Tag: Quotes

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Can Air Pollution in the US and Europe Affect Drought in Africa?

Can Air Pollution in the US and Europe Affect Drought in Africa?

Humanity’s and nature’s interconnectedness and interdependence is exemplified in the article “Coal-Burning in the U.S. and Europe Caused a Massive African Drought” by Olga Khazan, which suggests that a major drought that caused great famine from the 1960s to the 1980s in North Africa was not caused by bad farming practices, as was originally thought, but by air pollution emanating from the United States and Europe…

A famine ravaged North Africa’s Sahel region from the mid-1960s through the early 1980s, killing 100,000 people and leaving 750,000 more dependent on food aid. Between 1972 and 1974, the U.S. shipped 600,000 tons of grain to the region, which accounted for about half of the total relief at the time. But even as they worked to save Africans from starvation, what Westerners at the time didn’t know is that the United States and Europe played a big role in the drought itself.

 

New research from the University of Washington shows that air pollution from the Northern Hemisphere indirectly caused reduced rainfall over Africa’s largely arid Sahel region, causing Lake Chad, a major local water source, to dry up, and leading to widespread crop failures.

 

Originally, the drought was blamed on overgrazing and poor land management, but a forthcoming study in Geophysical Research Letters shows that the environmental catastrophe was partly the result of factory emissions in the Western world. As the University of Washington puts it:

 

Aerosols emanating from coal-burning factories in the United States and Europe during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s cooled the entire Northern Hemisphere, shifting tropical rain bands south. Rains no longer reached the Sahel region, a band that spans the African continent just below the Sahara desert.

Image: "Drought" by Bert Kaufmann.
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Study Shows How Social Relationships Need to be Taken as a Point of Assessment in Evaluating Health Promotion and Health Risks

Study Shows How Social Relationships Need to be Taken as a Point of Assessment in Evaluating Health Promotion and Health Risks

“Growing evidence suggests that the quality and patterns of one’s social relationships may be linked with a variety of health outcomes, including heart disease,” says Thomas Kamarck, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

“The contribution of this study is in showing that these sorts of links may be observed even during the earliest stages of plaque development (in the carotid artery) and that these observations may be rooted not just in the way that we evaluate our relationships in general, but in the quality of specific social interactions with our partners as they unfold during our daily lives.”

Given the size of the effect in the study and the relationship between carotid artery plaque and disease, the findings indicate that those with marital interactions light on the positive may have an 8.5 percent greater risk of suffering heart attack or stroke than those with a surfeit of good feelings.

Taken from the article “Lack of Wedded Bliss Linked to Heart Attack Risk” by Joe Miksch-Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh.

Image: "Marriage Train" by Angie Chung.
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Study Shows How Diversity and Inclusion Are Crucial to Gain the Perspectives and Ideas that Foster Innovation in the Workforce

Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce

Diversity and Inclusion in the Workforce

“Fostering Innovation Through a Diverse Workforce” is based on an exclusive survey of 321 executives at large global enterprises ($500 million-plus in annual revenues). All respondents had direct responsibility or oversight for their companies’ diversity and inclusion programs. The study was sponsored by AT&T, L’Oréal USA, and Mattel.

 

According to the survey, a diverse and inclusive workforce is necessary to drive innovation and promote creativity—85% of respondents agreed (48% strongly so) that diversity is crucial to gaining the perspectives and ideas that foster innovation. As importantly, more than three quarters indicated that their companies will put more focus over the next three years to leverage diversity for their business goals, including innovation.

 

“Companies have realized that diversity and inclusion are no longer separate from other parts of the business,” said Stuart Feil, editorial director of Forbes Insights. “Organizations in the survey understand that different experiences and different perspectives build the foundation necessary to compete on a global scale.”

–Taken from the article “Forbes Insights Study Identifies Strong Link between Diverse Talent and Innovation” by Debbie Weathers.

Image: "2011 Diversity Conference" by Oregon Department of Transportation.
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How Money, Trust, Generosity, a Sense of Belonging, Perceived Freedom and Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone Affects Your Happiness

How Money, Trust, Generosity, a Sense of Belonging, Perceived Freedom and Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone Affects Your Happiness

How Money, Trust, Generosity, a Sense of Belonging, Perceived Freedom and Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone Affects Your Happiness

Time and time again, we find that people systematically overestimate the impact of material things and underestimate the positive impacts of social connections.

–John Helliwell, a University of British Columbia economist who was asked to help the United Nations measure and improve global happiness levels.

The following are summaries of 6 main points Helliwell listed as important discoveries in happiness research:

1. More Money Doesn’t Make You Happier
Studies found that income does support life satisfaction, but mostly at low income levels, and not as much as people expect. Positive social interactions have a much greater impact on well-being.

2. The Importance of Trust
When trust is high, people have the confidence to reach out, whether in the workplace or in the community.

3. A Sense of Belonging
Studies show that feelings of belonging at the local community level have twice the impact of those at the national or provincial. As for social media, a Canadian survey found that it is the size of your network of real-time friends, and not the online version, that supports life satisfaction.

4. The Importance of Generosity
Donors and volunteers to charities have been found to receive greater personal satisfaction from their philanthropy than recipients. In a recent study, cancer patients who counseled their peers received even larger benefits than those they were counseling.

5. Perceived Freedom to Make One’s Own Life Choices
While good health is important, the perceived freedom to make important life choices is also crucial. For example, Denmark, which has the world’s highest self-assessed levels of freedom, also has the highest life satisfaction levels.

