Thomas Ramey Watson

mental health

Happy People Aren’t So Good At Empathy

Perpetually happy individuals are wonderful to have around, until you experience something worth complaining about. Recent research in PLOS ONE suggests that people who are generally cheerful are not so great at reading other people’s negative emotions, though what’s especially interesting is that they think they’re very good at it. More.

Americans are obsessed with happiness, but other cultures see things differently

In Eastern cultures, the emphasis is on attainment of social harmony, where community and belonging are held in high regard. In Western cultures, the emphasis is on attainment of happiness, where the individualistic self tends to be celebrated. These values translate to different weights placed on personal happiness. In one paper, Oishi and his colleagues …

Americans are obsessed with happiness, but other cultures see things differently Read More »

Playing Music Gives Brains A ‘Full Body Workout,’ Says Science

Recent studies by neuroscientists of FMRI scans show that whereas activities like reading a book, doing math problems, or even listening to music only stimulate partsof the brain, playing an instrument engages the whole organ. Not only does the musician’s brain light up like the sky on the Fourth of July as it hustles to …

Playing Music Gives Brains A ‘Full Body Workout,’ Says Science Read More »