The phrase ‘your ears must be burning’ tells someone you were talking about them when they were not around. But where did the phrase come from? It appears to goes back to Roman times. In Naturalis Historia, the 37-volume encyclopedia of fact, myth, and speculation, Pliny writes: Those absent are warned by a ringing of…
Emerging research suggests the composition of your gut microbiome might be related to your personality. The gut microbiome is the community of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) that inhabit the digestive tracts of the human body. There’s a growing body of research (here, here) which suggests the microbiome is related to both physical and mental…
With the recent news of the Suez Canal being blocked by a massive container ship, I was reminded of the intriguing story of how the Panama Canal almost wasn’t built in Panama. For those who may not know, the Panama Canal is a 51-mile-long passage built in 1914 which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans….
We all know we yawn when we are sleepy or bored. But we also yawn because we’re stressed, not just when we are tired. Robert Provine, a neuroscientist and author of Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond, believes yawning is a displacement activity. Displacement activities are unexpected and often unintended behaviors which happen when…
Friendship might be the key to well-being. We all recognize having strong relationships is important for our well being. The world is filled with advice on how to improve your relationship with your family, your coworkers, and your romantic partner. But there’s precious little information on how to make and maintain friends. That’s too bad…
Ever wonder where the phrase ‘right as rain’ comes from? In English the phrase implies that everything is satisfactory, usually applied to good health. The phrase is often used as a contrast: He was quite ill last week but he’s right as rain now. Like many common English phrases, its origin isn’t clear. It was…
People often hold on to their beliefs, despite evidence to the contrary. Someone once even said to me ‘don’t confuse me with facts.’ Beliefs trump facts. The Javna Brothers’ Life Is A Joke book has an entertaining story which describes the phenomena. Here’s my summary of the full version: A man is convinced he’s dead….
The commonly-accepted practice of employee ranking can be dangerous to company culture. Ranking employees, also known as stacked or forced ranking, is a process which compares individual employees to each other, typically associated with annual performance reviews. Employees are usually forced into one of three buckets: A (top 20%), B (the middle 70%), and C…
What are your top 5 cult classics? For nearly 30 years, a good friend and I have had an on-going debate on the greatest movie line of all time. Spoiler alert: not surprisingly, mine is Sharks related. This year, we decided to start a new tradition and began debating the best cult classics of all…
Compulsively worrying about sleeping is one of the primary causes of insomnia. People with sleep problems tend to worry about being able to go to sleep which in turn makes it harder for them to go to sleep. Harvard professor Daniel Wegner calls this “the ironic process of mental control.” People become increasingly anxious as…