Brain Recharge: The Science of Costco, The Age of Empathy, The Superstition of Sports, & More…
YOU: You’ve been quiet lately…everything ok?
BRAIN: Yeah, just thinking.
YOU: About the Icelandic volcano? Or maybe the SEC’s charges against Goldman Sachs?
BRAIN: Um…not exactly. You know what, actually, let’s just drop it. You have any articles for me?
YOU: Come on, you can tell me anything. We’re friends.
BRAIN: …Fine…I…uh…I just can’t get this image out of my mind:
YOU: What the – is that Betty White holding a flaming chainsaw while riding a Jon Ritter centuar?
BRAIN: Um…yeah. DON’T say anything – just give me those articles…
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* It’s impossible to walk out of a Costco empty-handed, no matter how much we don’t need that 20 lb tub of peanut butter. There’s actually some serious scientific stuff going on in our brains that explain this phenomenon. – Science Blogs
* Humans are superstitious animals…especially when we’re playing & watching sports. Why can’t sportscasters (and the rest of us) resist finding meaning in completely random events? - Skeptic
* Every single tweet ever tweeted (even this one) will now be saved and stored by the Library of Congress…it might sound laughable, but it actually makes sense. – The Atlantic
* Accidentally leaving a child in the backseat of a car is a terrifying mistake. But is it a crime? The answer is more complicated than you might think…this Pulitzer prize-winning piece explores the thorny issue. - Washington Post
* It was once thought that artistic globalism (and Evil Hollywood) would suffocate and homogenize local cultures around the world. But in reality, new D.I.Y. hyper-local cultures have thrived. – NY Times
* The obsessive need for kids to be constantly connected online shouldn’t be discouraged or ignored. It’s actually made younger generations more empathetic, and has shifted the emphasis from individualism to collaboration. – Huff Po
(crazy Betty White / Jon Ritter image from Neatorama)
