Teen brains made for risk
Good article explaining how risky teenage behaviour is not from lack of knowledge, but a different way of evaluating consequences. From Discover magazine, 2011 March:
The Brain: The Trouble With Teens
Fast driving, drugs, and unsafe sex: The risk-loving behavior of adolescents may result from a neurological gap in the developing brain.
by Carl Zimmer
The Label Counts
It seems we subconsciously equate designer labelled clothes with higher qualities of the wearer. Lesson: wear clothes with visible designer labels to the job interview! From The Economist April 2nd, 2011 edition:
Status displays: I’ve got you labelled
Clothes may make the man, but it is the label that really counts
Hardwired for Hope
The Optimism Bias
Why we are, as we are
Evolutionary theory is useful. From The Economist, Dec 18th 2008:
Darwinism:Why we are, as we are
As the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On The Origin of Species” approaches, the moment has come to ask how Darwin’s insights can be used profitably by policymakers
Altruistic punishment
Interesting blog found on the web:
Altruistic Punishment Seen As Explanation For Mass Political Behaviors
UC Davis political scientist James Fowler mathematically models altruistic punishment.
Chimps more rational than humans?
Are chimps more rational than humans? In some cases maybe — I think it shows how the human instinct for “fairness” (apparently not a chimp trait) affects our decision making. The article below describes the experiment of chimp rationality.
Are We More Rational Than Our Fellow Animals?
Gorgeous women make men act stupid
“Beautiful women in advertisements make men act stupid.” Proving the obvious?
And of course, it doesn’t happen the other way around…
From the Toronto Sun, 2003-12-12:
Hot chicks ice brains
Gorgeous women make men act stupid: Study
Why People Believe Invisible Agents Control the World
Humans have a tendency to see patterns in everything, even when there is none (“patternicity”); there is also the tendency to assume there is an agent causing actions (“agenticity”), explained in the article below. I am thinking that the “agenticity” could be an extension of our “patternicity” — since we see the pattern of cause-effect so often, when we do not see the cause, we make it up (the invisible agents). What do you think?
From Scientific American Magazine - May 19, 2009
Why People Believe Invisible Agents Control the World
A Skeptic’s take on souls, spirits, ghosts, gods, demons, angels, aliens and other invisible powers that be
By Michael Shermer
The Color Red Attracts Men to Women
I guess the obvious has been confirmed…
From PsychCentral:
The Color Red Attracts Men to Women
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 29, 2008
Wednesday, Oct 29 (Psych Central) — A groundbreaking study by University of Rochester psychologists adds color — literally and figuratively — to the age-old question of what attracts men to women.
Why we are so convinced we’re right even when we’re wrong
Am I right or what? 
From Scientific American:
Mind Matters - October 9, 2008
The Certainty Bias: A Potentially Dangerous Mental Flaw
A neurologist explains why you shouldn’t believe in political candidates that sound too sure of themselves.
About
Although it started out as a means of practising expressing myself, this blog is turning out to be more of a compendium of interesting information I come across. One of these days I’ll have to actually write something as opposed to cut and paste. 
