Category Archives: Human Behavior

We are all losers. None of us makes it through this journey called life without failing at least a few times, whether that failure comes in athletics, politics, school or relationships. Theres plenty of literature supporting the idea that losing is important to character development, so why is the term pejorative? Why does our president dismiss his rivals as losers, as if that is the worst thing anyone can be? Why instead arent we embracing the term and wearing it with pride?

Google Ngrams, which is an online search engine that allows you to chart how often a word or phrase appears in printed texts within Googles text corpora, shows that the word loser began trending upward in the 1960s with a steep spike in usage since 2000. At the same time Americans have become increasingly infatuated with winners, while losers are cultural pariahs.

Molly Absolon

But the problem with our fixation on winning is that for every winner there is a loser, and those losers may be the winner the next time. Loss does not indicate an inherent character flaw. It just shows that at a given moment, under a particular set of circumstances, someone came up short. There are plenty of famous examples of this: Michael Jordon, JK Rowling, Steve Jobs, and the list goes on. Athletes repeatedly fail before succeeding. The tech world talks about failing up, where someones accumulation of bad ideas eventually results in a good one. Losing is important. It teaches us a lot, yet we disparage the idea, looking down on losers until they become winners.

Some psychologists argue competition is a genetic component of human behavior. If you buy into this viewpoint, you believe that from the time we are born we are fighting for attention and survival at the expense of others. This is the notion of Social Darwinism, a theory that has been distorted from Charles Darwins original concept of natural selection to equate survival with winning and losing, where the winner takes all. Such an interpretation of evolution minimizes the importance of cooperation and dependence in the success of a species, and is believed by many to be incomplete and a distortion of Darwins theory. Yet the idea and the phrase, survival of the fittest remains firmly entrenched in our lexicon and is often used to excuse or explain human behavior.

But you can find equally loud voices arguing the opposite. These people believe competition is a learned behavior, and its importance varies according to societal norms. For example, anthropologist Margaret Meads research into the Zuni people of Arizona found that they valued cooperation far more than competition. As an example, she cited an annual footrace in which everyone in the community participated, and the winner was not recorded, beyond making note that if one person won too many years in a row, he or she was banned from the race in the future. Winning, it seems, was not the point.

Based on findings such as these, Mead concluded that competitiveness is a culturally created aspect of human behavior, and its prevalence in a particular society depends on how much that society values it. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that Americans are known throughout the world for our obsession with winning. We idealize the rugged individual who is willing to fight for principles. We worship successful athletes as heroes, and disparage the unsuccessful as, well, losers, ignoring the fact that in denouncing losers we are not only condemning ourselves and everyone who has ever failed at an endeavor, we are also moving toward a world where people are reluctant to take chances because they are afraid of the ignomy of defeat.

When my daughter was a child she played soccer alongside practically every other 6-year-old in town. She wasnt particularly good, nor did she enjoy the sport. We made her stick it out because we thought it would teach her something about commitment and perseverance. At the end of the season all the kids got participation trophies. I was surprised by this. I dont recall participation trophies from my youth. My most unearned reward as a kid was a blue-ribbon for the 6-and-under 25-yard backstroke, in which I won only because no one else was in the race. In the decades between my childhood and my daughters, people seem to have become worried about kids feeling badly about themselves if they lost or werent good at an activity, and so participation trophies became the norm. That trend became so prevalent in the United States and Canada that trophy and award sales totaled an estimated $3 billion in 2013.

We are now experiencing the backlash of that movement. Today most people agree that nonstop recognition and rewarding someone with a trophy for something as insignificant as showing up for practice does not inspire kids to succeed. It doesnt even inspire them to try hard. Why bother, they might say, if Im going to get a trophy regardless of my effort? Some people go so far as to say the generation of kids who received participation trophies is a generation of underachievers. Kids who never learned how to fail and, in the process, also never learned how to win. I think this is probably overstating the effect of those trophies. Even at 6, my daughter knew hers wasnt worth much, and it was quickly relegated to the trash can. But I do think Americans are uncomfortable losing, despite the fact that having winners (which we love) inevitably means someone had to lose.

I thought about this idea when I was a wannabe mountaineer in the 1990s. I went with some friends to climb Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada. We waited a week at an airstrip in Kluane National Park for the weather to clear so we could fly in, moved up the mountain for a few days, and then, at around 15,000 feet, were hit by a storm. For the next week we sat in our tents playing cribbage, reading, staring at the ripstop nylon squares in the tent over our heads, shoveling snow, listening to the wind roaring outside, sleeping and eating. When the weather finally broke we turned around and went home. I felt like a total failure. Our inability to summit seemed to define our trip and our skill, and we came up short.

I remember thinking people should actually applaud mountaineers who turn around. I remember wishing we were better at recognizing individuals who fail to summit, medal or win a title, because they put in as much effort and work as those who succeed. I truly believed, and still believe, that we need to be better at this, and yet, inevitably, when I have friends who return from a mountaineering trip the first question out of my mouth is, Did you summit? Ditto when someone runs a race or plays a game. Like most Americans, my interest always homes in on someones success or failure.

Id love to change our cultural norms so that cooperation and interdependence is valued as highly as winning. Id love to see Americans embrace the idea that losing is a temporary setback that teaches us skills we need to succeed on the next go round. I think, philosophically, most of us agree with this idea. The problem is that culturally we still consider losers losers.

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Mountainside: What does it mean to be a loser? - Jackson Hole News&Guide

Human Behavior

Ely Center Speaks The Language – New Haven Independent

November 25, 2020 medical

Cynthia Y. Coopers A Show of Strength might conjure a host of associations ocean waves, birds wings, the ceiling of a church. Its all of these things, and at its core, none of them. Its just a pattern of line and color, repeating ideas. We fill the pattern with meaning, as humans do. Sometimes that tendency to find patterns, and meaning in patterns, leads us astray. But, when handled with grace, it also leads constellations in the sky and holidays around solstices and equinoxes. It can be the foundation of building a community.

