6 scientific tricks for falling asleep
AdultsHumanPsychologyScience...Can't sleep? Don't just lie there in bed and stress about it. These tricks will have you snoozing in no time.
Do You Really Have Two Brains?
AdultsBiologyHumanNeuroscience...Are you a left-brained person or a right-brained person? Spoiler: You're neither. Each of us uses both sides of our brain for most of what we do. But still, there are a number of brain functions that do show lateralization, where they are localized to one side or another. Why is this? And how does it influence our definition of consciousness? People with "split brains" can help us figure it out.
Is Reality Real? The Simulation Argument
AdultsHumanSciencePhilosophy...What if we are not creators, but creations?
How to Process Your Emotions
AdultsHumanPsychologyMental Health...In order to be calm and at ease with ourselves, we need regular periods where we do something rather strange-sounding: process our emotions. Here is a guide to this essential psychological move.
Why do we dream? - Amy Adkins
AdultsHumanPsychologyScienceIn the 3rd millennium BCE, Mesopotamian kings recorded and interpreted their dreams on wax tablets. In the years since, we haven't paused in our quest to understand why we dream. And while we still don't have any definitive answers, we have some theories. Amy Adkins reveals the top seven reasons why we might dream.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
AdultsHumanPsychologyRelationships...Many of humanity's greatest problems stem not from a shortfall of technical or financial intelligence, but what we term emotional intelligence. It is through the acquisition of Emotional Intelligence that we stand to become better lovers, workers, friends and citizens. We are rarely systematically taught Emotional Intelligence and pay a heavy price for this gap in learning. The School of Life is dedicated to fostering Emotional Intelligence.
How To Be A Genius
AdultsCultureHumanSociety..."We hear a lot about genius. We are taught to admire the minds of those infinite, baffling but astonishing geniuses like Einstein, Tolstoy or Picasso. Quite what genius might actually be is left a little vague. It's a codeword for 'brilliant but perhaps too other-worldly ever really to fathom.' We are invited to stand in awe at the achievements of geniuses but also to feel that their thought processes might be quasi-magical and that it is ultimately simply mysterious how they were ever able to come up with the ideas they have had..."
The left brain vs. right brain myth - Elizabeth Waters
AdultsHumanNeuroscienceScience...The human brain is visibly split into a left and right side. This structure has inspired one of the most pervasive ideas about the brain: that the left side controls logic and the right side controls creativity. And yet, this is a myth, unsupported by scientific evidence. So how did this idea come about, and what does it get wrong? Elizabeth Waters looks into this long held misconception.
Why We Only Learn When We Repeat
AdultsHumanPsychologyEducation...Our education system is based on the idea that we can learn things once, and that they'll then stay in our minds throughout our lives. That's far too optimistic. Our brains are like sieves. If anything is going to remain in them, we need regular reminders of what really matters. Fascinatingly, religions always understood that.
The Dangers of the Good Child
AdultsHumanPsychologySociety...Good children don't cause problems; they always do what others expect. They seem to be on track. But there are real problems with people who never have a chance to be a little bad.
The Problem With Perfectionism
AdultsHumanPsychologySelfWe aim for perfection without a correct idea of what perfection might demand from us. To strengthen our resolve, we need to improve our picture of what sacrifices any achievement will demand.
A neuroscientist explains how being bilingual makes your brain more robust
AdultsHumanLanguageNeuroscience...Marian Sigman, a neuroscientist and author of "The Secret Life of the Mind: How Your Brain Thinks, Feels, and Decides," explains how babies that grow up bilingual will have brain functions that might be superior to those children that only speak one language.
What can you learn from ancient skeletons? - Farnaz Khatibi
AdultsHistoryHumanScience...Ancient skeletons can tell us a great deal about the past, including the age, gender and even the social status of its former owner. But how can we know all of these details simply by examining some old, soil-caked bones? Farnaz Khatibi examines a fascinating branch of science known as biological anthropology.