“When we notice someone suffering and immediately decide to help them, it “says” to our associates, “See how easily I’m moved to help others? When people near me are suffering, I can’t help wanting to make their situation better; it’s… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“For the psychologist Paul Bloom, this is a huge downside. Empathy, he argues, focuses our attention on single individuals, leading us to become both parochial and insensitive to scale.62 As Bertrand Russell is often reported to have said, “The mark… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“But notice all the conspicuous effort in this story. If Charles’s physicians had simply prescribed soup and bed rest, everyone might have questioned whether… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“In fact, one of the best predictors of dominance is the ratio of “eye contact while speaking” to “eye contact while listening.” Psychologists call… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“Instead, by creating associations that exist out in the broader culture—not just in our own heads, but in the heads of third parties—ads turn… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“Thus we use laughter to gauge and calibrate social boundaries—both behavioral boundaries (norms) and group membership boundaries (who deserves how much of our empathy).… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“In the broadest sense, there are at least two ways to use the danger of norms for comedic effect. The first is to feint… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“When we donate to a good cause, it “says” to our associates, “Look, I’m willing to spend my resources for the benefit of others.… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“In light of all this, we’re now equipped to think about the relationship between laughter and humor. In any given comedic situation, humor precedes… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“Note, however, that a community’s supply of social rewards is limited, so we’re often competing to show more loyalty than others—to engage in a… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“do well to turn Matthew 7:1 on its head: “Judge freely, and accept that you too will be judged.” — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“So it’s a mixed bag. Schools help prepare us for the modern workplace and perhaps for society at large. But in order to do… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“It is a wonderful quirk of our species that the incentives of social life don’t reward strictly ruthless behavior. Leaders who are too domineering… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“80 percent of people chose to award a scholarship to a member of their favored political party, even when another applicant had better grades.… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“But for most trees, height is all about getting more sun. A forest is an intensely competitive place, and sunlight is a scarce but… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“As Bertrand Russell is often reported to have said, “The mark of a civilized man is the capacity to read a column of numbers… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
“Even infants seem to use laughter intentionally, to communicate their emotional state to their interaction partners. Provine describes the “duet” that takes place between… — Kevin Simler Copy Share Image
