly say the IBR plan is a Godsend. When we were on a single income, we were technically in payment on both our loans and yet our monthly payments were zero. In 8 years my wife's debt will be for given since she's in the Air Force which will cut our debt in half. Two things thought that I feel should be noted are that once you are on the IBR plan, you are unable to leave it except to go back to the 10 year standard repayment plan. And without getting too much on my soapbox, the real root problem here is the soaring cost of higher education.
10 More Common Faults in Human Thought | Listverse Humans This list is a follow up to Top 10 Common Faults in Human Thought. Thanks for everyone’s comments and feedback; you have inspired this second list! It is amazing that with all these biases, people are able to actually have a rational thought every now and then. The confirmation bias is the tendency to look for or interpret information in a way that confirms beliefs. The Availability heuristic is gauging what is more likely based on vivid memories. Illusion of Control is the tendency for individuals to believe they can control or at least influence outcomes that they clearly have no influence on. Interesting Fact: when playing craps in a casino, people will throw the dice hard when they need a high number and soft when they need a low number. The Planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete tasks. Interesting Fact: “Realistic pessimism” is a phenomenon where depressed or overly pessimistic people more accurately predict task completion estimations.
How Can I Earn Some Pocket Money Online? Low-Effort Thought Promotes Political Conservatism The authors test the hypothesis that low-effort thought promotes political conservatism. In Study 1, alcohol intoxication was measured among bar patrons; as blood alcohol level increased, so did political conservatism (controlling for sex, education, and political identification). In Study 2, participants under cognitive load reported more conservative attitudes than their no-load counterparts. In Study 3, time pressure increased participants’ endorsement of conservative terms. © 2012 Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc. 10 Steps to a Healthier Office On plants - an office I worked in had plants up the wazoo and along with them came insects. After a land on you and scare the heck out of you it begins to negate the effects of the plants. On frequent breaks - yes. On naps - I WISH my work allowed them. On pets - one bad thing there - allergies.