Coopers piece is part of A Pattern Language, an exhibition running at Perspectives: The Gallery at Whitney Center in Hamden through Jan. 4 and online at the Ely Center of Contemporary Arts website. Curated by Debbie Hesse and Shaunda Holloway who also has an exhibit at Creative Arts Workshop on Audubon Street, running through this weekend the exhibition features work by Nan Adams, Cynthia Y. Cooper, Will Holub, Aileen Ishamael, Ellen Pankey, Jessica Smolinski, and Ellen Weider.

This exhibition takes its title from the 1977 book by architect Christopher Alexander, the curators write in an accompanying statement. A pattern language, they explain, is an organized and coherent set of patterns, each describing a problem and the foundation for a solution. Intersecting patterns can express deeper wisdom and energy a sense of wholeness, elegance, spirit.

Each of the artists explore how patterns can form a personal alphabet, communicating ideas about human behavior and highlighting ways that communities and environments interact. Drawing inspiration from personal, historical, and cultural iconography such as quilts and folk art traditions, travelogues, structural diagrams these artworks presented together generate a visual vibration and sense of unity.

Of the paintings, Aileen Ishamaels Las Reinas most explicitly uses a sense of repeating motifs to connect with a larger whole, building an image of female strength from a series of naturally occurring shapes.

A Pattern Language runs at Perspectives: The Gallery at Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Dr., Hamden, south entrance. Hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

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Ely Center Speaks The Language - New Haven Independent

Human Behavior

Why Weddings Are the Perfect Superspreader Event – Healthline

November 25, 2020 medical

Once one of lifes joyous occasions, weddings have taken on a new meaning as dangerous, sometimes illicit affairs during the pandemic.

Case in point: A wedding reception with 55 people in a rural Maine town in early August. A lack of physical distancing and mask wearing at the event led to a total of 177 COVID-19 cases, including seven deaths, within just 5 weeks.

At an Ohio wedding, dozens of people contracted coronavirus infections, including the bride and groom after the big event.

Despite multiple examples of weddings linked to outbreaks of new infections, a survey of 10,000 couples with weddings scheduled through January 2021 found that 41 percent still plan to move forward with their original wedding dates.

Could these weddings become superspreader events as well?

Absolutely, infectious disease experts say. Heres why.

Many couples whove had weddings in recent months have tried to make the event safer by providing hand sanitizer, requiring vendors to mask up, and encouraging guests to spread out.

But those efforts might not be enough to prevent a reception from turning into a superspreader event.

By their very nature, weddings are supposed to be a time of celebrating love and bonding with friends and family, who may have endured crowds while traveling in from other states.

That, in turn, increases the risk of COVID-19 for everyone at the event.

Our social instincts also increase the dangers at weddings, says Debra Goff, PharmD, FCCP, an infectious disease expert and founding member of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

Its such a happy event, and when the bride and groom come up to you, you say, Im just going to give them one hug. Telling people not to come near you, stay 6 feet away, goes against our normal human behavior, and thats what makes weddings so dangerous, she explained.

The dangers of a wedding increase once everyone sits down to eat and removes their masks.

Even if each table only includes people from a single household, a large group of guests gathered in one space without their masks on creates an environment where infections could spread easily, Goff said.

Whats more, drinking impairs peoples judgement, making them more likely to take risks they would otherwise avoid. Dancing draws people physically closer too.

Thats just the perfect recipe for spreading COVID, Goff said.

If just one person at the wedding has an infection, they may transmit it to dozens of other guests who then take it back home, potentially transmitting it to others and thus creating a superspreader event.

Couples may have been able to reduce the risk of COVID-19 by moving their receptions outside last summer.

But now its getting increasingly challenging to have a safe wedding as the weather gets colder, said Dr. Shobha Swaminathan, associate professor at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and medical director of the infectious diseases practice at University Hospital in Newark.

Gathering with others outdoors tends to be safer because the constantly moving fresh air disperses aerosol droplets that contain the virus, making it less likely that someone else inhales them.

Its a lot more challenging to provide adequate ventilation indoors.

You end up pushing around the COVID-infected air, and thats how everyone downstream of a person with the disease at the event gets infected, Goff said.

Venues can install HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filters to help remove around 99 percent of viruses from the air and make weddings a lot safer.

With that being said, not every venue has these filters. And even those that do cant eliminate the risk of COVID-19 entirely.

While infectious disease experts warn against attending weddings during the pandemic, they know that turning down an invitation from a loved one can feel like an impossible thing to do.

If I had a brother getting married, I would want to be a part of that. We are human beings, and we want to be part of these events, Swaminathan said.

Before RSVPing yes to a wedding, experts recommend asking the hosts about the safety measures theyll have in place, the number of expected attendees and where theyre coming from, the ventilation system at the venue, requirements that guests wear masks, whether alcohol will be served, and how far apart tables will be spaced.

The more you can understand about the event, the better you can assess how risky it will be for you to attend.

Also take into account any underlying health conditions you have that may put you at higher risk for severe COVID-19 should you contract the virus.

As for couples on the fence about whether to move forward with wedding plans in the coming months, consider postponing until 2022, when its likely that many people will be vaccinated, Goff said.

The risk of having events in closed environments is incredibly high right now, she said.

You need to be socially responsible to your fellow citizens, including your family members. Do you really want to be the one that causes your best friend or parents to die from COVID? Thats an individual choice we need to make, Goff said.

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Why Weddings Are the Perfect Superspreader Event - Healthline

Human Behavior

Can We Trust Predictive Research? – Twin Cities Business Magazine

November 25, 2020 medical

Quantitative research has always been a fascination of mine, but also a point of disgust. The idea that we can use personal opinion research to predict human behavior is a farce. We attempt to remove our guilt (as researchers) for getting it wrong by claiming it is within the margin of error. We cant live in the margin of error and therefore cant trust predictive research. Bias is built into the questions, interviewers, interviewees, and analysis of any quantitative research effort and certainly in polls and pollsters.

So, lets explore this.

Doctors use experience, years of study, clear understanding of the averages, objectivity and professionalism to make predictions about our life and death odds. Would you have any pollster in this country give you medical advice on the likelihood of your survival in an upcoming medical procedure?

Sure, doctors are wrong, and they pay a huge price if their practices are determined to be incompetent. But pollsters got this election so wrong, again, that the industry may never be trusted again. It is one thing for a brand to lose trust, but an entire industry is one sad outcome.

