Learn about why you make decisions using less information than you think; why your appendix actually serves a purpose; and the best ways to overcome a challenge, according to science. Please support our sponsors! Visit skillshare.com/curiosity for two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. Start your two months now! In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: You Make Decisions on Less Information than You Think — https://curiosity.im/2MNq4wh Your Appendix Actually Serves a Purpose — https://curiosity.im/2DQbEZy 19 Ways to Get Through a Challenge, According to Science — https://curiosity.im/2DQbUYw If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Learn about why you make decisions using less information than you think; why your appendix actually serves a purpose; and the best ways to overcome a challenge, according to science.
Please support our sponsors! Visit skillshare.com/curiosity for two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. Start your two months now!
In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes:
If you love our show and you're interested in hearing full-length interviews, then please consider supporting us on Patreon. You'll get exclusive episodes and access to our archives as soon as you become a Patron! https://www.patreon.com/curiositydotcom
Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing.
Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/best-ways-to-overcome-challenges-what-your-appendix-does-and-how-you-use-information
CODY: Hi! We’re here from curiosity-dot-com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes. I’m Cody Gough.
ASHLEY: And I’m Ashley Hamer. Today, you’ll learn about why you make decisions using less information than you think; why your appendix actually serves a purpose; and the best ways to overcome a challenge, according to science.
CODY: Let’s satisfy some curiosity.
You Make Decisions on Less Information than You Think — https://curiosity.im/2MNq4wh (Republished) (Cody)
A new study suggests that you make decisions on less information than you think. Whether you’re buying a house, getting married, or voting in an election, the research says you assume you’ll use more information to make your decision than you actually end up using. As reported by Futurity, a series of 7 studies out of the University of Chicago showed that participants put too much money and work into getting more information, and they didn’t realize that the extra info wouldn’t actually inform anyone’s judgment. For example, in one study, participants were asked to drink a half-ounce sample cup of a vegetable drink. Some participants were asked to predict how many cups they’d need to drink before knowing if they actually liked it or not. Others just kept drinking the cups til they decided. And here, the participants thought they’d need more sample cups than they actually did need before coming to a decision. This was true whether they liked the drink or not. In another study, MBA students wrote essays for a hypothetical management position. They were told that a real hiring manager would read them, and they should write the exact NUMBER of essays that the hiring manager would want to read, or they wouldn’t get the job. And again, the researchers found that the participants wrote more essays than the hiring managers would read when making their decisions. They “overworked to impress,” as the researchers put it. The data also suggest a gap between how much information is typically provided and how much is sought out. For instance, if a person goes online to do research or debate someone, they may only look at a small amount of available information. But PROVIDERS of that information might assume that people are taking in all the information available. Think about the last political candidate you voted for: can you name his or her stance on every single issue? And let’s face it, that candidate’s stance on every single issue is probably on his or her website. It might be that you voted for that candidate without taking in all the information, and that the candidate’s webmaster assumed you read the whole site. Keep in mind the next time you’re doing research or providing information that you may not have to be as comprehensive as today’s “information age” might lead you to believe.
Your Appendix Actually Serves a Purpose — https://curiosity.im/2DQbEZy (Ashley)
Recent [2017] research from Midwestern University says your appendix probably has a function. Who knew? [Cody, have you had your appendix out? / ad lib]
ASHLEY: This study is grounded in evolution. When you think of evolution, you probably think of that famous “monkey to man” image you see on T-shirts and stuff, where an organism evolves to be more complex as time goes on. The thing is, animals are just as likely to lose features through evolution as they are to gain them. Take the whale, for example. Its ancestors grew legs and emerged from the water, only to return and lose them again. But some traits keep coming back: for example, the eye, wings, and legs. The fact that those features evolved multiple times tells scientists that they're pretty useful, at least from an evolutionary point of view. When an organism loses a trait and it never comes back, that suggests that it didn't provide much of a benefit. That's the approach Midwestern University researchers took for their 2017 study. They examined the evolution of 533 mammal species over 11 million years to find points where the appendix had showed up as a new trait or disappeared entirely. They found that the appendix appears to have evolved between 29 and 41 times, but it only disappeared 12 times. It's clear that the appendix serves some purpose. But what is it? Well, the leading theory about the appendix is that it supports the immune system. The study backs this up: Where they found an appendix, they also found lymph tissue. That’s an essential part of the immune system and it can help with the growth of healthy gut bacteria. Other studies have shown that people without an appendix are more likely to suffer from bacterial infections than people with theirs intact. The reason you can live a happy, healthy life even after an appendectomy may be because other parts of your immune system pick up the pace to make up for its absence. But don’t discount the little guy! Your appendix deserves some respect, too.
