The Surprising Power of Notebooks & What Screens Are Really Doing to Us - SYSK Choice

Can someone's taste in music make them more attractive to you? Apparently, it can. The music people listen to can influence how we perceive their personalities, how compatible we think we might be, and even how romantically interested we are in them. So what does your playlist say about you? And why do musical preferences matter when it comes to attraction? We begin with the surprising connection between music and relationships. https://www.medindia.net/news/Music-Predicts-Sexual-Attraction-80223-1.htm

Think about how many times you've written something down in a notebook. A shopping list, a brilliant idea, a diary entry, notes from a meeting, or just something you didn't want to forget. It seems like such an ordinary thing to do. But the simple act of putting thoughts on paper has helped change the course of human history. Notebooks have shaped scientific discoveries, inspired great works of art, helped build businesses, and transformed the way people think. So how did something as basic as a blank book become such a powerful tool? Roland Allen joins me to reveal the fascinating history of notebooks, the remarkable things people have done with them, and why writing things down still matters in our digital world. Roland is the author of The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper (https://amzn.to/3NGd2B8).

We all know we probably spend too much time looking at screens. But what exactly is all that scrolling, swiping, and staring doing to our brains? Is it really changing the way we think, concentrate, remember, and experience the world? And why is it so difficult to look away, even when we know we've had enough? Our brains evolved in a world very different from the one we live in today, and the constant flood of digital information may be more than they're equipped to handle. Dr. Richard Cytowic joins me to explain what's happening inside our heads when we spend so much time on our devices, why digital distraction is so powerful, and what we can do to regain control of our attention. He is a professor of neurology at George Washington University and author of Your Stone Age Brain in the Screen Age: Coping with Digital Distraction and Sensory Overload (https://amzn.to/4hsyVBp).

Advertisers love to use impressive-sounding claims that don't actually tell you very much. A shampoo promises to make your hair "five times silkier." Five times silkier than what? And how exactly do you measure silkiness? These claims can sound scientific and convincing, even when they're practically meaningless. And they work surprisingly well. Listen as I explain how advertisers use numbers and clever language to make products seem better than they may actually be—and why it's worth paying attention. Source: Charles Seife, author of Proofiness (https://amzn.to/3NL55KY).

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