TAG: psychology
"What these experiments neatly demonstrate is that the taste of a wine, like the taste of everything, is not merely the sum of our inputs, and cannot be solved in a bottom-up fashion."
Tags: wine psychology culture criticism research brain bestarticlesof2007
"Even though points on Consumating were redeemable for absolutely nothing, not even a gold star, our members had an unquenchable desire for them."
Tags: community design games reputation socialnetworking culture psychology
"Naturally, when I get snitty it’s because something’s violating my impeccable taste, and when other people get snitty they’re humorless bastards who are taking things too seriously"
Tags: psychology culture
When Reality Feels Like Playing a Game, a New Era Has Begun
"We use game models to motivate ourselves, to answer questions, to find creative solutions. For many, life itself has turned into a game."
Tags: videogames psychology culture trend
the science of passive pleasure
"As our level of consciousness develops and while we tire of being able to have 'anything, any time, anywhere', I think there is more and more need for these unpredictable experiences."
Tags: culture insight psychology
If It Says McDonald's, Then It Must Be Good
"Some food tastes better to children if they think it came from McDonald's, a small study suggests."
Tags: nytimes food branding psychology youth
"Along the same lines, I got to thinking how the world was able to for the most part fix the Y2K bug . . . Yet in most other cases, impending disasters, like our dependence on oil, failing infrastructure and unsustainable spending, all go unheeded."
Tags: culture psychology behavioraleconomics
Economists mine the online auction site to find out why shoppers act irrationally.
Tags: economics ebay gambling psychology
In Small Packages, Fewer Calories and More Profit
"In three years, sales of 100-calorie snack packs have passed the $20-million-a-year mark, as consumers don’t seem to mind paying more for less."
Tags: food business psychology marketing nytimes packaging health
A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease
"Bush, Grasping for Answers and Fixated on Iraq, Remains Resolute"
Tags: politics psychology history iraq war
Apple's iPhone and Social Proof
"When we see so many people going out of their way to do something that we may have been wondering about, it surely makes us more likely to do it ourselves."
Tags: design psychology
Wayne Gretzky-Style 'Field Sense' May Be Teachable
Can you teach 'vision' in sports?
Tags: sports psychology science
Better living through self deception
"Perhaps the way to true personal acheivement and happiness is through lying to yourself instead of being honest, loafing instead of practicing, and purposely forgetting information."
Tags: health brain psychology happiness
From London: "Eight months into my pregnancy only one man has given me his seat on public transport. Were the rest afraid of being sexist?"
Tags: culture london gender subway psychology
Is Justin Timberlake a Product of Cumulative Advantage?
A new theory of the hit record.
Tags: business culture marketing psychology nytimes bestarticlesof2007
How to win at rock-paper-scisssors
"The top secrets to winning at RPS  courtesy of Graham Walker, Director of Management of the World RPS Society"
Tags: games lifehacks psychology tips
"Although both men and women look at the image of George Brett when directed to find out information about his sport and position, men tend to focus on private anatomy as well as the face. For the women, the face is the only place they viewed."
Tags: brain gender psychology sex
"I collect a ton of information, then organize it, then I map it to the task I’m trying to do. Then I repeat."
Tags: decisions ideas learning process psychology productivity
Friendship: The Laws of Attraction
"The conventional wisdom is that we choose friends because of who they are. But it turns out that we actually love them because of the way they support who we are. "
Tags: psychology identity culture friendship relationships
"Are our brains wired for sound? One professor has provocative theories, and they started with Blue Oyster Cult."
Tags: music psychology brain science
Secrets of Sexual Body Language
An interesting look at sexual body language.
Tags: bodylanguage relationships sex psychology
"Coming from a place of abundance means believing that there’s more out there than one person could ever possibly have; believing that there’s more than enough to go around."
Tags: happiness productivity psychology
Scott Adams, illustrator of Dilbert, came down with something called Spasmodic Dysphonia. Basically you're brain forgets how to speak in normal context. No one had ever recovered. Until now . . .
