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Social Norms
You've got to know when to fight and when to laugh.
Irene is on a bus with her young kids when two men come on, cussing like sailors. Should Irene step in and say something?
Or are cults the religions we find distasteful?
People who have a regional accent might prefer robots who speak like them over generic voices.
Want to get ahead at work? It ain’t what you say, it’s the way that you say it — and adaptability is essential.
How much do citizens really value free elections?
In hospice care and hospitals, we prioritize those with more life to live over those who are terminally ill. What is that, if not prejudice?
In war zones, aggressors steal art to eradicate the cultural heritage of others. Victims, meanwhile, sell stolen art in order to survive.
France’s notorious disregard for washing gradually changed as military authorities and public schools promoted a modern regime of cleanliness.
Legally smoking joints in city centers will require alertness and a keen sense of orientation — two things stoners are not known for.
There are issues with Kinsey's data, but his books revolutionized Americans' thinking about sex and sexuality.
A history of othering, experimentation, and mystery.
Ideal models of family life have been broken by societal, technological, and cultural shifts — and we need to rethink our options.
Uncovering the ideology of "Karens" and "Kens."
The richness and variety of America’s food landscape, in a buffet of maps.
The idea is to study the thing itself — be it a work of literature, death, family, a car, a vaccine, or the hospital — without preconceived notions, trendy easy answers, or dogma imposed on it.
The debate goes back at least 400 years.
John Templeton Foundation
Perhaps there was something theatrically satisfying about a learned man waving around a flask of pee, looking at it from all angles, sniffing it, and making bold proclamations.
Over the past two decades, the proportion of those who identify as bisexual increased from 1.2% to 4.5%.
From smartphone envy to life dissatisfaction, the root cause of much unhappiness is that we are wired to imagine how things could be better.
Are people are more likely to act less emotionally and more rationally when speaking their second language?
Reject your Mental Map Oversimplifications.
Diogenes engaged in shocking behavior to demonstrate the contradictions, small-mindedness, and sheer absurdity of prevailing social conventions.
Germans are masters of building cars, cooking brats — and sitting while peeing.
How humans came to feel comfortable among strangers, like those in a café, is an under-explored mystery.
John Templeton Foundation
It’s a lot easier to point out things that are gezellig (adjective) than it is to define gezelligheid (noun) itself.
Most people care what others think of them. In many situations, that can be leveraged for the common good.
Being a jerk gets you rich, promoted, and laid (if you're a man). But there is a downside.