We love to take a walk every day and sometimes we find a little friend along the way!
Here is what I am reading today:
“Exercise clears the mind. It gets the blood pumping and more oxygen is delivered to the brain. This is familiar territory, but Dartmouth’s David Bucci thinks there is much more going on.”
“Contrary to recent scholarship and popular belief, parents experience greater levels of happiness and meaning in life than people without children, according to researchers from the University of California, Riverside, the University of British Columbia and Stanford University. Parents also are happier during the day when they are caring for their children than during their other daily activities, the researchers found in a series of studies conducted in the United States and Canada.”
“Whether you’re an iPerson who can’t live without a Mac, a Facebook addict, or a gamer, you know that social media and technology say things about your personality and thought processes. And psychological scientists know it too — they’ve started researching how new media and devices both reveal and change our mental states.”
“Posting views on Facebook and other social media sites delivers a powerful reward to the brain similar to the pleasure from food and sex, a Harvard study concludes. The study led by two neuroscientists and published this week concluded that “self disclosure” produces a response in the region of the brain associated with dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure or the anticipation of a reward.”
“Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he triggered an explosion that drove the rod through his left cheek and out of the top of his head. As reported at the time, the rod was later found, “smeared with blood and brains.””
“THE problem of the self – what it is that makes you you – has exercised philosophers and theologians for millennia.
Today it is also a hotly contested scientific question, and the science is confirming what the Buddha, Scottish philosopher David Hume and many other thinkers maintained: that there is no concrete identity at the core of our being, and that our sense of self is an illusion spun from narratives we construct about our lives.
Bruce Hood’s The Self Illusion is a thoroughly researched and skillfully organised account of the developments in psychology and neuroscience that are helping to substantiate this unsettling vision of selfhood. He casts a long line, exploring subjects such as free will, the unconscious, the role of (false) memories in building identity, as well as myriad social psychology experiments showing how people behave differently according to the situation they are in. His aim is to illustrate the interchangeability of our multiple selves, and why much of our cognition seems to have evolved to protect the illusion that we are who we think we are.”
21 Comments
fnmagno · May 19, 2012 at 10:36 am
I read “social media as good as sex?” and found this to be quite interesting. I do find it amazing how some people I know can spend extended periods of time on Facebook. I admit that I catch myself taking Facebook breaks but it never really occurred to me why I did this. It’s interesting how the sight of new notifications can excite someone and offer some sort of reward.
fnmagno · May 19, 2012 at 10:46 am
I read “why parents are happier” and feel that I slightly disagree. While I don’t know a thing about what it’s like to be a parent, I feel that childless people can be just as happy as those who have children. At the same time, I can imagine how being a parent brings a lot of responsibility, I also see how it is rewarding as children grow up and parents are proud to have raised them. Childless couples can be just as happy in other ways.
LyudmilaFeldsher · May 20, 2012 at 3:00 pm
I read the article about social media being as good as sex and found it to be pretty crazy. I do not understand how some people can devote so much time and energy to Facebook or Twitter and are always awaiting the next comment or status from people. This really does give them some sort of rush and excitement. This creates very impersonal relationships between people so I think people should spend less time on these sites and more time just socializing.
slboman · May 20, 2012 at 5:08 pm
On reading “age, genetics and exercise affect the brian” I feel that the degree to which Americans depend upon medicine to solve every ailment is troubling. If this research were made widely known, perhaps more children would be healthy and happy and less would suffer from ADHD and childhood obesity. The American culture has become less and less active as more children are staying in playing video games rather than playing out doors. If parents exercise their children they will be better off.
slboman · May 20, 2012 at 5:23 pm
On reading “social media as good as sex?” I find it interesting that the reward area of the brain is related to self-disclosure. Maybe this is why so many people are addicted to facebook and other social media sites. We feel rewarded when our posts are “liked” or commented on because it is as if we are being heard. I wonder if all forms of self-disclosure activate the reward areas of the brain.