The key word above is objectivity. Doctors dont want to give us good news on a prognosis in order to keep our hopes up for a win. Doctors dont want to spin the numbers in favor of one outcome or another, they want us to know the truth or as close as they can approximate it. We need more pollsters to see their jobs as objective professionals and less as political hacks.

Heres whats fundamentally flawed with quantitative polling research, in case youre wondering.

Time: Asking a question on a Monday about a behavior that happens on a Tuesday might as well be decades away. The last piece of information before walking into a polling place can have a dramatic impact, hence we keep political signs away from voting locations.

Rational over emotional: A researchers phone call or email survey is about as emotional as a pet rock. These behaviors (voting) are not rational or contained with the check of a box, they are highly emotional. Whos willing to disclose deep emotions to a stranger after a 10 minute phone conversation?

Context: The closest to context pollsters can get is exit polling and even those numbers have been proven off. If that tells you anything about how hard it is to replicate context, imagine taking a phone survey 6 months before an election and predicting a specific behavior in a small booth with a Sharpie pen.

But, by the time youre reading this it is likely youve read plenty of the flaws with polls and perhaps made the leap to questioning quantitative research in general. So, what is the answer to trusting your quantitative research findings again?

Objectivity:Like your doctor, a good research team needs to have an objective seat when analyzing the research. If your doctor is in house then youll need to find objectivity in some other way. When it comes to the success or failure of your brand, objectivity can be found; when it comes to politics, it isnt as easy.

Emotional over rational: it is best to make rational decisions with emotional data, not the reverse. Emotionalize the data to fully understand it instead of trying harder to put emotional data into rational constraints (aka small boxes and bar charts). This means visualizing data in ways that allows the team to see the underlying emotion.

Moments: It is 90 seconds in time, almost the time it takes to choose between two ripe melons or two old white guys. We can find so much in the moments when decisions happen and weave this with quantitative data. The best research is a blend of both qualitative and quantitative; knowing the weaknesses of each.

Though, the search for truth is a challenge if you dont believe in it. Human behavior is a fickle thing, we are not robots and generally dont fit into the algorithms of a standard data set. We need to have some empathy for the oddities and crevices of human culture.

If youre looking to understand human behaviors, observe it, embrace empathy and real people in their circumstances. If youre stuck in the circular reference world of relativism, this will be a challenge. Get yourself out of your own patterns, and consume the content made for others, and listen deeply to what it says. And, in true empathetic form, reserve judgment, just learn.

Enjoy the discovery.

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Can We Trust Predictive Research? - Twin Cities Business Magazine

Human Behavior

Study: Second wave partially caused by lax behavior of Mass. residents – Up News Info

November 25, 2020 medical

As Massachusetts enters the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, theres one factor that could either help or hurt the spread of cases within the next few weeks: human behavior.

The key is how humans behave during this , according to a study published by a group of researchers at Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers, and Northwestern universities. Human behavior is cited as both the good and bad news. While behavior has aided the second wave of the virus, changes in behavior, and potentially policy handed down by lawmakers, could stop the spread, the researchers said.

Our data confirm a substantial relaxation of many of the behaviors that helped slow the spread of the disease in the spring, the study says, while also noting that researchers dont believe current restrictions will greatly stop the spread.

In taking a look at just mask wear, recent survey data collected for the state shows that Massachusetts residents have mostly adopted proper mask wearing about 80 percent of people are very closely following mask-wearing guidelines, which is among the highest numbers in the country.

However, about 1 in 5 people polled for the study indicate that they are not very closely following guidelines for mask wear.

But wearing a mask isnt enough to stop the second wave, according to David Lazer, a Northeastern professor and one of the studys authors.

The good news here is that mask wearing has increased, and is higher in Massachusetts than other states, Lazer said in an email to Boston.com. The bad news is that thats not enough. Other behaviors have relaxed quite a bit, and the result (at least partially) is the current surge of case counts. This becomes a particular concern around the holidays, which may increase inter-household physical proximity.

Over the last few weeks, Massachusetts has seen COVID-19 cases skyrocket. There were 1,785 new cases reported on Monday and 18 new deaths. Looking back to July, the state had hit a low case count of about 200 per day, the study says. That number has doubled multiple times over, from between July 1 and Oct. 1, and Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, and then exceeding 2,000 cases per day in the first 11 days of November.

If the current growth rate persists, the case counts would exceed 10,000 per day by December, the study says. Such numbers will eventually result in many hospitalizations and deaths, and a general caseload that would dramatically and adversely affect healthcare across the board, as Massachusetts hospitals would be under enormous pressure.

One of the problems is that people have become less vigilant since the spring in adhering to behaviors to help curb virus spread. The study indicates that in terms of visiting restaurants: Fewer than 5 percent of survey respondents went to one within the hours prior to being polled back in April and May. In October, that number jumped to 15 percent.

People are also socializing more with people outside their households, up from 22 percent in April to 45 percent in October, the study said.

Part of this uptick is not just people themselves, but also the governments decision to keep things like restaurants and gyms open this when they were closed during the initial surge, according to researchers.

The study also suggests that limiting hours at places like restaurants Gov. Charlie Baker imposed a curfew of 9:30 p.m. on restaurants for table service, as well as shuttering businesses like theaters, casinos, and gyms by this could have negative effects, with the idea that more people could be in these spaces during the hours theyre open.

The researchers determined instead that stricter policies or closures could be needed to make the coming months less painful.

The effectiveness of behavior changes in crushing the curve in the spring, and the apparent importance of restaurants, gyms, and other settings that people congregate, highlights the potential for aggressive policy interventions to change our behaviors to reduce the spread, the study said. It is unlikely that the current measures of the Massachusetts government will substantially bend the growth curve of the disease.

Massachusetts is, of course, not alone in its second surge. Cases have drastically increased throughout the country and in Europe, where, in some countries, lockdowns went into effect late last month.

Massachusetts is on a similar trajectory, just lagging a few weeks, the study said.

But regardless of whether those lockdowns are enacted here, people can change their behavior of their own free will if theyre serious about curbing the effects of virus spread, the researchers noted.

