BRAIN WAVES
Inconvenient truths. We all have biases, but we like to believe we see the world and the events that take place around us in a clear-eyed way. That might be wishful thinking, according to a new study that found most people are guilty of what researchers call the “concordance-over-truth” bias. That is, people tend to believe and share news that aligns with their political views, regardless of whether that news is true. In a series of experiments, people were more resistant to true news that challenged their views than they were susceptible to fake news that supported those views. “We saw it on both political sides and even among people who scored well on a reasoning test,” said lead author Michael Schwalbe. “We were a bit surprised to see how widespread this tendency was. People were engaging in a lot of resistance to inconvenient truths.” And the more impervious you think you are to this effect, the more susceptible you might actually be. In one experiment, the researchers found that people who were most confident that their political side wasn’t biased turned out, in fact, to be the most biased.
Worrywart. Are you a chronic worrier? Some researchers think that worrying and planning are deeply connected. “When you think of planning, such as planning a meal or planning a holiday, it might seem like a benign mental activity that has little to do with pathological worry,” writes psychologist Paul B. Sharp over at Psyche. “However, planning can go wrong in various ways and scientists and clinicians have long suggested that worrying and planning are intimately linked.” For example, anxiety often comes from overplanning, or planning in unhelpful ways. Some researchers think that chronic worriers tend to start planning too early, obsess over details that don’t really matter, and struggle to stop once they’ve started worrying. Instead of making them feel prepared, this kind of planning keeps them stuck in a cycle of stress. But there’s hope. “The promise of thinking about worry in this way is that understanding someone’s particular planning biases and excesses will point to ways to correct them, which will help them worry less and experience reduced anxiety,” Sharp writes.
Take a stand. We all like to think that in a moment of crisis, we’d rise to the occasion and show courage. And yet many of us have had experiences where we followed orders and did what we were told to do. So how can we better align our words and actions with our values? Listen to learn more.
ON THE HIDDEN BRAIN PODCAST
When To Pivot: When should you stay the course in life, and when should you move with changing tides? This week, we bring you case studies from the world of business to explore the science of inflection points — changes that dramatically transform the course of events. Researcher Rita McGrath of Columbia University explains why we fail to see impending moments of upheaval, and what we can do to be more adept at spotting them.
ON THE MY UNSUNG HERO PODCAST
Glenna Osborne’s Story: Glenna's father was a firefighter for years. Early in his career, he almost died in a house fire. The man who saved his life turned into a forever friend — and someone Glenna's family will always cherish.
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MIND GAMES
A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are there in the family?
LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE
What has many rings but no fingers?
Answer: A phone
A MOMENT OF JOY
Study: The ozone hole is healing
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