Josh VanVoorhis · May 20, 2012 at 6:48 pm
I can definitely relate to the article “Self delusions…. who we really aren’t. Its interesting how people mentally construe an identity. Where they’ve worked, who they’ve dated, where they’ve lived. But this is all a created identity. Who you are as a person is very fluid. And like this article states, it can change depending on the situation you’re in. People act differently with their friends then they would act around their parents. Identity can become who you “think” you’re supposed to be.
Josh VanVoorhis · May 20, 2012 at 6:53 pm
The article “Social Media as good as sex?” is really awesome! It is so true in our society how everyone likes talking about themselves. Theres people who regardless of what you’re talking about, can turn the conversation into something relating to themselves. Actually I’d say the majority of people do this, myself included sometimes. Its amazing that they actually found the same part of the brain lighting up in self-disclosure as with food and sex. And in our culture, Facebook has brought the self-disclosure issue to new heights.
alimgarrison · May 20, 2012 at 7:13 pm
I read “age, genetics and exercise affect the brain!” and I found it to be very interesting. I am the kind of person who exercises multiple times a week and I was very glad to read that it helps with memory. I found the the genes and the affect on ADHD very surprising because it is interesting that they are able to tell if the child will have it based on the genes.
alimgarrison · May 20, 2012 at 7:15 pm
I read “why parents are happier” and I agree completely. Being a parent gives the person a meaning and a drive to do things and by having that, the person is much happier. I don’t know this from my own, personal experience, but I can tell that my parents are happiest when they are taking care of me and helping me with things.
nicoleboughton · May 21, 2012 at 1:38 am
The correlational study that found parents to be happier than their childless peers, didn’t mention how REALLY happy parents are in San Luis Obispo, the happiest town in America!!! We aren’t just happy parents, we’re positively delirious! Especially when we rent a kyack from Poly Escapes, and squeeze two willing offspring and a trepidacious single parent on a journey from Baywood Park to the sand spit. Talk about motion parallax! It looked a lot closer than it seemed. We laughed and enjoyed every gorgeous happy minute!
camillephillips3 · May 21, 2012 at 9:29 am
I read “Why parents are happier” and was very interested in the article. I do and don’t agree with what the author states in the article about adults with children being happier than childless couples. I think that some people decide not to have children because they would not be happy raising a child and cannot have the responsibility of caring for a child. Therefore, these adults have chosen to have no kids and are potentially just as happy as those parents who have decided they want kids. I think parents also can influence whether or not they want their children to bring them happiness, and can shift their feelings about parenthood. I personally do think that raising kids brings happiness, but that does not believe that all others share my same opinion.
Amir Tadros · May 21, 2012 at 12:27 pm
“Parents Are Happier People: Parents Experience Greater Happiness and Meaning in Life Than Nonparents, Psychologists Find”
Those findings definately surprised me. I feel like most pop culture depicts parenthood as being mundane and dull, which are charcteristics of an unhappy life. The article emphasizes that parenting is just correlated to happiness, not the cause. If it’s not the cause though I wonder what is.
It makes sense though that parents find more meaning to their life as they have a great responsibility of raising their children.
anguye15 · May 21, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I found the “social media & sex” article to be very interesting. Although I am not sure how strong of a correlation this may be, it may help explain why so many people are becoming increasingly “addicted” to Facebook. The article’s discussion about our desire to self-disclose may also explain why some people aspire to get onto “reality television” shows that often involve interviews, confessionals, commentary, etc. Conversely, does that say something about people who like to watch people self-disclose on television beyond entertainment purposes? Interesting!
anguye15 · May 21, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Reading “Parents are Happier People” definitely made sense. Often times we encounter those who are struggling through life to make ends meet–sometimes because they have a young one at home who they must raise and feed. Despite these hardships, I have noticed that these people still seem happy and fulfilled with the sole fact that they have this young child. I can also see this in my brother-in-law, whose life has taken a turn for the positive since my niece was born. His whole demeanor and goals in life have changed and it is intriguing to witness. It is interesting that this article delves into the feelings of both women and men separately aside from looking into the happiness of a couple.
Kristin · May 21, 2012 at 8:44 pm
I thought “facebook and smartphones: new tools for psychological science research” had some great ideas. I especially liked how research could go as far as to add an app to smartphones which might let someone know what the pollution, radiation levels and temperature were in the area at which they were standing at that exact moment. I also think there is a lot of potential to use facebook to study social trends and also compare this generation’s relationships with other people compared to twenty years ago.