6. The Importance of Reaching Outside Your Comfort Zone & Establishing Good Relations
Small towns tend to outperform the big cities on happiness because it is easier to get to know neighbors, build trust and create a sense of belonging. “When people ask where to start, I say transform your elevator ride from a prison sentence to a social event,” he says. “Chat with neighbours and help carry their groceries. It’s easier to reach outside your comfort zone when you realize that you and the whole community are likely to benefit.”

–The above points are taken from the article “Six Things Science Tells Us about Happiness” by Basil Waugh, University of British Columbia.

Image: "3D Social Networking" by Chris Potter.
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Warning: 1 Act of Kindness Per Day Doesn’t Make You Happier. But 5 Acts of Kindness Per Day Just Might

Warning: 1 Act of Kindness Per Day Doesn't Make You Happier. But 5 Acts of Kindness Per Day Might

Warning: 1 Act of Kindness Per Day Doesn't Make You Happier. But 5 Acts of Kindness Per Day Might

In 2005, a study was conducted proving that engaging in deliberate acts of kindness leads to increased well-being, with one caveat: it must be done in such a way that exceeds the individual’s propensity to be kind.

Specifically, engaging in an act of kindness per day, for a week, will not lead to well-being benefits, but doing, say, five acts of kindness in a single day, does.

Why is it that just doing little acts of kindness doesn’t really make you feel that much better? Like anything that’s positive for you, eventually you’re going to start taking it for granted over time, and it’s not going to make you as happy as it once did. There’s a term for this, and it’s called ‘hedonistic adaptation.’ Now there’s a trick to scratching this itch of the human condition, and it’s to actively plan out experiences that throw off the pattern.

So why don’t you try it for yourself? Go out and fill a day with doing the world some good.

Image: "Friendship" by Pink Sherbet Photography.
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What Is the Best Example of the Principle of Interdependence? [Quote Poster]

What Is the Best Example of the Principle of Interdependence? [Quote Poster]

What Is the Best Example of the Principle of Interdependence? [Quote Poster]

The principle of interdependence is the key to the existence of nature’s entire system. The best example we have of this are the cells in the human body. They connect with one another through mutual giving for the benefit of the entire body. Every cell receives what it needs to exists, and applies the rest of its strength toward the general body.

–Professor Günter Blobel, M.D., Ph.D.

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What Is the Most Astounding Fact about the Universe? – Neil deGrasse Tyson

What Is the Most Astounding Fact about the Universe - Neil de Grasse Tyson

The most astounding fact [about the universe] is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth, the atoms that make up the human body, are traceable to the crucibles that cooked light elements into heavy elements in their core under extreme temperatures and pressures.

These stars, the high mass ones among them, went unstable in their later years. They collapsed and then exploded, scattering their enriched guts across the galaxy—guts made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and all the fundamental ingredients of life itself.

These ingredients become part of gas clouds that condense, collapse, form the next generation of solar systems, stars with orbiting planets, and those planets now have the ingredients for life itself, so that when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the universe is in us.

When I reflect on that fact, I look up, many people feel small because they’re small and the Universe is big, but I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars.

There’s a level of connectivity. That’s really what you want in life. You want to feel connected. You want to feel relevant. You want to feel like you are a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are just by being alive.

— Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

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Benefits of Sympathy and Cross-Race Friendships Explained by Science

Benefits of Sympathy and Cross-Race Friendships Explained by Science

Benefits of Sympathy and Cross-Race Friendships Explained by Science

When people do overcome the temptation of self-interest and instead help and cooperate with others, they become more respected in their group, and then upon receiving that respect, they then help others even more.

–Robb Willer, Ph.D., M.A., B.A. Associate Professor of Sociology at Stanford University.

 

3 Benefits of Being Sympathetic

We [psychologists] have become interested in concepts like compassion and gratitude. Only 8 or 9 years ago, there was one study of gratitude in scientific literature. 1,000s of studies of anger, and one study of gratitude.

There is this long standing assumption that in terms of evolution, it is survival of the fittest, and it is important to know, that wasn’t Darwin who said that, but somebody who came after Darwin named Herbert Spencer. What Darwin said in Descent of Man is, ‘Sympathy is our strongest instinct.’

Sympathetic people do better in the game of reproduction. It turns out they are more attractive as mates. Sympathetic parents have kids who are more resilient, and who thrive more. Sympathetic people do better in competitive situations with strangers. Data shows kind people fair pretty well and evoke a lot of trust in others.

–Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychology professor leading research in emotion and social interaction.

 

See How a Cross-Race Friendship Is Good for Your Health

In a Berkeley experiment designed by psychologist Rudy Mendoza-Denton, researchers sought answers to overcome prejudice.

They put two strangers of different races together in a room. They first measured the level of the hormone Cortisol, which is elevated when a person is under stress. They are given increasingly personal questions to ask each other, to impel them to get to know each other better.

After the last meeting, in which they play a game, their Cortisol levels are tested again. The study shows that Cortisol levels dropped significantly, as low as the control group of same race pairs.

I expected those anxiety effects, and those awkwardnesses that happen in those initial interactions to persist for a long time, but those barriers came down pretty quickly, and we were really happy to see that. I think one of the primary lessons to learn is that cross-race friendship can be good for your health.

–Rudy Mendoza-Denton, Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley.

 

The Science of Happiness [Video]

The above quotes were taken from the below video on the science of happiness:

Image: "• • • Happy • • •" by David Robert Bliwas.