Another batch of interesting articles
A Chinese man solved a super-complex math problem. What's he like, what are his thoughts and sorrows?
Before that, he'd published just one scientific paper in his life, and an erroneous one at that, then worked as an accountant at a Subway joint. For ten years he walked and thought, even sold his car just so he could think on the bus on his way to work too.
What should you buy to be happier, what will science say?
The answer is known: experiences and emotions, not material objects.
But there are also nuances: it's not a bad idea to be debt-free, to have savings, and to give gifts to others, preferably ones that will lead to some new fruits, sort of like giving an artist a canvas so you can see a drawing. It's also not a bad idea to buy things you actually use, not ones you “might” use. The article gives other useful tips too.
Why are humans so smart?
Because the noggin is huge, so much so that there are always complications during childbirth and after birth the head grows a lot. And all this just so that right after you're born you know nothing and can do nothing, but instead study, study, and study again, as comrade Lenin bequeathed.
Why going overboard with political correctness is a disaster, and why the left is to blame for the terror of voluntary internet censorship.
Why we are all synesthetes in childhood, and only some of us in adulthood. For those out of the loop: our senses don't operate separately, quite the opposite, incoming data is heavily interconnected, and for some people this connection doesn't break at 7-9 years of age. These folks hear colors, or numbers are painted in a rainbow for them, or sounds turn into visible chains of numbers. Statistically, there are quite a lot of such people, but they often don't think about how they perceive things, because they don't find anything weird about it.
People capable of lucid dreaming are most likely good at analyzing and understanding themselves in waking life too, because, by the looks of it, the exact same part of the brain is responsible for it.
Inventing brands for new products is so not easy that there are special people and whole companies for it, who charge thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, invent dozens of options, and then reflect on them for another month or two.
If you want to understand anything about Saudi Arabia, head over here. The essence of this state is delicate maneuvering by the royal family members between Islamic radical terrorists and corrupting Western liberal values in order not to lose power.
What is the cause of addictions (gambling, alcohol, and the rest?).
The fact that there's a lack of social bonds and natural stimuli. Rats that were deprived of socializing with their kin and the opportunity to explore the world around them did nothing but pour themselves cocaine or sugar. Whereas the ones who were doing fine in the hangout department just enjoyed life anyway.
As soon as Portugal stopped the war on drugs, and instead started programs for the rehabilitation and reintegration of addicts into society, heroin consumption dropped sharply.
Curious facts about rods and cones. For instance, a baby is born without color vision, but by six months they already have Full HD; an average person sees 10 million colors, while 2% of women have a mutation that allows them to see over 100 million.
By the way, there is a woman who sees a whole hundred times more colors than the average person, and she'll be the attention-grabbing picture here.