The approaching holidays make this precisely the right to get serious about behavior change, the study reads. The risk, but also the opportunity, is undeniable.

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Study: Second wave partially caused by lax behavior of Mass. residents - Up News Info

Human Behavior

The meaning and power of our tears – The Jewish Star

November 25, 2020 medical

By Rabbi Hersh Tzvi Weinreb

Many years ago, when I was studying for my doctorate in psychology, we had a number of fairly strict requirements in addition to our courses in psychology. For example, we were expected to possess a reading knowledge of two foreign languages, and Hebrew was then not one of them. We were also required to study statistics and to take several courses in what was called the biological bases of behavior. These courses were designed to provide us would-be experts on the mind with some understanding of the workings of the body.

The instructor had each of us choose a topic, research it thoroughly, and present our findings to the class. One that I selected was the physiology of sleep; another, the effects of physical exercise on emotions. Relevant to this weeks parsha is a third topic I selected tears. If I recall correctly, I entitled my talk, Shedding Tears: A Uniquely Human Behavior.

It amazed me at how little was known about tears back then. In preparation for this column, I had a brief consultation with Google and discovered that not much more is known today about the correlation between tears and mood improvement and such questions as why women shed tears more easily than men.

We are on solid ground when we explain why onions stimulate tears, or why our noses run when we cry. But we remain in the dark as to why crying for emotional reasons seems to be unique to humans. Crocodiles shed tears, but not because they are emotionally upset or aesthetically inspired.

At this point, I am sure that readers have begun to wonder about the connection of my abiding and consuming interest in the phenomenon of human tears to this weeks Torah portion, Vayetzei (Genesis 28:10-32:3). Let me assure you, there is a connection, and it is to these remarkable verses: Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes; and Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

Many find it curious that the Bible accentuates Rachels physical beauty. There is, however, ample precedent for that. Her predecessors Rebecca and Sarah are both described as exceedingly beautiful. But why is Leahs physical appearance denigrated? Why do we need to be told that her eyes were weak, soft and tender? Is this facial feature of Leahs a virtue or a blemish? And if it is the latter, why mention it?

Rashi explains, Leah supposed that she was destined to marry Esau, hence she shed tears. She heard people say that Rebecca had two sons and Laban two daughters. Surely, the older daughter will marry the older son, and the younger daughter the younger son. This prediction, this assumption that she was destined to spend her life with the wicked Esau, troubled her greatly, and she cried and cried until her tears disfigured her beautiful face.

Chassidic masters have interpreted this seemingly superficial difference between Rachels pristine beauty and Leahs imperfect appearance as symbolic of two types of moral heroines. Rachel represents the perfect tzaddeket who encounters no challenges to her moral perfection. Leah, on the other hand, exemplifies the person who overcomes obstacles and experiences setbacks in her struggle to achieve the status of tzaddeket. Leahs tears are the tears of a baalat teshuvah, one who has known disappointment and failure in her progress toward perfection and whose tears are an essential component of her moral triumph.

This view of tears as part and parcel of the struggle of the searching soul is found time and time again in King Davids tehillim. Thus, in Psalm 42, we read: Like a hind crying for water, my soul cries for You, O G-d my tears have been my food day and night; I am ever taunted with, Where is your G-d?

And in psalm 56, we learn that not only do tears comprise the experience of the spiritual seeker, but that the Almighty keeps track of tears, cherishing them and preserving them: You keep count of my wanderings; You put my tears into Your flask; into Your record.

Finally, the Book of Psalms teaches us that tears shed in the interest of drawing closer to G-d not only are eventually effective, but that those tears are transformed into songs of joy. Thus, we have become familiar with the phrase in the Shir HaMaalot, Psalm 126, which reads: They who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy.

Leahs weak eyes are not a physical defect. Her tears are emblems of her moral strivings. Her tears are not signs of weakness or cowardice; rather, they encompass her strength of character, and we would be well advised to learn from Leah how and when to cry.

It was about the time that I presented that paper on the physiology of tears in graduate school that I first appreciated what has since become one of my favorite novels, Charles Dickens Great Expectations. Dickens portrays a Jew as a kind, compassionate and heroic figure. I also admire the following quotation from the novel, one that I have copied down for reference in my work as both a psychotherapist and spiritual guide:

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears. I was better after I had cried, than before more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.

I could easily conclude this essay with the above quotation from this great British novelist, one of the keenest observers of the human condition. But I choose instead to conclude with this Talmudic teaching, found in Tractate Berakhot 32b:

Rabbi Elazar also said: Since the day the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer were locked, as it is said: Though I plead and call out, He shuts out my prayer. (Lamentations 3:80) Yet, despite the fact that the gates of prayer were locked, the gates of tears were never locked, as it is stated: Hear my prayer, Lord, and give ear to my pleading, keep not silence at my tears. (Psalms 39:13)

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The meaning and power of our tears - The Jewish Star

Human Behavior

Excitation-Transfer Effect and the Secret of Falling in Love Instantly – The Great Courses Daily News

November 25, 2020 medical

By Mark Leary, Ph.D., Duke University Excitation-transfer effect makes people believe they are madly in love with someone when they are just excited due to the environment. (Image: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock)

In simple terms, the excitation-transfer effect misattributes one persons physiological arousal to another person. Consequently, they feel that they have fallen in love with the other person when they have not. What makes a person fall in love at all?

There are some chemicals involved in falling in love: dopamine, PEA, oxytocin, and serotonin. Some people can make a person release these chemicals in a way that passionate love is formed. Why only some people? The answer is not clear yet, but scientists have a few theories.

First, love may be rooted in peoples earliest experiences with closeness and intimacy when they were infants. The stimuli associated with comfort and closeness as an infant get imprinted into peoples brains. Encountering the same stimuli can make an adult feel positive toward some people and even fall in love.

This is a transcript from the video series Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior. Watch it now, on The Great Courses Plus.

Emotional and physiological arousal lead to passionate love and falling in love. Normally, it is the person who arouses the emotions, but sometimes the arousal can be mistakenly attributed to a person. Of course, the arousal cannot make a person fall in love with just anyone, but if they like the person a bit, it can mislead them.

This is studied and proved by researchers in studies called excitation transfer.