[SKILLSHARE]
CODY: Today’s episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Skillshare is an online learning community for creators. They offer more than 25,000 classes in design, business, and more, to help you discover countless ways to fuel your curiosity, creativity, and career. You can take classes in social media marketing, mobile photography, creative writing, or even illustration.
ASHLEY: Skillshare is there to keep you learning, thriving, and reaching your goals for the new year — whether you’re looking to discover a new passion, start a side hustle, or gain new professional skills.
CODY: Believe it or not, Ashley and I are not the only people thinking about how to use research-based methods for improving our lives. Right now I’m taking a nutrition masterclass from a fitness coach and bestselling author. And he has an entire series of science-based videos, from muscle-building fitness routines to meal planning for all kinds of different diets. I have a feeling he and Ashley would get along pretty well.
ASHLEY: Skillshare’s classes are ALL taught by real experts in their field or public motivational speakers. And today, YOU can join the millions of students already learning on Skillshare with a special offer just for Curiosity Daily listeners: Get two months of Skillshare for free.
CODY: That’s right, Skillshare is offering Curiosity Daily listeners two months of unlimited access to over 25,000 classes for free. To sign up, go to Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY. Again, go to Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY to start your two months now.
ASHLEY: One more time, that’s Skillshare dot com slash CURIOSITY.
19 Ways to Get Through a Challenge, According to Science — https://curiosity.im/2DQbUYw (Cody)
On this podcast, we’ve given you tips and tricks for overcoming a lot of life’s challenges. But a new study decided to go straight for the jugular. It asked a simple question: what are THE BEST ways to get through a challenge? And, obviously, I’ll tell you what they found. [ad lib]
CODY: This study was published in December in the European Journal of Personality. And it used the crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk to see if there was a secret recipe for perseverance. The first thing they did was come up with 19 broad strategies for overcoming a challenge. You can read the full list in our full write-up on curiosity-dot-com and on our free Curiosity app for Android and iOS, but they include stuff like removing distractions, taking a substance like caffeine, seeking social support like taking a friend with you to the gym — stuff like that. Then, the researchers asked a second group of participants to take a self-control assessment and rate each of the 19 strategies. They did this to get a sense of which strategies were most popular among people with a lot of self-control. Finally, researchers followed participants for a week and checked in with them multiple times to see how there week was going. Long story short, there’s no perfect solution. People used different strategies to get through different challenges. But a cluster of strategies still emerged as possible keys to success. Focusing on the positive consequences of finishing an activity, or on the negative consequences of NOT finishing an activity, was linked with success. Another successful strategy was imagining the finish line was near, even when it wasn't. (In other words, it was helpful to break the task into a series of mini-tasks, so you were always near a finish line.) And finally, emotional regulation was correlated with success. Basically, do what you need to do to boost your mood. Your tenacity drops when you’re in a bad mood. Those strategies didn’t explain the self-controlled people’s high success rate with aversive tasks, so the jury’s out on that special sauce it takes to dominate those treadmill workouts and dull study sessions. But hopefully you’ll find some of these ideas helpful so your next challenge will be a bit less… well, challenging.
ASHLEY: Read about today’s stories and more on curiosity-dot-com!
CODY: Join us again tomorrow for the award-winning Curiosity Daily and learn something new in just a few minutes. I’m [NAME] and I’m [NAME]. Stay curious!