Beware of "poisonous dogs"

Science Of Persuasion

Science Of Persuasion

nice video

dualism makes you fat

“The Mind Is Willing, but the Flesh Is Weak”
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/10/1239

Interesting study - people believing in the soul makes less healthy decisions.
(And also when people are primed with the theory of dualism)

Repost from lifehacker : mild ambient noise promotes creativity

Mild Ambient Noise Can Spur Creativity and Keep You Motivated:

A new study explains why so many of us find it easier to work and learn when sitting with our laptops in coffee shops or other bustling places, and the answer is simple: modest ambient noise (around 70 decibels) triggers the part of our brains responsible for abstract and creative thinking. More »

Gender bias in science

(Even after taking into account the percentage of female scientists)

Men are more likely to be invited to write in top science journals:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120830102851.htm

A committee with a male chairperson will give a scientific award to a male 95% of the time:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120508142622.htm

Farsi translation of miniguide

Thanks to by Elham Moeini, Mohammad Reza Vaez, and Farzaneh Shahrtash, a Farsi (Persian) translation of my miniguide to critical thinking has been completed. It is available online for free here: 

https://www.box.com/s/duqxacywqb4turgruqee

creativity and the unconscious

The Merits of Unconscious Thought in Creativity

1. Chen-Bo Zhong,
2. Ap Dijksterhuis and
3. Adam D. Galinsky

Abstract

Research has yielded weak empirical support for the idea that creative solutions may be discovered through unconscious thought, despite anecdotes to this effect. To understand this gap, we examined the effect of unconscious thought on two outcomes of a remote-association test (RAT): implicit accessibility and conscious reporting of answers. In Experiment 1, which used very difficult RAT items, a short period of unconscious thought (i.e., participants were distracted while holding the goal of solving the RAT items) increased the accessibility of RAT answers, but did not increase the number of correct answers compared with an equal duration of conscious thought or mere distraction. In Experiment 2, which used moderately difficult RAT items, unconscious thought led to a similar level of accessibility, but fewer correct answers, compared with conscious thought. These findings confirm and extend unconscious-thought theory by demonstrating that processes that increase the mental activation of correct solutions do not necessarily lead them into consciousness.