Learn more about solving psychological mysteries.

As the name suggests, excitation from one thing can be transferred to another thing and make the excited person think that all the excitation comes from one source. The source of excitation can be anything, from watching a horror movie to doing physical activities such as sports.

The effect can work in situations where a person is disliked as well. If one dislikes a person in an unfavorable environment, they will misattribute all the negative feelings to the person and like them even less.

In one study on men, the participants were divided into two groups. One ran two minutes on a treadmill, and the other ran only 15 seconds. Naturally, the first group had higher arousal. Both were then shown a videotape of a woman that they thought they would meet later.

The videotape had two versions: one making the woman look attractive and one unattractive. Next, the participants had to rate how much they expected that they would like her when they finally met. Of course, both groups liked the attractive version more, but that is not the point.

Those with higher arousal liked the attractive version more and the unattractive version less than the other group. The excitation-transfer effect can occur after any situation that leads to arousal. Adrenaline can make the person more affectionate and cause some shocking experiences.

Learn more about what makes people happy.

One interesting outcome of the excitation-transfer effect is the morning-after phenomenon: a person meets someone in a good pub, with good music, good drinks, good company, dancing, and the excitement and anxiety associated with meeting new people. They immediately decide they are very much attracted to the person and they finally spend the night together.

When they wake up in the morning, without the environment and its different causes of arousal, they might even wonder how they could find this person attractive.

Another example of the excitation-transfer effect is when couples have an intense fight and immediately after they begin emotionally and passionately making up. How is that possible? The arousal from fighting and shouting remains a while after they end the fight, and they no longer attribute it to anger, but to their attraction to the other person.

So, is love a real thing or a Western invention?

Anthropologists used to attribute romantic love exclusively to Western cultures. They were very wrong. A study on 166 cultures showed that 147 of them reported falling in passionate love. About the other 19 cultures, it was not clear if the notion did not exist or if the researchers failed to uncover it. The results were enough to conclude that romantic love is in human nature.

Of course, expressing it may differ vastly from culture to culture, but it still exists. Its role in marriage also varies in different cultures. Another study showed that only five percent of Americans and the Japanese would marry a suitable person that they have no romantic love for. However, 50% of Indians and Pakistanis would do that since arranged marriages are still common in these cultures.

All being said, scientists still have no clear and definite explanation for how love occurs, but they do have some basics and related phenomena covered.

The excitation-transfer effect explains how the excitement caused by the environment and different things can be wrongly attributed to a person whom someone likes.

A common example of the excitation-transfer effect is when a person meets someone in a bar or club and goes home with them, but the next morning, when the excitement caused by the environment is gone, they cannot believe how they liked that person enough to sleep with them.

The excitation-transfer effect is the result of misattributing excitement to a person, not its real cause, and misinterpreting it to falling in love or liking someone very much. When it happens, people mistakenly think they like someone, when they really do not.

Sometimes the excitation-transfer effect can mislead people into thinking that they are in love. However, in cases without the effect, specific stimuli need to be aroused for a person to fall in love.

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Excitation-Transfer Effect and the Secret of Falling in Love Instantly - The Great Courses Daily News

Human Behavior

Next four years with Biden will be truthful, transparent and predictable – Montgomery Advertiser

November 25, 2020 medical

Jim Vickrey, Special to the Advertiser Published 12:56 a.m. CT Nov. 25, 2020

Jim Vickrey writes from his native Montgomery, where he resides after a nearly fifty year-long career as a college professor, lawyer, and university president. He is Professor Emeritus at Troy University.(Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)

Did you hear it? I did.

As President-elect Joe Biden announced the latest round of new leaders in his administration, I heard a collective sigh of relief in our house and in houses around the country at the very least in the homes of more than 80,000,000 Americans who voted for just this kind of change.

But, I suspect, many millions of other Americans are also welcoming the low-key sort of focused and experienced leadership we are being introduced to. And did you notice? The announcements were not about the soon-to-be-president; they were about the qualifications of the individuals and of their desire to "serve others" in our land and to make America a lamp of positive world leadership ... again. That is how we keep America great.

For at least the next four years, beginning January 20, 2021, we won't have to wonder what the next outrageous tweet from the WH will say ... what American laws and traditions are being violated ... what norms of decent human behavior might be trashed before nightfall ... what long-standing U.S. policies (e.g., environmental regs) are being ignored and/or wiped off the books.No, we are now seeing a return to rational, fact-based decision-making of the sort we deserve, of the sort George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama personified (I didn't like some of their decisions but I admired the way they made all of them).

Having met Joe Biden years ago in Birmingham and having observed him closely as vice president, I have every confidence that he will make the perfect president to follow in the wake of the disruptions of the past 1,400 days, which he will not add to.I also know that he will be as transparent, truthful and predictableas possible. Hewill not try to break the record of the current president, whose total of documented falsehoods and lies now exceeds 27,000 and counting.

God bless America, indeed, as John Kerry made me say today as I listened to him and the other highly qualified appointees/nominees speak of their honor and humility in the face of the announcements of their new leadership challenges.

Rationality, factuality, patriotism with an emphasis on the country rather than on personal aggrandizement, values we were taught on our mothers' knees, true religion that honors God and people and actually believes in operationalizing Jesus' Great Commandment (which is actually the Great Jewish Commandment) these are going to be evident again in the People's House, which has been soiled by unlawful political use of it in campaign events, especially during the past six months. Sigh.

And did you notice: The stock market did not "crash" during the last 16 days indeed, it just set a new record (it crossed the 30,000 mark; the media did not stop talking about "COVID ... COVID ... COVID on November 4 (how could they in the wake of the tidal wave of infections the current team in D.C. is leaving the new team with?); and the predictions of massive voter fraud from mail-in balloting turned out to be frauds themselves? None of the "hoaxes" turned out to be so.

I am so glad to have lived long enough to treasure this moment in our country's history. As Carlyle said, "Change ... is painful, yet ever needful."