KeikoFukuchi · May 23, 2012 at 5:21 pm
The whole time while reading “Why parents are happier”, I agreed to the statements and findings that this study had revealed. Having taken Family Psychology, I learned the fulfilling feeling that comes with being a parent. We humans exist to reproduce; it’s a biological need inside of us. Of course not all people are fit to being parents, but everyone has the potential to love and care for a human being. I think the added on responsibilities contribute to the fulfilling, meaningful life a parent experiences. Many people say the day they give birth to a child, their perspective on life completely changes; one’s life is no longer about just yourself, but yourself and the life of someone you’ve created and need to care for. Parents have a whole other meaning and perspective on life compared to child-less couples.
kdevlugt · May 24, 2012 at 7:12 am
I read “Facebook and Smartphones: New Tools for Psychological Science Research” which described a revolution I’ve already begun to see in the way research is done. Even at Cal Poly a study was done that provided the participants with iPod Touches to collect data throughout the day. Better than using a journal, smartphone-type devices allow data to be quickly recorded digitally. I also found it interesting that the article mentioned that people portray themselves more accurately on Facebook profiles. I was under the impression that people had online personas that might differ from how they act in real life. I wonder what it is about Facebook that makes people comfortable enough to be so honest?
mpakele · May 24, 2012 at 12:16 pm
The findings in the article “why parents are happier” were not really a surprise to me, but it was nice to see some research supporting the fact that parents are happy. While parenting is an extremely hard job and comes with many struggles, I think the overall rewards of raising a family and having such a close emotional bond with your children outweigh the costs. The point at the end of the article saying that these results applied to older married parents also makes sense; younger parents who may not yet be as financially stable would make the job a little harder. These married parents are probably happy with their family as a whole; including both their children and their spouse. Caring for another life is probably the most rewarding experience there is.
BrianneJones · May 29, 2012 at 1:25 pm
I read the new rules for smartphones article and what a clever idea to start to use smartphones for psychology research. I think this is a great opportunity to get real-time results without having to deal with simulated lab situations that might not be good examples of real life situations and conditions. I also think this is kind of creepy. I’m sure the government already uses our phones for research but knowing that research teams are using your phone in particular for their study will raise more privacy questions as well. How would we know that they are only tapping into information the app is allowing them to? How easy would it be for them to learn our personal information or change settings in our phones? I think the opportunities are endless here but there definitely needs to be some ethics councils or boards regarding this.
BrianneJones · May 29, 2012 at 1:27 pm
The research done on social media producing a sex-like reward in the brain is a very saddening representative of our society today. The research found 80% of what people post on social media sites consists of talking about their own subjective experiences rather than 30-40% when they are having a conversation with someone in person. The fact that this act of “self disclosure” produces a pleasure response similar to sex is worth looking into. I wonder if people who post what seems like constantly has any relation to their personal pleasure drives or links with addiction to rewards of a certain kind. It would also be interesting to see if this will have any implications on how young people view their own opinion in years to come. If they are constantly updating their Facebook with their own opinion and talking less to people in person where the topics of their own opinion happens less frequently, would they be then teaching themselves that their own opinion matters more? Especially if their posts on the site get a large amount of “likes” or “comments”? Maybe having an allotted time for social media would be a way to prevent people from letting their own opinions dominate the majority of their communication. Maybe more time talking to people in person would even make people less selfish in some ways?
LauraPolacci · June 6, 2012 at 9:35 am
After reading the article about why parents are happier people, I have to agree it sounds as though parenthood comes with many more positives despite added responsibilities it brings. I am not a parent, but this article shared that a new perspective suggests that parenting is a fundamental human need. From an evolutionary perspective, having children is about being able to pass on one’s genes, and raising children until they get to reproductive age is necessary so that they can pass on the genes and so on… but I think, and after reading this article especially, that parenting and the joys that come with it seem to be more than simply caring for someone simply so they can pass on your genes. Once I am a parent I think I will have a better understanding of the added responsibility and joy that comes with parenting!
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