Category: ideas

“This negative celebrity gossip was also associated with extra activity in regions known to be involved in self-control, suggesting that the students were trying to conceal their guilty pleasure.”

“Though falling in love is associated with anxiety and stress, this state—in combination with the belief that there may be reciprocation—is also at times accompanied by intensely pleasant emotions. These emotions arise from an underlying brain chemistry that resembles those triggered by cocaine use.”

“The research suggests fantasy stories—or at least those good enough to hold our interest—produce neural reactions that are above and beyond those created by other narratives—even ones that are just as exciting, involving, or humorous.”

“You know where the color of your eyes came from, your facial features, your hair, your height. Maybe even your personality — I’m stubborn like mom, sloppy like dad. But what we’re trying to do is find out, by looking at brain networks and accounting for everything in the environment, is where your reading ability originates.”

Alva Noë: “A lot of folks are trying to make sense of what would drive Brian Williams, a reporter, the face of NBC news, to make up easily fact-checkable stories about his experiences as a reporter … Ego? Self-aggrandizement? Trying to make himself seem better, braver, tougher, more experienced than he really is? I have a slightly different hypothesis: …”

“Imagine if trail sharing became routine. Reporters could enrich their stories by showing how they came to their conclusions. You could send funny or jokey pathways, like cognitive emoji. Trails are like Proustian cookies, teleporting us back to mental states from weeks ago.”

Scott Timberg: “At a time when the term is applied to corporate pop stars like Lady Gaga and smug-plutocrat artists like Jeff Koons, subversive has come to mean close to nothing. It’s become the Marilyn Manson of critical terminology – somewhere between shock and yawn. How did we get here? … But the fact is, there are actually some people today who are genuinely subversive, and … have paid in very serious ways for their, um, subversive activities.”

“One theory as to why live performances are preferred over studio recordings relates to a phenomenon called social facilitation, whereby skilled performers carrying out simple or familiar tasks tend to perform better in the presence of others.”

The word coward is one of the most contemptuous insults one can hurl at a person. And yet, argues Chris Walsh, cowardice serves more than one important social function.