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Human Behavior

What comes after THANKSGIVING ‘MIND-BOGGLING’ demand at FOOD PANTRIES HEALEY sues BOSTON SPORTS CLUBS – Politico

November 25, 2020 medical

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy early Thanksgiving! Im grateful for the opportunity to show up in your inbox every morning, and I hope you find a safe way to celebrate the holiday this year.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Massachusetts Playbook will not publish Thursday, Nov. 26 and Friday, Nov. 27. Ill be back in your inbox Monday, Nov. 30.

THANKSGIVING PREP IS UNDERWAY Thanksgiving is going to look a lot different this year.

Massachusetts is in the middle of a surge in Covid-19 cases, and officials are urging people to stay home and celebrate with immediate family to avoid spreading the virus. But an influx in coronavirus tests over the last week is a sign that some people plan to travel for the holiday, Gov. Charlie Baker said earlier this week.

And plans are already underway for what comes after Thanksgiving. Littleton school officials are asking parents to sign a form pledging that they did not gather in large groups for Thanksgiving before children can to return to class. The Cambridge City Council is pushing for the city to shut down indoor dining. And Salem is preparing to expand free coronavirus tests for residents after the holiday.

According to a nationwide survey, a majority of Bay State families are keeping their Thanksgiving celebrations small this year. Around a quarter of people in Massachusetts plan to spend Thanksgiving with people outside their household, according to a Dynata survey published by the New York Times. That's a higher percentage than people in neighboring states Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island, but slightly less than New Hampshire residents, according to the survey.

If cases continue to rise after Thanksgiving, which is likely, expect state officials to face added pressure to shutter in-person schools and call off indoor dining.

For now, that's not happening. Baker has pushed back on calls to close schools and restaurants, pointing to Massachusetts figures which show the virus is spreading fastest at informal gatherings, especially those without masks and social distancing. Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus said his city is "desperately" trying to avoid an indoor dining shutdown, during an interview on the "Talk of the Commonwealth" radio show yesterday, citing the economic toll closures would have on the city's restaurants. Worcester has imposed stricter restaurant rules than the statewide guidelines.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: [emailprotected]

TODAY Rep. Katherine Clark is a guest on Morning Joe. Rep. Richard Neal and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno visit Oasis Food Bank in Springfield. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh hosts a media availability to discuss Covid-19.

A message from Public Transit Public Good Coalition:

We need a transit system that works for all. This means safe, affordable, and accessible service for all communities. Even as COVID-19 has reshaped our lives, public transit remains essential to the riders who make hundreds of thousands of trips a day, especially to the frontline workers who have kept our communities running during the pandemic. The MBTAs Fiscal Management and Control Board should vote no on service cuts. Join the fight at http://publictransitpublicgood.org/

How 9 governors are handling the next coronavirus wave, by Rachel Roubein and Shia Kapos, POLITICO: President Donald Trump hasnt been leading on the coronavirus and governors are again in charge of the nations response. Theyre reacting with a patchwork policy thats unlikely to head off the long-warned dark winter in America.

Massachusetts reports 2,225 new COVID cases, 20 deaths on Tuesday, by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: State health officials confirmed another 2,225 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of active cases to 40,449 statewide. The new positive cases are based on 80,819 molecular tests, according to the Department of Public Health. Massachusetts now has 204,060 confirmed cases of the respiratory infection.

The Legislatures black box committees, by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: After months and even years of public debate, the fate of six key pieces of legislation is now in the hands of just 29 lawmakers. The lawmakers are charged with resolving differences between House and Senate bills dealing with the state budget, police reform, climate change, economic development, health care, and transportation bond funding.so-called conference committees on which these lawmakers serve are black boxes whose inner workings are unknown.

Massachusetts education officials considering at-home MCAS testing in the spring during COVID pandemic, by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: With the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scheduled to be administered this winter and spring during the coronavirus pandemic, one teacher said it will be a logistical nightmare for districts that have been fully remote to administer the test.

1-on-1 With Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker, by Alison King, NBC10: With COVID-19 still raging Massachusetts First Lady Lauren Baker knows it will be a difficult holiday season for most. This is hard on us, just like it's hard on everybody, she told NBC10 Boston. We miss hanging out with our family and friends. I haven't been able to see my parents in a year.

A database of 10 years of Boston Police disciplinary action, by Brendan McCarthy and Evan Allen, Boston Globe: Amid heightened scrutiny of law enforcement across the nation, the Boston Globe sought to assess the extent of misconduct and discipline within the Boston Police Department. The City of Boston does not provide a comprehensive, transparent system that allows residents to keep tabs on its police. So, the Globe decided to amass public records, cross reference the data, and create its own.

Prodded by Racial Reckoning, Colleges Aim To Increase Minority Contracting. Will They Succeed? by Kirk Carapezza, GBH News: As the first chief procurement officer of the University of Massachusetts, David Cho centralized spending across the system's five campuses, giving him the opportunity to analyze the diversity of its vendors. What Cho found in that data earlier this year was admittedly not great.

Enrollment in Massachusetts public schools has dropped by 37,000 students during COVID pandemic; more than half of students now high needs, by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, schools in Massachusetts have seen a decline in enrollment by more than 37,000 students, education officials said Tuesday. Young learners represent a majority of the decrease, officials said, and some of those students may return to the states school system.

Surge in demand at food pantries called mind-boggling, by David Abel, Boston Globe: Theyve come in heavy rain and waited in long lines in the morning cold, some in tears, sharing stories of desperation, of lost jobs, sick relatives, empty bank accounts, a pervading sense of hopelessness as winter nears. At the Family Pantry in Harwich, Christine Menard arrived this week to find dozens of people waiting before the pantry opened for free turkeys something she had never experienced before.

The Greater Boston housing market is hotter than ever, with one exception: downtown, by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: Greater Bostons housing market remained red-hot in October, with prices surging and the number of sales at record highs. All except for in one place: Downtown. The recent split between increased sales of single-family homes in the suburbs and declining sales of urban condominiums particularly high-end condos in the the core of Boston became more marked as the fall housing market hit its peak.

It may look more crowded at the supermarket, but stores say theyre still playing it safe, by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: Early on in the pandemic, many people went grocery shopping as infrequently as possible, lining up outside stores on a mission to stock up like they were preparing for the apocalypse. Workers, meanwhile, wore protective equipment and in some cases received hazard pay for their bravery. Nearly nine months into the COVID-19 era, however, a sense of normalcy or at least routine has returned.

