The so-called Batman Effect encourages altruism by forcing people out of mental autopilot and triggering prosocial behavior – even if it happens unconsciously. In a study conducted in Italy, researchers tracked people’s willingness to give up their seat to a visibly pregnant woman on a crowded subway. Over a total of 138 rides, 67.21% of…
Learning to cook vs. following a recipe is an example of first principles thinking. For those who may not be familiar with it, first principles thinking is “designed to relentlessly pursue the foundations of any given problem from fundamental truths.” First principles was recently re-popularized by Elon Musk. Following a recipe allows you to create…
Did Sherlock Holmes practice mindfulness? I’ve read just about every Holmes story (really!) and there’s no mention of mindfulness or meditation. Holmes certainly never sat cross-legged on a cushion or uttered ‘om’ in any of the stories. However, in her book Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, psychologist Maria Konnikova describes Holmes as the…
Whenever you feel like you’re stuck in a rut, you can use the novelty rule to break up the monotony. Most adults settle into routines, both in their personal and professional lives. These routines are everywhere: people take the same route to work, they eat the same item from their favorite restaurant, or they shop…
You can learn about intelligence by studying puppies. Too often, we treat intelligence and potential like they are binary outcomes. Someone is either smart or they’re not. They’re either capable of doing something or they’re not. But the reality is more nuanced. A longitudinal study by Duke University’s Canine Cognition Lab challenges our traditional views…
The Carly Simon paradox is inspired by her 1972 song lyrics, “You’re so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” Carly claims the subject of the song is vain for thinking the song is about them. However, assuming the song is about them, they aren’t really vain – are they? And if the…
Have you noticed there’s less color in our lives? Vibrant colors like bright reds, blues, and greens seem to be fading from popular use and are being replaced by more subdued grays, beiges, blacks, and neutral tones. This is happening in almost every industry – from automobiles to interior design, fashion and makeup, and even…
It might feel good when AI is a sycophant but it’s potentially dangerous. A sycophant describes a person who uses insincere praise and excessive agreement to win the favor, protection, or approval of someone, usually for personal gain. The leading AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini, clearly have been designed to…
Yes, this is a very unique blog about redundant extra words. As a words matter guy, I’m often struck by seemingly common phrases which don’t make logical sense. The phrase ‘I could care less’ is five times more prevalent in American English than the correct phrase ‘I couldn’t care less.’ Lately, I’ve been hearing a…
As ice cream is my favorite indulgence, I’ve repeated the ice cream origin story which claims Marco Polo brought a recipe back to Italy after his travels to the Far East. I’ve heard the story from others; even an organization as reputable as the International Dairy Food Association makes that claim. It turns out it’s…