2014年6月15日星期日
Sushi's Secret: Why We Get Hooked On Raw Fish
interesting !
Sushi's Secret: Why We Get Hooked On Raw Fish
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/23/312539745/sushis-secret-why-we-get-hooked-on-raw-fish?ft=1&f=1007
The four lessons of happynomics
The four lessons of happynomics
‘Happiness is surely important, but the case for letting economists loose on the subject is less clear’The discipline of happynomics (or to give it an academically respectable title, “the economics of subjective well-being”) is booming. Respected economists have joined the field, from Lord Layard in the UK to White House appointees such as Alan Krueger and Betsey Stevenson. Several have been charmed in by Daniel Kahneman, a widely admired psychologist with a Nobel Memorial Prize in economics.
Happiness is surely important, but the case for letting economists loose on the subject is less clear. So are happyconomists discovering things that will put a song in your heart and a smile on your face? Perhaps. After reading a stack of books about the economics of happiness, and seeking advice from some of the researchers involved, allow me to present four tips for happiness from the dismal science.
Number one: don’t be distracted by the obvious.
When buying a new car, it’s natural to imagine yourself thrilling to its acceleration. When buying a new house, it’s only human to ponder the pleasure of hosting guests at a summer barbecue on the patio. But such thoughts fall prey to what psychologists call “the focusing illusion”. Most of our time will be spent neither throwing summer parties nor overtaking lorries. Yet we’re swayed by these attractions because we’re focusing on them just at the moment that we decide.
The focusing illusion was splendidly captured by a pair of questions asked of college students by researcher Norbert Schwartz and others: “How happy are you?” and “How many dates did you have last month?” The research team discovered that people having a lot of dates also say they’re feeling very happy – but only if asked about the dates first. If the happiness question comes first, there’s a far smaller correlation between the answers. Those students asked initially about their love lives continued to think about them when pondering their happiness. Otherwise they might have been worrying about money, career or exams.
The focusing illusion lies in wait for us whenever we make a decision. Nattavudh “Nick” Powdthavee, an economist and author of The Happiness Equation, says that we have to try to “look beyond what’s salient about an experience”. Don’t just think about the obvious when making decisions; think about how day-to-day life is likely to change as a result – if it changes at all.
The second piece of advice is to pay attention selectively.
It turns out that we grow accustomed to some conditions, happy or unhappy, but not to all.
The study which sparked the idea that we can get used to almost anything was published by Philip Brickman, Dan Coates and Ronnie Janoff-Bulman in 1978. It compared the happiness of paraplegic and quadriplegic accident victims to that of lottery winners – and discovered that the disabled people were scarcely less happy than the millionaires. Apparently we can bounce back from some awful experiences. (It is sad and troubling that a few years after making this discovery, Brickman killed himself.)
But how exactly is this apparent process of habituation supposed to work? Here’s where happiness economics has the long-run data to help. Consider bereavement: we cope by paying less attention as time goes by. A friend said to me, months after my mother and his father had both died, “You don’t get any less sad when you think about them but you think about them less often.”
The same is true, alas, for the nice things in life: we begin to take them for granted too. But there are experiences – unemployment is one of them; an unhappy marriage another – that depress us for as long as they last. What those experiences seem to have in common is the ability to hold our attention. Commuting, although shorter and less serious, is a classic case – annoying but also stimulating enough that we keep noticing the annoyance.
This suggests that we should look for the opposite of commuting: positive new experiences that are engaging enough to keep being noticed. In this case “count your blessings” is perfect advice.
Third, try nudging yourself to happiness with the techniques of behavioural economics.
Paul Dolan, another economist and the author of the forthcoming Happiness by Design, advocates doing some preparation to make it easier to do what brings us joy. If you wish to read more, for example, set your browser home page to a book review site, leave books lying around your house and make a commitment to visit a literary festival. Make the new habit easy to do and hard to ignore.
Finally we must keep a sense of what’s possible.
I asked Daniel Kahneman himself for his advice, and he made some evidence-based suggestions about the importance of friends and family. But he also pointed out that much of our happiness seems genetically predetermined. It’s possible to give good advice, he said, but “we shouldn’t expect a depressive person to suddenly become extroverted and leaping with joy”. In happiness, as in life, we economists must know our limits.
2014年6月1日星期日
25 Simple Lifehacks
1. Primacy and recency: People most remember the first and last things to occur, and barely the middle.
When scheduling an interview, ask what times the employer is interviewing and try to be first or last.2. If you work in a bar or in customer service of any kind ...
... Put a mirror behind you at the counter. This way, angry customers who approach you will have to see themselves in the mirror behind you, and the chances of them behaving irrationally lowers significantly.3. Once you make the sales pitch, don't say anything else.
