CO2 #3 Happiness Is About More Than Just Pleasure (via PsychologyToday)

George Mallory, an early 20th century mountain climber, was once asked why he climbs mountains. His famous answer was “Because it’s there.” His answer may have been snide, but it reflects an important fact: even mountain climbers don’t know why they do what they do. This is the point of one of my favorite papers, George Loewenstein’s “Because it is there: The challenge of mountaineering for utility theory.”

The title says it all. Utility theory is the standard economic theory, which is that people do things because they get some pleasure out of them. Pretty obvious, right? Not really.

Loewenstein, an economist and psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University, reports the surprising results that mountain climbers generally hate mountain climbing. They won't say that if you ask them directly. But they hate each step of the way. The preparations are monotonous, the fundraising is necessarily but insipid, getting to the mountain is not half the fun but instead boring and for many mountains frustrating, and the climb itself is the grueling. Some people love to bask in the glory of success. But most of the people who are successful mountain climbers do not seem to be publicity hounds, and are often shy and publicity averse.

Check this recent review about an old, but increasingly time relevant study: HappinessPleasure

CO2 #2 Why We Lie (via WallStreetJournal)

We like to believe that a few bad apples spoil the virtuous bunch. But research shows that everyone cheats a little - right up to the point where they lose their sense of integrity.

Not too long ago, one of my students, named Peter, told me a story that captures rather nicely our society's misguided efforts to deal with dishonesty. One day, Peter locked himself out of his house. After a spell, the locksmith pulled up in his truck and picked the lock in about a minute.

"I was amazed at how quickly and easily this guy was able to open the door," Peter said. The locksmith told him that locks are on doors only to keep honest people honest. One percent of people will always be honest and never steal. Another 1% will always be dishonest and always try to pick your lock and steal your television; locks won't do much to protect you from the hardened thieves, who can get into your house if they really want to. The purpose of locks, the locksmith said, is to protect you from the 98% of mostly honest people who might be tempted to try your door if it had no lock.

We tend to think that people are either honest or dishonest. In the age of Bernie Madoff and Mark McGwire, James Frey and John Edwards, we like to believe that most people are virtuous, but a few bad apples spoil the bunch. If this were true, society might easily remedy its problems with cheating and dishonesty. Human-resources departments could screen for cheaters when hiring. Dishonest financial advisers or building contractors could be flagged quickly and shunned. Cheaters in sports and other arenas would be easy to spot before they rose to the tops of their professions.

Read the rest of the article, and see a short presentation of Dan Ariely's new book here: WhyLie

CO2 #1 David Harvey: 'The financial crisis is an urban crisis' (via TheGuardian)

David Harvey, theorist and author of Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution, says that postwar capitalism can be understood with reference to the history of urbanisation and suburbanisation. Urban investment gets you out of a crisis but defines what the next crisis is going to look like, he argues. The emerging powers of the east are now in the midst of a massive urbanisation project and could fall victim to the same outcome.

Watch this very interest video, which will give you a fresh crisis perspective here: UrbanCrisis

O2 #3 How much is more time with your friends worth? (via Barking up the Wrong Tree)

Being able to spend more time with friends provides an increase in happiness worth up to an additional $133,000 a year. Meanwhile, actual pay raises have very little affect on happiness (e.g., Penelope Trunk).

There is substantial evidence in the psychology and sociology literature that social relationships promote happiness for the individual. Yet the size of their impacts remains largely unknown. This paper explores the use of shadow pricing method to estimate the monetary values of the satisfaction with life gained by an increase in the frequency of interaction with friends, relatives, and neighbours. Using the British Household Panel Survey, I find that an increase in the level of social involvements is worth up to an extra £85,000 a year in terms of life satisfaction. Actual changes in income, on the other hand, buy very little happiness.

Here is the article, in case you want to read it: TimeFriendsWorth

O2 #2 Measure Success by Value you Create (via TheGulfTimes)

One of the keys to happiness and success is to find an important cause to which you can dedicate your life, according to leadership guru Robin Sharma.

Sharma, author of 11 international bestselling books, including The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, gave insights and advice for youths at Qatar University’s College of Law yesterday, telling the audience how they can be leaders regardless of official title, authority or social status. “Leadership is about what you do when no one is watching,” said Sharma. “Anyone can be ethical when all eyes are upon them, anyone can be excellent when your family or friends or your business peers are watching. The true test of you as a leader ... is how ethical, passionate and engaged you are when you are the only person in the room.

Read the Leadership Guru interesting interview to The Gulf Times here: RobinSharma

O2 #1 Twenty Tested Techniques to Increase Your Tips (via TippingResearch)

Approximately two million waiters and waitresses in the United States depend on tips for their income. These servers would benefit from knowing and using techniques to increase their tips. This manual offers twenty such techniques. All twenty techniques listed here have been experimentally tested and found to increase tips. Not all the techniques work for all servers in all situations, but many are universally applicable.

The techniques are as follows: use makeup (for waitresses); wear something unusual; introduce yourself by name; squat down next to the table; stand physically close to the customer; touch the customer; smile; compliment the customer’s food choices; repeat the order back to the customer; build the check with suggestive selling; entertain the customer; forecast good weather; write “thank you” on the check; write a patriotic message on the check; draw a picture on the check; call the customer by name; use tip trays with credit card insignia; give the customer candy; provide tipping guidelines; and play songs with pro-social lyrics. The techniques are described in detail, together with the experiments that demonstrate their effectiveness and the reasons I think they work.

Learn about this amazing and useful, specially for waiters, work here: 20IncreaseTips

CO2 #3 How Cannabis Affects Your Brain (via BigThink)

What's the Latest Development?

Cannabis acts on the body and mind by binding to what are called cannabinoid receptors, long, ropy proteins that weave themselves into the surfaces of our cells and process THC, as well as other organic chemical compounds. "Scattered throughout the body, cannabinoid receptors come in two varieties, called CB1 and CB2—most of your CB1 receptors are in your brain, and are responsible for that 'high' feeling when you smoke pot." CB2 receptors are associated with the immune system and situated throughout the body, explaining why cannabis reduces swelling and pain.

What's the Big Idea?

Explaining the munchies: CB1 receptors located in your brain's hypothalamus, which regulates appetite, are responsible for receiving the 'I'm hungry' message from your body's cannabinoids. When you ingest THC, you are artificially boosting the number of cannabinoids in your body, creating a stronger than usual 'I'm hungry' feeling. Explaining why cannabis makes you forgetful: The effects of THC on the hippocampus, the part of your brain most associated with memory, resembles a temporary lesion. The effect is consistent with an abundance of CB1 receptors in the hippocampus.