problem solving
Theory of mind: What chess and drug dealers can teach you about manipulation
Grandmasters and drug dealers have one thing in common: They are many steps ahead of their rivals.
Life hacks to help ADHD or those who struggle with focus and attention
Easily distracted? Try a "distractibility delay."
Chatter: The dark side of your inner voice
Your inner voice can be the devil on your shoulder or the angel. It depends on where your focus lies.
What lies beneath our irrational decisions
In a new book, an MIT scholar examines how game-theory logic underpins many of our seemingly odd and irrational decisions.
Improve your problem-solving with elastic thinking
Elastic thinking can reveal the assumptions that hamstring our ability to solve seemingly intractable problems.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal: Assess risk like a 4-star general
You can’t control external threats, but you can manage how you prepare and respond to the risk.
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Mathematicians suggest the “37% rule” for your life’s biggest decisions
When making any tough decision, the key is not to be overly exploratory or exploitative.
How to manage life’s “inflection points” better
Inflection points veer life in unexpected directions. While unnerving, they provide opportunities for those who can navigate them.
Urban-rural divide: Are city slickers or countryfolk better at navigation?
A large study concludes that people who grew up in rural areas are superior at navigation, likely because cities tend to be less complex.
4 methods to make your own luck
Luck doesn’t fall from the sky. It’s about how you position yourself for life’s challenges.
Chess was once blamed for causing insanity, suicide, and even murder
Chess was once blamed for triggering mental health problems, including suicide and even murder. Today, the same is said of video games.
A new method to boost your creativity gets rave reviews
Can stories help us become more creative?
Problems with no solution: From math to politics, some things humans cannot solve
The very concept of a "problem with no solution" goes against human nature. But we must accept this harsh reality to have peace in our lives.
Three cognitive biases that allow bad ideas to scale
It took a series of ingenious experiments in the 20th century to uncover some of our biggest cognitive biases.
Learning how to learn
We forget how unnatural a lot of formal education is. "Learning how to learn" requires bridging the gap between the abstract and the natural.
Why chess should be required in school
More than a decade ago, Armenia made chess a required subject in school because it teaches kids how to think and cope with failure. The U.S. should follow suit.
The map as detective: finding lost mothers — and fugitive killers
Maps can do more than show us places. They also can help determined people find others long lost, whether birth mothers or fugitive killers.
Einstein, Edison, and Dali’s “creative nap” trick seems to actually work
Historical geniuses used the "creative nap" to give their minds a boost. Apparently, the "hypnagogic state" can help with problem solving.
Why our instincts about innovation and change work against us
New ideas inevitably face opposition. A new book called "The Human Element" argues that overcoming opposition requires understanding the concepts of "Fuel" and "Friction."
What belongs in the “gray area” between science and pseudoscience?
In determining what qualifies as solid science, controversy is inevitable.
Drowning Holland: how the Netherlands will survive in floating cities
With sea levels rising, the Dutch are pondering floating cities — while also exporting their engineering know-how to turn a tidy profit.
How does your personality type affect your income?
The highest earning Myers-Briggs personality type? ENTJ.
Resume-bot goes viral and lands multiple job offers
A marketing professional decided to think creatively and create a resume-bot. It helped him land 14 interviews and 11 job offers.
Leaving the cult of entrepreneurship: Intrapreneurs are the true drivers of innovation.
Intrapreneurs tap into the spirit of entrepreneurialism to innovate and find personal meaning at work, but organizations need to celebrate their efforts more.
Reciprocal bond: When do we learn to trust others?
We are more likely to agree with someone who also agrees with us. Young children, though, only trust themselves. We have to learn to trust.
Swarm intelligence: AI inspired by honeybees can help us make better decisions
From forecasting stock prices to diagnosing disease, Swarm AI enables better group decisions.
Psychopaths can empathize, but the process isn’t automatic
"Theory of mind" enables all people to naturally infer other people's mental states. Psychopaths don't seem to put much effort into the process.
Hack your brain for better problem solving
Tips from neuroscience and psychology can make you an expert thinker.
Generate brilliant ideas by relaxing your cognitive filters
Theoretical physicist Leonard Mlodinow offers three strategies for relaxing your cognitive filters to give your brilliant ideas time to shine in the spotlight of the conscious mind.
7 research-based resolutions that will help strengthen your relationship in the year ahead
Scrap getting fitter or eating better and focus more on the people in your life.