Deeply Personal Current: Comfort Food for the Soul Pawns & Paws All Posts Next Comfort Food for the Soul: What We Eat When We Win (And When We Lose) In our home in Finland, food is not just sustenance-it’s our primary love language, our apology mechanism, and our celebration protocol. My wife and I have an unspoken rule: when words fail, we cook. ...
You have 37,482 unread emails. 14,000 photos on your phone (5,000 screenshots you’ll never look at again). A Downloads folder with 2,000 files dating back to 2014. 42 browser tabs open right now. 7 note-taking apps, each with hundreds of notes you’ll never revisit. You tell yourself: “I might need this someday.” You never do. But you can’t delete it. Welcome to digital hoarding-the modern epidemic of keeping everything and finding nothing. ...
Brain Series Current: Social Connection Meditation for Skeptics All Posts Stress and Cognition Loneliness is as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. ...
In the early 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar made a curious observation while studying primates. He found a correlation between the size of a primate’s neocortex (the brain region handling social relationships) and the size of its social group. Chimps, with smaller neocortices, lived in groups of ~50. Gorillas: ~30. Humans, with the largest neocortices, should be able to maintain stable social relationships with about… 150 people. That’s it. Not 500. Not 1,000. 150. ...
In 1961, psychologist Albert Bandura conducted an experiment that would revolutionize our understanding of how children learn-and reveal something disturbing about human behavior. He invited preschool children to watch an adult interact with a room full of toys. In one corner sat a 5-foot inflatable clown doll called “Bobo.” It was weighted at the bottom so it would bounce back when hit. The children watched through a one-way mirror. They didn’t know they were being observed. ...
In 1951, psychologist Solomon Asch invited college students to participate in a “vision test.” The task was absurdly simple: look at a line, then choose which of three comparison lines matched its length. The answer was obvious. A child could do it. There was no trick, no optical illusion. Asch showed this card to the group: Reference Line: | Comparison Lines: A: | B: ||||| C: || The answer is clearly A. Anyone with working eyes can see it. ...
In April 1961, just three months into his presidency, John F. Kennedy approved one of the most catastrophic military operations in U.S. history. 1,400 Cuban exiles, trained and equipped by the CIA, would invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. They would spark a popular uprising, overthrow Fidel Castro, and install a democratic government. That was the plan. The reality? The invasion failed within 72 hours. Most of the brigade was killed or captured. No uprising occurred. The U.S. was humiliated internationally. Castro’s regime was strengthened, not weakened. ...
The Ultimatum Game: Are Humans Really Rational? Imagine this: I give you $100 and ask you to propose how to split it with a stranger. There’s one catch - if the stranger rejects your offer, neither of you gets anything. Game theory predicts you’ll offer $1 and keep $99. After all, $1 is better than $0, so the stranger should accept. In reality? Most people offer $40-50, and offers below $30 are frequently rejected. ...
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood before the American people and did something remarkable for a politician: he admitted total failure. The Bay of Pigs invasion-a CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro-had been an utter disaster. Over 1,400 Cuban exiles were captured or killed. It was a humiliating defeat, just three months into Kennedy’s presidency. Kennedy didn’t deflect. He didn’t blame his predecessor. He didn’t hide behind classified briefings. ...
Imagine you and a partner are arrested for a crime. The police separate you into different rooms and offer each of you the same deal. You can’t communicate. You don’t know what your partner will do. And the choice you make will determine whether you go free or spend years in prison. Welcome to the most famous problem in game theory: the Prisoner’s Dilemma. It reveals a disturbing truth about rational decision-making that explains everything from climate change to price wars to why your office kitchen is always dirty. ...