Back-to-Back Earthquakes Are a Reminder: Massachusetts Is on Shaky Ground, by Spencer Buell, Boston Magazine: If youre the average Massachusetts resident, earthquakes are probably about the millionth thing on your mindespecially, you know, right now. But after a pair of them shook the South Shore this monthfirst, a rumbly 3.6 magnitude quake on November 8, followed by a gentler one registering a 2.0 on the Richter scale on Sundayexperts on the geological phenomena hope Bay Staters will take some time to acknowledge the truth.

Harvard gets its first Black, elected student body president, by The Associated Press: A 20-year-old from Mississippi has become the first Black, elected student body president at Harvard University. Noah Harris, of Hattiesburg, was elected president of Harvards Undergraduate Council on Nov. 12, the Hattiesburg American reports. He is a junior who is majoring in government and co-chairs the Undergraduate Councils Black caucus.

Study: Lax behaviors of Mass. residents has contributed to second COVID-19 wave, by Arianna MacNeill, Boston.com: As Massachusetts enters the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, theres one factor that could either help or hurt the spread of cases within the next few weeks: human behavior. The key is how humans behave during this time, according to a study published by a group of researchers at Northeastern, Harvard, Rutgers, and Northwestern universities.

975 Doses Per Delivery And Other Coronavirus Vaccine Details For Massachusetts Hospitals, by Martha Bebinger, WBUR: Doses of Pfizers coronavirus vaccine, the first expected to gain federal approval, could arrive in Massachusetts in mid to late December. Hospitals should expect 975 doses in each cooler, identify their first 975 frontline staff who will receive it and then the next 975.

What does it mean when you have COVID-19, but you dont know how you contracted it? by Deanna Pan, Boston Globe: Youre fastidious about hand-washing. Your social calendar primarily includes trips to the supermarket and Zoom happy hours. Youve perfected the art of turning down invitations to parties, weddings, and Scrabble nights, until a coronavirus vaccine becomes available. But somehow, somewhere you still got infected with COVID-19. What gives?

Nurses union: Healthcare workers still exhausted and traumatized from first surge, by Arianna MacNeill, Boston.com: With the second surge of COVID-19 bearing down on Massachusetts, the largest nurses union in the state, representing thousands of nurses and healthcare workers, has voiced concern over workers being already exhausted and traumatized from the initial surge in the spring.

Biden keeps the peace with first Cabinet picks, by Holly Otterbein and Laura Barrn-Lpez, POLITICO: Progressives dont love Joe Bidens first round of cabinet picks. But they can live with them. Antony Blinken? A solid choice for secretary of State, according to Faiz Shakir, Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign manager. Alexandra Rojas, executive director of the left-wing group Justice Democrats, said she is encouraged that Biden tapped John Kerry as his international climate czar. Elizabeth Warren said Janet Yellen, Bidens expected nominee for Treasury secretary, would be outstanding.

Maura Healey is suing Boston Sports Clubs for unfair billing practices, The Associated Press: The Boston Sports Clubs gym chain continued to charge membership fees even after closing its facilities in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, then failed to refund those fees when requested in violation of state consumer protection laws, the Massachusetts attorney generals office said in a lawsuit Tuesday.

'We've Never Seen These Orders Issued Before': New Deadlines In Immigration Court Have Attorneys Scrambling, by Shannon Dooling, WBUR: Immigration attorneys in Boston say new filing deadlines could, in some cases, mean the difference between their clients being able to stay in the U.S. or being ordered removed from the country. The new deadlines were established by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an office of the Department of Justice which oversees the nation's immigration courts.

Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber seek second delay in replying to prosecutors bid for SCOTUS review of case after death penalty vacated, by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: Lawyers for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are seeking a second delay in responding to the Justice Departments request for the US Supreme Court to review a ruling that vacated his death sentence, legal filings show.

Sen. Ed Markey pledges to fight for better severance packages, protections for laid off Boston Marriott Copley workers, by Benjamin Kail, MassLive.com: Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday pledged to fight for laid off workers of Boston Marriott Copley Place, arguing employees have been left in the cold with sudden terminations, no insurance and unexpectedly reduced severance packages.

Rep. Katherine Clark On Her New Role, What Lies Ahead For Congress, And Divided Democrats, GBH News: When Rep. Katherine Clark was elected Assistant Speaker of the House last week, she became the second most-powerful Democratic woman ever in Congress. She joined Jim Braude to discuss the new role, concerns about divided Democrats in Congress and whether lawmakers might ever reach another coronavirus relief deal.

Trump made gains in urban areas of Mass. by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: Voting trends that showed shifts in heavily Hispanic communities in Massachusetts toward President Trump in this months election are also apparent in other urban areas, including huge swaths of Boston, results that seem to defy expectations that four years of often racially-charged rhetoric from the president would further depress his already weak standing in communities of color.

Herald: FREQUENT FLYER," "SUBTRACTION, Globe: Public schools take hit in pandemic," "'I've never seen anything like this kind of need,'" "With so much spread, virus harder to avoid.

Williams prof disavows own finding of mishandled GOP ballots, by Francesca Paris, The Berkshire Eagle: A Williams College professor has apologized for a lack of clarity and due diligence after his statistical analysis of Pennsylvania mail-in votes was used by conservative lawmakers to push unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

In lawsuit, public defenders say Springfield is stonewalling requests for police misconduct records, by Patrick Johnson, Springfield Republican: Massachusetts public defenders are asking the courts to force the city to turn over internal police records regarding a number of officers accused of misconduct or civil rights abuses in recent years. The state Committee for Public Services on Friday filed a complaint in Hampden Superior Court claims the city has ignored a request for public records for nearly a year.

COVID Cant Stop a 277-Year-Old Town Hall Tradition, by David Kidd, Governing: The citizens of Pelham, Mass., filed into their new meeting house for the first time on April 19, 1743. They have continued to do so, at least once annually, uninterrupted, for the next 277 years. Still the site of the towns annual meeting, the Pelham Town Hall has the distinction of being the oldest meeting house in continuous use in the United States.

