Tag Archives: intelligence

The Psychological Science of Storytelling

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Ryo

It hit me about two years ago, sometime after I started this blog. Somewhere between the comedy shows and alarming amount of documentaries I began watching, and the seemingly endless number of people I have met in the last few years, I realized that the social world spins on the axis of stories. It’s hard to believe this fact unless you’re actually in a position where you exploit it. For me, it has become a hard fact of life – if you’re a good storyteller, good things come to you, and people want to be around you. It seems like the most popular people are often the best storytellers, and if you’re a good storyteller, you’re probably good at other things too. But just how do stories have such amazing effects on our lives?

This is a preview of The Psychological Science of Storytelling. Read the full post (1735 words, 3 images, estimated 6:56 mins reading time)

Posted in Culture, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science, Social Psych, TED | Tagged brain, comedy, intelligence, linguistics | Leave a comment

Top 5 Quotes of Stupid America’s War on Smart People

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Ryo

The American war on smart people is incredible. For some reason, there has been a growing disdain for intellect and distrust for education in the “Greatest Country in the World,” and this year’s presidential election has never ceased to amaze me at every turn. The idea that people should not be educated, think critically, or be honest is ridiculous, foolish, and dangerous. Obviously not all education is equal (i.e,. unaccredited universities are garbage) and not all smart people are educated (nor are all educated people smart). But in general, no one should dismiss or denigrate education. So here is a list of the five most egregious quotes that demonstrate the growing animosity towards intelligence and education in America.

This is a preview of Top 5 Quotes of Stupid America’s War on Smart People. Read the full post (2422 words, 1 image, estimated 9:41 mins reading time)

Posted in Aggregators/lists/rankings, Biology & Evolution, Culture, Featured, Legal Issues, Media, Psychology, Science, Skepticism | Tagged comedians, education, evolution, intelligence, politics, Santorum | 6 Comments

The Ten Most Educated and Smartest Countries in 2012

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Ryo

An interesting ranking was recently reported by Yahoo! Finance, on the ten most educated countries of the world. That is, which countries have the highest percentage of people with post-secondary education. Apparently college and university graduation rates have increased in half a century by almost 200%, but the rates among countries vary greatly. And while it’s not surprising to see countries that spend a great deal of their GDPs on education, many of the countries on the list spend comparably little, and yet see high numbers of graduates. So after you check to see if your country made the list, be sure to ask yourself: Just what does this really mean?

This is a preview of The Ten Most Educated and Smartest Countries in 2012. Read the full post (2688 words, 13 images, estimated 10:45 mins reading time)