Science
We’re Hard-Wired to Crave Nature
Too little green in your life? You’re not alone. Science reveals why we need to spend time in nature.
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Sharon Begley, our longtime science columnist, died of cancer on January 16, 2021, at age 64. Our thoughts and good wishes go out to her family and her wide circle of colleagues, for whom she was an exemplar of the highest standards of the journalistic profession.
Sharon was a senior science writer with The Boston Globe Media Group, author of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, and coauthor with Richard Davidson of The Emotional Life of Your Brain.
Mindfulness Research
Compassion
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Calm
Good News: Our Emotions Aren’t Set In Stone
Emotions are changeable and culturally constructed—which means we get to choose how we feel about how we feel.
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Calm
How Much Self-Knowledge is Too Much?
Sharon Begley explores the science of self-insight and the research on how much you should know about yourself before it becomes detrimental to your health.
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Compassion
The Science of the Bystander Effect
Writer Sharon Begley explores the research on why decent people will watch someone in trouble, possibly even film it, rather than step up to help.
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Uncategorized
How Our Minds Tell Fact from “Fake News”
In a world of “alternative facts” and identity hackers, science writer Sharon Begley explores the science of how our minds determine if something is true.
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Uncategorized
How to Deal with Toxic Competition
Our competitive nature becomes toxic when we’re motivated by others’ success, rather than our own self-mastery.
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Uncategorized
The Research On White Privilege Blindness
Seeing the Truth of Inequality: We all want to believe that we’ve earned what we have, but true equality begins when we’re willing to see how the circumstances of our birth have helped us along.
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Compassion
What the Brains of Selfless People Teach Us About Empathy
Why do some people put their lives at risk for the sake of strangers? Research is revealing the limits of empathy and uncovering the traits that lead to extreme altruism.
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