Mind & Behavior

Mind & Behavior

Study the science of how we think, feel, and act, with insights that help you better understand yourself and others.

orb weaver
Despite the wide diversity of spider species, most orb-weavers seem to follow the same playbook when building their webs.
Social conflicts can leave molecular marks on animals, according to recent research on the ant species Harpegnathos saltator.
To overcome burnout, we need to change how we think about the relationship between dignity and work, argues Jonathan Malesic.
A woman in a yellow shirt talking on the phone.
Does the voice in your head castigate the voice coming out of a recording device?
The most momentous and significant events in our lives are the ones we do not see coming. Life is defined by the unforeseen.
free will
Many have argued that free will is an illusion, but science does not support that.
Two second graders learn by different approaches. One draws a picture, the other writes a paragraph.
Learning styles are supposed to help learners take ownership of their education, but research doesn’t back up this well-intentioned myth.
Relationship advice
A recent study illuminated surprising differences in how men and women seek help when struggling with relationships.
The history of resuscitation
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive.
How our brains navigate cities
We seem to be wired to calculate not the shortest path but the “pointiest” one, facing us toward our destination as much as possible.
Three people standing on the inside of a clock illustrating an article on daylight saving time.
Daylight saving time was first implemented during the first world war to take advantage of longer daylight hours and save energy. While this made a difference when we heavily relied on coal […]
Dostoevsky
According to literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, Dostoevsky's talents were on par with those of William Shakespeare.
A person lying in bed lacking sleep due to daylight saving time.
These studies are only the tip of the iceberg, with adverse consequence of the time change ranging from student test scores to stock market returns.
A man and a woman drawing on a white board for an article on how your personality type affects your salary.
The highest earning Myers-Briggs personality type? ENTJ.
Ignoring a scientific truth doesn’t change it, even when the consequences are deadly. “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?” Many of us, as children, […]
Hidden variables aren’t ruled out, but they can’t get rid of quantum weirdness. Ever since the discovery of the bizarre behavior of quantum systems, we’ve been forced to reckon with […]
When you view your right hand in a mirror, it appears as a left hand. Writing is reversed, as is the direction of any spinning object: clockwise becomes counterclockwise and […]
And the Macho King, Randy Savage! Over this coming week, things will be quiet here at Starts With A Bang, as I’ll be taking the next week off. But to help […]
If we’re going to open major workplaces, we have to be ready for this enormous information gap. When it comes to knowing your medical status, the ideal scenario is to […]