Author: Douglas McLennan

Study: The Key To Successful Small Talk

The key to making the most out of small talk, according to Harvard researchers, is to simply ask the other person follow-up questions. In a series of experiments, researchers analyzed more than 300 online conversations and found that those who were asked more meaningful follow-up questions (a.k.a. questions that aren’t “how are you?” or “what do you do?”), found the other person much more likable. – CNBC

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt On Understanding Versus Advocating

“The mission of a university I believe should be to understand. And if you do a great job of research, that can be the basis for all kinds of activism later. But if you start with a commitment to a certain way of seeing the world, and you start with a belief that some people are good and some people are bad, I think it makes it very hard to understand real social systems.” – Nautilus

Evidence The Arts Help Struggling Students Do Better

Overall, the researchers found no significant differences in the amount of content the kids retained, regardless of which version of the lessons they received. But the arts-infused approach had a positive effect on “struggling readers.” Ten weeks later, those kids “remembered significantly more science content learned through the arts” than those who were taught using conventional methods.  – Pacific Standard

Why Did Hollywood Make Classical Music The Theme Music Of The Bad Guys?

For Hollywood, classical music has become the trademark of villains. On screen, orchestral melodies accompany the meditations of mad geniuses and pouting serial killers. Norman Bates practices the Moonlight sonata in Psycho II. Sociopath Lou Ford relaxes to Richard Strauss throughout The Killer Inside Me. Alex Forrest, in Fatal Attraction, plots her revenge while listening to Madama Butterfly. – American Scholar

Art Institute Of Seattle To Close This Week, Leaving 600 Students Stranded

The closure comes after months of troubles that seeped into public view.In October, the Art Institute of Seattle laid off most of its full-time faculty as Dream Center announced 18 of the 31 Art Institutes campuses would close by the end of last year, including the Portland campus. WSAC notified Art Institute of Seattle campus director Lindsey Morgan Oliger of the school’s “at-risk” designation on Jan. 10 and prohibited it from enrolling new students. – Seattle Times

Sound And The Optimal Work Place (Too Much, Too Little…)

Gone are the sound-absorbing dropped ceilings and acoustical tile, cubicle dividers, wall-to-wall carpets, and upholstered chairs. In their place are reflective high ceilings with exposed H.V.A.C., hardwood surfaces, mesh chairs, and lots and lots of glass. The goal is a buzz, similar to the free-flowing coffee and beer that many provide to their clients. A common citation in the literature that promotes co-working is a 2012 study from the Journal of Consumer Research that concludes the right amount of ambient noise—seventy decibels, roughly the level of a household appliance like a vacuum cleaner, or about the volume you might typically use for a radio or TV—“enhances performance on creative tasks.” – The New Yorker

Laurie Anderson At 71

“As an artist I like to understand how things work. I only refer to that in my performances, because I hate it when people say, “You should do this, you should do that.” I never try to do that. I provoke, I put some little things in to consider. That’s the best I can do.” – Van

London’s National Theatre Created A Community Theatre Experience For 200 People.

“We have heard stories about people finding the confidence to get their first ever job or making new friendships with people from a different generation, area or culture who they didn’t think they’d ever otherwise have met. And even, in one case, suddenly finding their chronic pain causing them much less of an issue. Most common of all, perhaps, was a shared sense – that audience members also spoke about night after night – of feeling more connected to their home and their city than they had ever felt previously.” The Guardian