Proof social distancing is tough, even on those who like their space.
By now, you’ve seen all the memes and fluffy pop psychology articles trying to convince you that introverts are reigning supreme this year.
We introverts are just gloating over how our once-maligned preferences to stay at home rather than frolic in loud, crowded spaces is now a key asset to survival.
We’re happy dancing (in front of our bedroom mirrors, of course) at having an easy excuse to cancel plans we never wanted to make in the first place.
I’ve let my introvert flag fly high this year. My extrovert partner, on the other hand, gets a weird, distant, almost…
It’s not always easy reaching out to loved ones but these 3 steps can help introverts get unstuck.
In the pre-social media days of childhood, I spent oodles of time happily and unhappily alone.
I’d beg my mom to drive me to the library, where I giddily perused shelf after shelf of YA and classic fiction. I pored over each title and inside book cover with a fine-toothed comb.
By the time I was done, all you could see were my big almond-shaped eyes peeking above the stack of books in my arms.
Reading liberated me from shyness. Traveling through the wardrobe into Narnia was escaping to adventure. …
This 4-step technique for handling insults only works if you apply it to compliments, too.
A few months ago, near the beginning of the US arm of the COVID19, I wrote a psychological analysis of why people refuse to socially distance.
Because politicians injected the pandemic into the polarized arena of US politics, my article pushed a few buttons.
If you scroll through the comments, you’ll see some people praised the article and thanked me. A few politely disagreed, some harshly criticized it, and a handful of trolls insulted me.
I’m by no means a seasoned writer, but the deluge of responses made me realize 3 things:
- I’m no longer a newbie writer, shaky in…
When to share, and when it’s better to keep it to yourself.
I hate romcoms. But one of the things I love most about The Office is the love story between Jim and Pam. The awkwardness and roadblocks make it a much more believable tale than most formulaic love stories in the movies.
For example, Jim and Pam end up keeping good secrets that boost their relationship and bad secrets that threaten it.
When Jim has to go to Florida with some coworkers for several days, he ends up in an awkward encounter in his hotel room with Cathy. …
Answer these 5 questions about your outer vs. inner expectations, then try this approach to meet your goals.
The audience rose to give me a standing ovation. I stepped out from behind the podium to bow graciously.
A man yells above the applause that his wife is so riveted by my speech, she’s waiting at the auditorium door to donate money for the storm doors for my mother’s house. I squint to see her waving a checkbook at me. My heart pounds with pride.
The pounding rises to my ears, becoming louder, beep-ier, and more annoying — until I realize it’s my alarm. It’s 8 am.
The jubilation still floods my chest and cheeks. …
This is why people don’t change their minds
My ex hid me from his parents for 4 years, even after we moved in together.
They’re white, Republican, wealthy, and don’t get out much.
When I finally met them, they loved me. It’s easy to make an exception for the polite, smart, successful, and attractive.
Eventually, he and I broke up for unrelated reasons. And also because of race.
The other day I came across a lengthy social media post from my ex’s sister.
One day at recess when Lilia was 9, she declared she was a proud Republican. …
How algorithms introduce gender and racial bias.
Bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most dangerous factor in the development of AI algorithms. Yes, even more important than that ubiquitous fear immortalized in movies — that robots will kill us all.
Those most at risk for suffering at the hands of bias in AI algorithms are the most vulnerable members of our society. This is no different in healthcare.
According to a study published in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics,
“In contrast to human bias, algorithmic bias occurs when an AI model, trained on a given dataset, produces results that may be completely unintended by…
This is why it happens and how you can fix it.
What makes some types of stressful work become part of your personal identity while other stressful jobs, not so much?
For many in the US, flipping burgers at McDonald’s might not seem like a job that is your life purpose. It can be a vocation because it can be a way to express your core value of service. But for many in the West, the job is simply a paycheck that makes ends meet.
Fast food work doesn’t often form the foundation for how you value yourself for 3 reasons:
- While the work is stressful and difficult, it’s often poorly…
How cognitive biases can cripple even the most well-intentioned organizations.
A red Jaguar convertible pulls up to a middle school on a crisp fall morning.
Tommy opens the passenger door, pausing to confirm that his brand new Air Force Ones are gleaming. Tommy strides from his dad’s car towards the school’s front door as kids gawk, whispering, “Who’s the new kid? He’s so cool!”
At lunch, Tommy sits down at an empty table. In an unspoken, synchronized, magnetic dance, kids from almost all the cool cliques converge toward Tommy to beg him to sit with them.
When Tommy starts to pick on a kid because of the kid’s dirty sneakers…
Stop criticizing and start listening.
In 1773, a group of colonists in Boston threw 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. This clandestine act was a protest of the British parliament’s decision to lower taxes for the East India Company.
The very low tax rate gave the company a monopoly on the booming tea trade in the colony that would become America. That night, they destroyed $18,000 worth of tea, which is worth about $1 million in today’s currency.
The British noticed.
They passed the Coercive Acts (aka the Intolerable Acts) which did the following:
- closed Boston to all merchant shipping
- established military rule…
