Why conspiratorial thinking is peaking in America

The internet has given us the opportunity to stay informed better than ever. It's also given us the ability to misinform ourselves — delude ourselves — beyond belief.

  • The internet has allowed fringe groups founded on paranoid thinking to merge in ways we've never seen before.
  • Part of modern political polarization in American is that we're becoming a people who believes in different realities, some of which are based on fears rather than facts. Many of these conspiracy theories are targeted on groups that we believe are plotting against us.
  • There is a romanticization that we're going to somehow solve all of life's unknowns, Da Vinci Code-style. However, this ironically may put us at a disadvantage in terms of breaking puzzles — we look for the familiar in vague stimuli, a pheonmenon known as pareidolia, which only further confounds us.
Keep reading Show less
mind brain government culture movies entertainment psychology sociology society fear internet social media united states sarah rose cavanagh

Become a speed-reading machine: Read dozens of books next year

Tripling your reading speed with just 15 minutes of practice each day, and boost your ability to retain what you read.

  • Speed reading training can double, or even triple your reading speed in 30 days.
  • Results can be seen with just minutes of practice each day.
  • Training also focuses on memory retention and skill acquisition.
Keep reading Show less
mind brain learning education books literature intelligence personal growth

Want a lifetime of learning? Skill-up with this stack of online courses.

StackSkills Unlimited is offering the ultimate career booster: lifetime access to over 1,000 courses in many of today's most in-demand skill sets.

  • StackSkills Unlimited is an online learning resource with over 1,000 skill training courses.
  • Over 550,000 students have successfully completed courses in IT, graphic design, finance and more.
  • Save over 90% off the regular price
Keep reading Show less
learning education personal growth mind brain career work

Move over, math. The universal language is world music.

A new study finds that societies use the same acoustic features for the same types of songs, suggesting universal cognitive mechanisms underpinning world music.

(Photo: Flickr)
  • Every culture in the world creates music, though stylistic diversity hides their core similarities.
  • A new study in Science finds that cultures use identifiable acoustic features in the same types of songs and that tonality exists worldwide.
  • Music is one of hundreds of human universals ethnographers have discovered.
Keep reading Show less
music creativity mind science and art art dance history humanity world cultures

These science-backed mindfulness meditation exercises are built just for you

Machine learning meets meditation? Aura Premium takes advantage of groundbreaking advances to intuitively tailor short, science-backed mindfulness meditation exercises to your needs.

  • 83% of Americans suffer from work-related stress.
  • Aura Premium uses groundbreaking AI to tailor meditation exercises.
  • Mood-tracking technology adjusts your meditations to serve your specific needs.
Keep reading Show less
mind brain mindfulness personal growth science ai