This works in sales, but it can also be applied in other ways. My boss at an old job was training me and just giving me pointers. I was working at a gym trying to sell memberships. He told me that once I got all the small talk out of the way and presented the prices, that the first person to talk will lose. It didn't seem like a big deal but it actually worked. Often there were long periods of awkward silence as the person tried to come up with some excuse, but usually they bought.4. If you ask someone a question and they only partially answer, just wait.
If you stay silent and keep eye contact they will usually continue talking.5. Chew gum when you're approaching a situation that would make you nervous, like public speaking or bungee jumping.
If we are eating, something in our brain reasons, "I would not be eating if I were danger. So I'm not in danger." It has helped me to stay calm a few times.6. People will always remember not what you said, but how you made them feel.
Also, most people like talking about themselves, so ask lots of questions about them.7. When you're learning something new, teach it to a friend. Let them ask questions about it.
If you're able to teach something well, you can be sure that you've understood it very well.8. If you get yourself to be really happy and excited to see other people, they will react the same to you.
It doesn't always happen the first time, but it will definitely happen next time.9. The physical effects of stress — breathing and heart rate — are almost identical to the physical effects of courage.
When you're feeling stressed from any situation, immediately reframe it: Your body is getting ready to be courageous, it is NOT feeling stressed.10. Pay attention to people's feet.
If you approach two people in the middle of a conversation, and they only turn their torsos and not their feet, they don't want you to join in the conversation. Similarly, if you are in a conversation with a coworker who you think is paying attention to you and his or her torso is turned towards you but their feet are facing in another direction, they want the conversation to end.11. Fake it 'til you make it. Confidence is more important than knowledge.
Don't be intimidated by anyone, everyone is playing a role and wearing a mask.12. If you pretend to be something for long enough, you will eventually become it.
13. Not to be creepy, but if you want to stare at someone unashamedly, look directly past them and wait for them to try and meet your eyes.
When they fail to do that, they'll look around (usually nervously for a second). They won't look at you again for some time. This is your chance to straight up stare at this person for at least 45 seconds.14. Build a network.
Become people's information source, and let them be yours. Even grabbing a beer with a former colleague once a year will keep you in the loop at the old office. A former coworker might have gotten a new position at that company where you've always wanted to work. Great! Go to them for a beer, and ask about the company. It's all about connections and information.15. If you are angry at the person in front of you who's driving like a grandmother ...
Pretend it is your grandmother — it will significantly reduce your road rage16. Stand up straight.
No slouching, hands out of pockets, and head held up high. It's not just a cliche — you literally feel better and people around you feel more confident in you.17. Avoid saying "I think" and "I believe" unless absolutely necessary.
These are phrases that do not evoke confidence, and will literally do you no good.18. When feeling anxious, clean up your home or work space.
You will feel happier and more accomplished than before.19. Always buy the first pitcher or round of drinks.
You'd be surprised how long you can drink on the phrase "I bought the first one."20. Going into an interview ... be interested in your interviewers.
If you focus on learning about them, you seem more interesting and dynamic. (Again, people love to talk about themselves.)21. Pay attention, parents: Always give your kid a choice that makes them think they are in control.
For instance, when I want my son to put his shoes on, I say, "Do you want to put on your Star Wars shoes or your shark shoes?"Pro-tip: In some cases, this works on adults.
22. Your actions affect your attitudes more than your attitudes affect your actions.
As my former teacher said, "You can jump and dance FOR joy, but you can also jump and dance yourself joyful."23. When a group of people laugh, people will instinctively look at the person they feel closest to in that group.
24. If you want to build rapport or gain someone's trust quickly, match their body posture and position.
If someone is sitting with her legs crossed, cross your legs. If they're leaning away from you lean away from them. If they're leaning towards you, lean towards them. Mirroring and matching body position is a subconscious way to tell if someone trusts you or is comfortable with you. If you're sitting with your arms crossed and you notice someone else is sitting with her arms crossed, that is a good indicator that you have/are successfully built/building rapport with that person.25. The Benjamin Franklin Effect (suggested by Matt Miller).
The pencil one may seem far-fetched, but I find the basis of it (the Benjamin Franklin effect) is very useful and extends far beyond pencil borrowing. This knowledge is useful in the world of flirting too.Asking a girl in your class if you can borrow a pencil or her notes or to explain the homework will make her more likely to like you than if you let her borrow your stuff or are the one to help her. Even just asking a girl to buy you drinks (facetiously) leaves a much bigger impression than offering to or actually buying a girl a drink. The best part is that it kills three birds with one stone: You get the advantages of the favor itself, the person subconsciously likes you more, and it makes them more open to future favors and conversation.
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