Showing all posts tagged: psychology
Fade to grey: as we get older we stop dreaming in technicolour
12 July 2011
We tend to stop dreaming in colour as we age, according to a study which surveyed a group of people in 1993, and then again in 2009.
In both surveys, approximately 80% of subjects younger than 30 years of age experienced color in their dreams, but the percentage decreased with age and fell to approximately 20% by the age of 60. The frequency of dreaming in color increased from 1993 to 2009 only for respondents in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We speculate that color TV may play a role in the generational difference observed.
Originally published Tuesday 12 July 2011.
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Workafrolics work harder but live longer
29 October 2008
And following on from the workafrolic piece last week, comes news that hard working, conscientious people, may live a little longer than other people, according to a Marie Claire article. Why? Mainly because they are so busy working they have little time for excesses and taking life threatening risks.
Nearly 9,000 took part in the study to analyse personality and lifespan and lead researcher Dr Howard Friedman concluded: “Highly conscientious people live on average two to four years longer.” “There is evidence for several sorts of reasons. Conscientious folks are less likely to smoke, drink to excess or take too many risks.” He added: “But it is also true that conscientious folks lead life patterns that are more stable and less stressful.”
New Scientist subscribers can view the original source article here.
Update: The Marie Claire article is no longer online.
Originally published Wednesday 29 October 2008.
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Is Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd a workafrolic?
22 October 2008
Workafrolic is the latest buzzword of a neologism to pique my curiosity and it will no doubt lead to an obsession in due course. Richard St. John author of Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and Rich defines a workafrolic in a recent interview with The Telegram…
Successful people work hard, but they love it. They’re “workafrolics”, St. John says, because they have fun working.
Australian graphic designer Sonya Mefaddi provided a slightly more real life definition in an article in the SMH MyCareer liftout last weekend (18-19 October 2008, page 3):
If I am out at a club with friends, I often think I’d rather be at home working.
Never thought I’d say this, but her words strike a definite chord with me. At this point in time anyway.
Update: The Telegram article is no longer online.
Originally published Wednesday 22 October 2008.
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What is worth failing for is what is worth striving for
4 January 2004
New year, new start. A time to consider new opportunities. It’s been said a million times already, and it’s only day four of 2004.
Most of us though are afraid to try something new or different for fear of failing. One statistic suggests 98 per cent of people will never realise their loftiest ambitions. How alarming. It seems to suggest we are all settling for second best in life. Or less.
So frightened are we of inevitable doom, we won’t take a chance, and peruse our dreams. I could insert lashings of rhetoric here. You only live once. There are no rehearsals in life. Just do it. I’ll spare you the drivel though.
Jugglezine’s* latest article The Pain and (half) Pleasures of Rejection (Wayback Machine link), written by Todd Pitock, suggests that in order to succeed, we need to find a cause or goal worth failing for. Something so fundamental and intrinsic to our beliefs, that failure will not ultimately matter.
It’s almost another way of saying that failure is a signpost found along the road to success. Falling down is all part of the process. And the importance of being focussed and motivated cannot be overstated.
Aside from our own inhibitions, the criticism we receive from those closest to us is the next biggest stumbling block. Sometimes our own doubts are overweighed by the negative perceptions of friends and family. Their disapproval can cut the deepest. It’s often enough to dissuade many people from ever having a go.
But it’s mind over matter. If our dreams and ambitions are worth failing for, they must be worth pursuing. Where would any of us be otherwise? If everyone were too afraid to take a chance and try a new idea? Still living in caves perhaps?
Hmm, how affirmative. I really should listen to myself more often.
*Jugglezine is no longer being published.
Originally published Sunday 4 January 2004.
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