“How ‘Inside Out’ and its sequel changed therapy”

Amazing to see how an animated movie is having such an impact, helping both mental health practitioners and educators, as well as parents.

“The Marshmallow Test does not reliably predict adult functioning”

We’ve all likely heard about the Marshmallow Test. Kids are given an option of a marshmallow now, or more marshmallows later. And, supposedly, the kids who resist eating the marshmallow now do better in life. Delayed gratification is, we were told, a key indicator of various success measures later in life. I was never totally convinced about this to be honest. And it appears to have now been debunked:

Using a preregistered analysis, Marshmallow Test performance was not strongly predictive of adult achievement, health, or behavior… No clear pattern of moderation was detected between delay of gratification and either socioeconomic status or sex. Results indicate that Marshmallow Test performance does not reliably predict adult outcomes.

“Consensus is the enemy of greatness”

Brian Halligan, co-founder and former CEO of HubSpot, on why he stopped looking for consensus:

“For a long time, I looked for consensus. I think consensus is really the enemy of scale, and so I used to say, “Whenever we’re making an important decision, there should be winners in the room and losers. We shouldn’t find that negotiated settlement that everyone is happy with. Somebody should be unhappy, three or four people should walk out unhappy, and one should walk out happy, and we’re all going to be good with it.” As you get bigger, the gravity pulls you towards consensus, and I think consensus is the enemy of greatness.”

Do we no longer want to be unique?

Fascinating study showing that fewer people want to stand out in public.

The study looked at three dimensions of uniqueness: concern about other people’s reactions, desire to break the rules and the willingness to defend beliefs publicly. All three facets declined but the most dramatic were people being hesitant to defend their beliefs publicly (a 6.52% decline) and becoming more concerned with what people think about them (a 4.28% decline).

This data suggests that individuals see that expressing uniqueness might compromise their ability to fit in with others or may even lead to being ostracized.

“If cynicism was a pill, it would be a poison.”

An interview in New Scientist with a recovering cynic on what science tells us about the impact of being cynical.

Cynicism hurts us in basically every way a scientist can measure. Cynics suffer in terms of their mental health. They are more depressed and anxious. They tend to abuse substances like alcohol more; their relationships are shorter-lived and less satisfying. Their health is worse – everything from cellular inflammation to coronary disease to diabetes, all these are predicted by cynicism. They do worse financially.

Tim Harford on AI and plausible bullshit

Not for the first time, we learn that large language models can be phenomenal bullshit engines. The difficulty here is that the bullshit is so terribly plausible. We have seen falsehoods before, and errors, and goodness knows we have seen fluent bluffers. But this? This is something new.

Adam Peaty: Why silver is better than gold

As soon as you define your whole life by medals, you’ll have no one to share it with. I’d rather get silver and have someone to share it with than gold and be on my own.

Quite a remarkable transformation.

People with type 1 diabetes may soon only need to give themselves insulin once a week

Scientists have found a solution that experts say comes as close to a cure for type 1 diabetes as any drug therapy could: smart insulin that lies dormant in the body and only springs into action when needed.

This would be transformative for so many people.

Be nice – but not too nice – to chatbots

Using polite prompts…can produce higher-quality responses from a large language model (LLM)—the technology powering AI chatbots. But there’s a point of diminishing returns; excessive flattery can cause a model’s performance to deteriorate, according to the paper.

“How to do one thing at a time”

Chris Guillebeau outlines a helpful, simple process:

1. You must identify the one thing.

2. It must be specific and measurable.

3. You must commit to doing only the one thing.

Simple doesn’t mean easy though!

Adam Grant on why he was wrong about the Olympics.

“You can love your people without hating others.”

He also adds:

I used to think the ideal state of the world was striving to transcend borders altogether. The Olympics reminded me that rejecting negative nationalism doesn’t require us to abandon positive patriotism

“Concentrate! How to improve your focus”

Lots of good tips and reminders in this article in The Times.

We tend to think mostly of behaviour around screens, but being able to focus is as much about what we eat and drink, sleeping well, and exercising.

What lies beneath: the growing threat to the hidden network of cables that power the internet

Fascinating article in The Guardian looking at how the internet really works, and the threats that would cause havoc if realised.

Turns out a quantum leap isn’t what I thought it was. (Who knew ‘quantum’ doesn’t mean huge? I didn’t!) And the significance of this to our personal development is fascinating. Love this latest article – The Quantum Self – by AleXander McManus.

What would it mean to be done for the day?

What you realise, the moment you ask “what would it mean to be done for the day?”, is that the answer can’t possibly involve doing all the things that need doing – even though that’s the subconscious goal with which many of us approach life, driving ourselves crazy in the process. If there are a thousand things that need doing, you’re going to need to arrive at some definition of “finished” that doesn’t encompass them all. Maybe it’s two hours on your main current project, and three detailed emails you’ve been meaning to write, plus a couple of quicker tasks? Your definition of “done” may be very different, of course, depending on your work, energy levels, and existing commitments. But merely by asking the question you’ll be leaving behind the daily quest to do more than you can – which systematically prevents you taking satisfaction in whatever you do manage to accomplish.

Always enjoy reading and pondering on Oliver Burkeman’s thoughts and perspectives.

Appreciated this on interested versus committed from Shane Parrish’s latest post.

Most people are interested. Few are truly committed. Interested people act when it’s convenient; committed people act no matter what.

Talk to your neighbour, your barista, or the person on the bus, your health could depend on it

This is a good interview with David Robson, author of The Laws of Connection.

An important reminder to stay social if we want to stay healthy

After a ten-year hiatus, my long-time friend and mentor, Alex McManus, is back writing.

The Digital Grim Reaper - by AleXander McManus

There’s a ton of great thoughts and reflections in his article, but it’s this one line that I’ve been musing on for days:

“Utilize AI for the purposes of making the world more human.”