Salem plans to add additional resident-only COVID-19 testing, by Erin Nolan, Berkshire Eagle: The city wants to add additional, resident-only COVID-19 testing after Thanksgiving. The exact dates and locations of this drive-thru testing, offered through the Salem Coronavirus Awareness Network, are still to be determined, according to Dominick Pangallo, the mayor's chief of staff.

Six NB bars fined for violating COVID-19 regs, Standard-Times: The Health Department has issued fines to six New Bedford businesses for failure to comply with the citys COVID-19 regulations. The regulations are designed to protect city residents, a press release from the city said.

Ashburnham police arrest man who spat at hikers, claiming he had COVID-19, by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: Police in central Massachusetts have arrested a man who spat at two female hikers claiming he had COVID-19, after confronting them for not wearing masks on a popular trail near the New Hampshire border. Ashburnham police announced Tuesday afternoon that Hale Powell, a 71-year-old Westford resident, is being charged with assault and battery, as well as making a false threat of a biological agent.

Norwell schools budget for full time, in-person schooling, by Wheeler Cowperthwaite, The Patriot Ledger: Norwell school officials say they are not planning to wait until 2022 to go to full in-person learning, despite rumors circulating on social media. Superintendent Matthew Keegan said confusion appears to have started after the school committee discussed the budget assumptions for the 2022 budget.

Pilgrims who sought freedom, denied same to Wampanoag, By Emily Clark, Cape Cod Times: The traditional Thanksgiving story tells of a friendship between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, who helped the European settlers to survive. But for many Wampanoag, Currence said of his paradox, Thanksgiving marks the attempted obliteration and annihilation of their people and culture, as the children of the Pilgrims who sought land, independence and religious freedom denied those rights to the Wampanoag.

Retailers Scramble To Fill Early Demand For Christmas Trees, by Marilyn Schairer, GBH News: On 112 acres of rolling hills in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, Dan Pierce and his wife grow thousands of Fraser firs, balsam firs and blue spruces. He expects to sell more than 2,000 of them this Christmas season.

TRANSITIONS Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian was appointed to a new steering committee to guide Justice Counts, a national initiative to improve the availability and utility of criminal justice data.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Leah Regan and Allie Strom.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY to Ben Gubits and Bob Dunn, who celebrate Thursday. And to the Boston Business Journals Catherine Carlock, who celebrates Friday.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND to Saturday birthday-ers Sarina Tracy and Doug Rubin of Northwind Strategies, Deloittes John Kim, state Rep. Louis Kafka, Nicole Dungca, Terry MacCormack, Erin Forry and Glen Johnson. And to House Speaker Robert DeLeos chief of staff Seth Gitell, Katherine Forde, Dominique Manuel, Trent Spiner and Maddie Kilgannon, who all celebrate Sunday.

A message from Public Transit Public Good Coalition:

The essential workers we rely on during the pandemic need reliable and uncrowded public transportation to get to and from work safely. Service and job cuts not only threaten the frontline workers who rely on the T; it would also leave thousands of people without access, threaten our environment, and delay our economic recovery. The MBTAs Fiscal Management and Control Board members should vote no on service cuts. Join the fight at http://publictransitpublicgood.org/

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause youre promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: [emailprotected].

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What comes after THANKSGIVING 'MIND-BOGGLING' demand at FOOD PANTRIES HEALEY sues BOSTON SPORTS CLUBS - Politico

Human Behavior

Fundamental economic ideas that never go away | Editorial Columns – Brunswick News

November 25, 2020 medical

Well, the election is finally over. I know that it isnt over till its over, but using an economists market test, its over. Both parties sent me, as they probably did you, many text messages every day during the campaign season asking for money. The texts have stopped. So, if they dont need money at this date, its over even if it is not over.

Right now, a little over half of the country is looking forward to some kind of change while a little under half is beginning to adjust to not having the same old same old. One civics lesson has clearly come home the Electoral College is really important. If it did not exist then small population states like Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina and a few others would not have mattered. Only large population centers would have been important. With the Electoral College, everyone has a chance of mattering.

That is the end of the civics lesson, on to economics.

Regardless of what our new politics brings, I am renewed because I know that political policies come and go, yet economics is here to stay. I thought I would list some fundamental economic ideas that never go away if, for no other reason, to lift my spirits.

My first economic constant is that people respond to their circumstances. If you want some extra points on the final exam you would say that people respond to the incentives they face. Clearly, new politics will bring a change in circumstances. So, new politics will bring forth a change in our behavior. We will do more things that the new politics define as creating benefits and do less of those things that bring added costs. While these benefits and the costs will not be on our minds every day, they may very well be on our minds on Nov. 8, 2022.

Economic constant two, TANSTAAFL There aint no such thing as a free lunch. Again, for the final exam, everything we do has costs. Money is only a veil. At the simplest level, money makes trade easier. It also has a tendency to hide the fact that when circumstances change and our incentives change, physical resources move from one use to another. While we get more of something, we will get less of something else because resources are limited and will always be so. Someone might tell us that to consume something (like college) you dont need dollars because our politics makes it free. There are still costs, however. Somewhere we must give up other things to get the things we are told are free. That is as certain as gravity.

My third economics constant is that competitive markets are amazing places that process unbelievable amounts of information. I will leave the underlying theory for another day. But for now, no matter the politics, demand curves will forever slope downward to the right and supply curves will forever slope upward to the right. This statement is based on fundamental human behavior and basic knowledge of production. These things never ever go away. So markets will never ever go away and, if entry into the marketplace is not impeded, social welfare will be maximized by private individuals who are simply being self-interested. This is economic magic that is not sleight of hand. It is real, it can be seen, and it is true.

And finally, entrepreneurs are only successful if they solve problems for other people. Entrepreneurs are always thinking about you and me, and trying to find ways to make our lives better. I cant begrudge them for making profit if they are, first and foremost, thinking of me. Five years of 1 Million Cups meetings in Brunswick and the stories of our entrepreneurs have affirmed this every month.

There are many other constants I could share so dont let your hearts be troubled. Politics, politicians, and policies may come and go, but economics is forever. Amen.

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Fundamental economic ideas that never go away | Editorial Columns - Brunswick News