Imagine opening a difficult book in a quiet room. The first page is dense. You read one paragraph, then reread it. Nothing “clicks” yet. Your brain is doing what learning often requires: spending effort before the reward arrives. Then your phone lights up. One thumb movement, and the situation changes completely. A joke, a message, a clip, a tiny social reward: all available instantly, all requiring almost no effort. The book has not become harder and, definitely, your intelligence has not disappeared. But the book now feels more expensive, because another activity nearby offers a much better bargain: reward now, effort almost zero.
Instant digital rewards may make hard thinking feel less worthwhile
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A James Cook University study is challenging the belief that the greatest cost of going to court is losing a case, arguing the legal process itself can leave lasting psychological scars.This post was originally published [...]
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Mathematicians have shown that completely fair elections are—in a sense—impossible. No electoral system can guarantee both that local votes translate directly into local seats and that total seat distribution matches overall vote shares—not without an [...]
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For years, social media companies have faced pressure from users and government watchdogs to stop misinformation from distorting elections, deepening political divisions and undermining Americans’ trust in institutions. But what if dramatically reducing people’s exposure [...]
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How much of what you see on social media comes from sources that repeatedly post falsehoods? And if that content quietly vanished from your feed, would you believe anything different months later?This post was originally [...]
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Corporate climate spending now steers trillions of dollars in transition finance worldwide. Does it drive genuine climate action? Research shows that accounting flexibility alone can make a company’s reported emissions vary by roughly a factor [...]
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A lack of data on prisoner characteristics is providing an incomplete picture of who dies in prison and why, which may be contributing to preventable deaths in custody, according to a new report.This post was [...]
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He tramples things without intending to. He was created by us. He never permanently goes away. In recent years, metaphorical representations of Donald Trump as the Japanese kaiju Godzilla have become common. Now, a paper [...]
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Shoppers would pay more for their weekly groceries if it meant improved welfare for farm animals, according to new research from the University of Reading.This post was originally published on this site
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Why do some people who embrace conspiracy theories simply hold those beliefs, while others act on them? A new study published in the British Journal of Social Psychology identifies three characteristics that help determine when [...]
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Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is regaining prominence in climate policy debates in Germany. A study published in Environmental Politics examines the reasons behind this comeback and shows that the strict limits originally envisaged for [...]
