As a young man I could not believe that people could give their lives over to those conditions. As an old man, I still can’t believe it. What do they do it for? Sex? TV? An automobile on monthly payments? Or children? Children who are just going to do the same things that they did?

Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced by photographs is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is now addicted. It is mainly a social rite, a defense against anxiety, and a tool of power. It seems positively unnatural to travel for pleasure without taking a camera along. Photographs will offer indisputable evidence that the trip was made, that the program was carried out, that fun was had.

Find and compare proper etiquette from countries around the world by categories including dress, dining, tipping, gestures, gifts, and more.

Heidelberg is a university town, the oldest and most prestigious in Germany, counting Victor Hugo and Mark Twain among its alumni, as well at least 56 Nobel prize-winners over the years. As brilliant as their students were however, if they misbehaved, the university had the jurisdiction to incarcerate them in their own dungeons and sentences could run on from days to weeks.

Whether you're a clean freak or a slob, your workspace may reveal a lot about your personality

Honesty is the basis of any good relationship. This is as true for animals as it is for humans… By Josh Gabbatiss.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes shyness as being “diffident or uneasy in company; timid”. In this new “field guide to shyness”, Joe Moran, the author of several quiet, very British, social histories including Queuing for Beginners and On Roads, does nothing so bold as announce his own definition of the term… By Katy Guest.

“Showing that they don’t care about me, or caring that I should know they don’t care about me, still denotes dependence... They show me respect precisely by showing me that they don’t respect me.” By Maria Popova.

“If we can isolate irritability we can perhaps develop treatments that are best targeted towards people that are particularly irritable.” 2016. By Jesse Singal.

Silicon Valley’s most successful tech companies use the insights of behaviour design to pump us with dopamine and keep us returning to their products. But, as Ian Leslie learns, some of the psychologists who developed the science of persuasion are worried about the way it is being used. By Ian Leslie.

Author pokes holes in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and explains how drinking can help us recall memories. By Jonathan Forani. (May 17, 2016)

Stephan Lewandowsky, chair of cognitive psychology at the University of Bristol, answered questions posed by the public on Reddit. The Conversation has curated the highlights. (Apr. 16, 2016)

The intuitive reasoning behind “magical thinking” may carry an evolutionary advantage. By David Noonan.

A guiding tenet has emerged through years of climate change discussions and other polarizing scientific debates: Framing issues as “us versus them”—with a clear ingroup and outgroup—encourages polarization. The term pseudoscience inherently creates this framing, pitting those who believe in “real” science against those who believe in “fake” science. But these discussions really indicate whom we trust. And maybe if people trust alleged pseudoscience over science, we should be discussing why, rather than dismissing their values and beliefs.

Collectors drive the art world, but what drives art collectors? It’s less about aesthetics than self-identification

Narcissists are imitators par excellence. And they do not copy the small, boring parts of selves. By Kristin Dombek.

In this experiment, a crow observes an 8-part puzzle. Watch what he does next.

Hi, Please help me in my thesis data collection by filling this survey. I'll be obliged. I assure everyone that no personal details of any individual will be disclosed. The information being gathered is just for the sake of general decision making for the creation of hypothesis.

Hi, Please help me in my thesis data collection by filling this survey. I'll be obliged. I assure everyone that no personal details of any individual will be disclosed. The information being gathered is just for the sake of general decision making for the creation of hypothesis.

The idea we can be anything we choose is “such an old-fashioned notion, with absolutely no backing whatsoever.” By Olivia Goldhill.