Tags: brain language happiness psychology health bestarticlesof2006
Poking is stupid -- and genius
"The profile world (facebook, myspace, bolt, etc) seems to be the ultimate “safe� medium. As an alternative to keeping in touch with people by contacting them, we can simply leave something that others can come across if they wish."
Tags: socialnetworking culture relationships psychology
"Money and power are handy, but millions of ambitious people are after something other than the corner office or the beach house on St. Bart’s."
Tags: attention celebrity psychology
Motivation for online behavior
"I’m not fully convinced yet, but I’m increasingly thinking that successful social software is nothing more than an online Skinner box. Positional, status-conveying goods. . . entice people to contribute their valuable content for free."
Tags: psychology culture attention community media2.0
number games and social software
"Who is motivated by what number games? Who is demotivated? Does it make a difference if the number game is about the group vs. the individual, about one's self directly vs. about some abstract capability?"
Tags: socialsoftware psychology attention
"Because we underestimate how much variation can be caused simply by luck, we see patterns where none exist. It’s no wonder that management theory is dominated by fads . . . "
Tags: business psychology behavioraleconomics
Phsyical Scientists & Gutter Thieves
"Recent studies show that you prefer say 100 units of pain now than say 50 units of pain in some time in the future. The anticipation kills us."
Tags: behavioraleconomics economics culture psychology
"Perhaps, as the study’s authors themselves hint at one point, we’ve also gotten better at demarcating what constitutes truly intimate communing  expecting more of our confidants, we have, in effect, defined intimacy up."
Tags: connectedness community psychology internet culture nytimes
"A new theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types – quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet."
Tags: creativity economics innovation psychology art science
If only gay sex caused global warming
"The fact is that if climate change were caused by gay sex, or by the practice of eating kittens, millions of protesters would be massing in the streets."
Tags: globalwarming environment psychology
Social Isolation Growing in U.S., Study Says
The Number of People Who Say They Have No One to Confide In Has Risen
Tags: culture emotions health psychology relationships
How to lead your customer into temptation
"People choose cake more often after being asked the following hypothetical question: "If strong evidence emerges from scientific studies suggesting that cakes ... have some major health benefits, what would happen to your consumption of these items?""
Tags: psychology marketing emotions
"Up until now, people thought that [shyness] was mostly related to avoidance of social situations . . . Here we showed that shy children have increased activity in the reward system of the brain as well."
Tags: science brain psychology personality research
Social Engineering, the USB Way
What happens when you leave a bunch of USB drives around a credit unions with trojan's on them? Everyone plugs them in.
Tags: security psychology marketing
Tell me about couples and surfing!
"A couple watching TV, curled up on a sofa together, may have felt "together", a couple surfing on two wifi laptops are visiting different sites, having different experiences . . . The internet age feels less communal than the TV age did."
Tags: culture internet relationships psychology
An personality test that seems fairly accurate and even offers advice to improve your weaknesses.
Tags: personality psychology
Trying to answer the question: "When someone is very good at a given thing, what is it that actually makes him good?"
Tags: learning nytimes psychology science
Gladwell discusses some of the issues with eyewitness testimony, especially across races. When people see the face of another race they first group it in the racial category then move on to facial features.
Tags: crime psychology race
The Marketplace of Perceptions
"Behavioral economics explains why we procrastinate, buy, borrow, and grab chocolate on the spur of the moment."
Tags: behavior finance economics marketing culture psychology
Why can't you pay attention anymore?
All of that data flying at you by e-mail, instant message, cell phone, voice mail and BlackBerry--it could actually be making you dumber.
Tags: attention brain health productivity multitasking psychology stress
Finding Happiness in a Harvard Classroom
Six tips for happiness from Tal Ben-Shahar.
Tags: psychology happiness health productivity
A deep look into the psychological effects of the reality television process on its stars.
Tags: television celebrity culture marketing psychology bestarticlesof2006
"We're primed to think that talent is the key to success. But what counts even more is a fusion of passion and perseverance. In a world of instant gratification, grit may yield the biggest payoff of all."
Tags: passion productivity psychology