Human issues

The scientific reason you don’t like LED bulbs

http://theconversation.com/the-scientific-reason-you-dont-like-led-bulbs-and-the-simple-way-to-fix-them-81639 Scientists used to think we could see no more than about 90 flashes of light a second but now we know it’s more like 2,000. During the eye movement, the flicker of light creates a pattern that we can see. It could discourage people from using more energy-saving LED lightbulbs. One obvious way of avoiding →

Steve Wozniak Echoes Advice of Other Disrupters and Leaders

http://www.machinedesign.com/community/steve-wozniak-echoes-advice-other-disrupters-and-leaders Engineering is known for being a good, well-paid, in-demand job. However, these aspects may not have anything to do with happiness or a healthy work/life balance—or a healthy life at all. Defining what you want and who you want to be and sticking to that is important for happiness. 1. Don’t worry about money →

Our Obsession With Smartphones Reduces Our Brain Power, Says Study | IFLScience

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/our-obsession-with-smartphones-reduces-our-brain-power-says-study/ The brain has a finite pool of attention resources – the “limited-capacity” cognitive resources. It seems that lots of smartphone use diminishes a person’s working memory capacity and “fluid intelligence” – the ability to solve novel problems independent of already stored information, which is called “crystallized intelligence”. →

Multitasking: Why Do We Do It? – IEEE Spectrum

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/multitasking-why-do-we-do-it Attention span has shrunk alarmingly short. We seem to look for and welcome distractions.  “We are information-seeking creatures” Just as ancient humans foraged for food, we now forage for information (Maybe we need to include personal communications and entertainment in the general concept of information). We’re easily bored, and there is the FOMO effect, →

You Cannot Learn What You Think You Already Know

http://lifehacker.com/you-cannot-learn-what-you-think-you-already-know-1796095391?utm_campaign=socialflow_lifehacker_facebook&utm_source=lifehacker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.” -Epictetus, Discourses, Book II, ch. 17 What It Means Be it a skill, craft, or just general knowledge, to improve yourself is to learn. But you cannot learn if you believe there is nothing left for you to learn. What if →

If Humble People Make the Best Leaders, Why Do We Fall for Charismatic Narcissists?

https://hbr.org/2017/04/if-humble-people-make-the-best-leaders-why-do-we-fall-for-charismatic-narcissists The research is clear: when we choose humble, unassuming people as our leaders, the world around us becomes a better place. Humble leaders improve the performance of a company in the long run because they create more collaborative environments.  When leaders behave humbly, followers emulate their modest attitude and behavior.  A clinical study illustrates that when charisma overlaps →

People with creative personalities really do see the world differently | IFLScience

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/people-with-creative-personalities-really-do-see-the-world-differently/ As Pablo Picasso put it: Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. The idea that some people see more possibilities than others is central to the concept of creativity. Psychologists often measure creativity using divergent thinking tasks.  The aspect of our personality that appears →