Zoo weekly’s war on women and girls
I’ve spent the past few weeks monitoring the hideous mess that is the Zoo Weekly Facebook page, a group which currently boasts more than 33,000 members. via How to demean a woman.
April 2013
Instilling gratitude instead of entitlement in children
Q. Aren't we born grateful? Why do kids need to learn this? A. No. Most of us are actually born feeling entitled to our parents' care. That means that if we don't teach kids gratitude and practice it with them, they grow up feeling entitled, and entitlement does not lead to happiness. On the contrary, [...]
Countries that consume the most milk win the most Nobel Prizes
Winners of the Indianapolis 500 drink milk to celebrate their victory; perhaps winners of the Nobel Prizes do the same after receiving a congratulatory phone call from Stockholm. That’s one theory to explain why countries in which people drink the most milk, per capita, also win the most Nobel Prizes, per capita, according to a [...]
A Brave New World 2013 – Huxley, Happiness and the United States of Amazing
Like other dystopian authors, Aldous Huxley held a pretty bleak view of society. In A Brave New World, his future looks something like this: We live to consume. We're brainwashed by advertisements and institutions that make us feel as though we're free, even as they wipe out any originality and creativity in us. We lack [...]
Botox bad for babies, with blank looks all round
It is that intimate, magical chemistry that allows a mother to show even the youngest of babies how she is feeling. A grimace, a frown or a smile are all useful tools for helping a little one to learn what is approved of, and what isn't. But one of the country's leading child psychologists believes [...]
March 2013
Liquorland shamed over reckless drinking ads
Liquorland has been found in breach of a voluntary code of practice in its TV advertising, with the chain's ads accused of encouraging binge drinking, underage drinking and portraying an improper link between alcohol and sport. via Liquorland shamed over reckless drinking ads.
Steubenville Gang Rape Shame
The town of Steubenville sits in a valley on the Ohio River. Like Weirton, just over the river in West Virginia, and many more towns nearby, Steubenville has been hollowed out and shrunk since the steel mills began to close in the 1980s. When the kids finish high school most of them leave for college [...]
Surprising connections between our well-being and giving, getting, and gratitude
"A plethora of research highlights the importance of getting a good night's sleep for physical and psychological well-being, yet in our society, people still seem to take pride in needing, and getting, little sleep," says Amie Gordon of the University of California, Berkeley. "And in the past, research has shown that gratitude promotes good sleep, [...]
Neuroscience in education
In the past ten years, there has been growing interest in applying our knowledge of the human brain to the field of education, including reading, learning, language, and mathematics. Teachers themselves have embraced the neuro revolution enthusiastically. A recent investigation in the US-based journal Mind, Brain, and Education showed that almost 90% of teachers consider knowledge [...]
Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health
Feeling lonely? New research suggests you might want to reach out. Not only is loneliness an unpleasant condition, it can harm the body's immune system. The new study, presented Saturday (Jan. 19) here at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, reveals that people who are lonely experience more reactivation of [...]