Friday, April 8, 2011

Clues to Why Pride Goeth Before a Fall?

Pride leads to hypocrisy, and gratitude doesn't. Hmmm... Can I use this to determine when public figures are lying?

"...participants induced to feel pride showed a similarly high level of moral hypocrisy, but those induced to feel gratitude exhibited little evidence of it."

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407121337.htm

The Amygdala: Brain Region of Conservatives

While this is really cool research, given how changeable our brains are, I'm concerned that the article makes the correlation sound causal. It would be interesting to do brain scans on people over their lifetimes to see how they change. I'll bet most of us know someone who was very liberal in college and turned conservative when they got older or vice versa.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110407121337.htm

Being Special to Someone Makes Us Happy

Interesting. They found that relationships make us happy (not terribly surprising) and that it's not just happy people who get into relationships. That one makes me wonder... Why would you want to get into a relationship with someone who isn't happy?

Source: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-happy-people-more-likely-to-choose-commit

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Stop Trying to 'Fix' Me!

Look! Some nice scientific evidence to back up "because it's really annoying."

Source: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-improve-your-relationship-by-trying-t

Great Design: Book Tree

I so want these. They make no sense at all for someone with a giant library, but I still want them.

Source: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/13929/kostas-syrtariotis-booktree.html

Friday, April 1, 2011

He Makes Me Laugh...

Yup. Women go for funny guys. This research suggests it's because humor is an indicator of intelligence. So... "He makes me laugh." is really code for "I love him for his mind."?

Source: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-do-women-find-funny-men-attractive

Being Romantic Does Not Increase Relationship Length

This research shows that romantic people don't have any better chance at a good relationship than non-romantic people. OK, fine. But my question is... What does "romantic" mean? Is it showing up with generic flowers on Valentine's Day or getting up early to make breakfast when your mate has an important presentation coming up?

Source: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-romantic-people-have-longer-relationships