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psychology

Boredom (Re-broadcast)

It seems that people today carry with them the constant mantra “I’m so busy.” It can be tough to juggle work, kids, and life in general, but a lot of that feeling of being overwhelmed may be our own fault.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markaman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the value of boredom, and how to get the most out of your downtime to feel more in control and less stressed.

Accountability

We might think that in order to keep order in our households, workplaces, or classrooms, that it’s important to hold people accountable for their negative behavior. However, what that can lead to is a playing field that allows for either nothing to happen or punishment. It is more important to focus on the behaviors we want to see continue, as opposed to giving energy to avoiding the negative.

Still a little confused? In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of accountability.

Creation

Tearing something down is quick, easy, and very gratifying. What is more time-consuming and difficult is creating, building, and constructing. However, as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about in this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, the reasons why we are more likely to criticize than create aren’t just about effort.

Theatre

It might seem odd that when we have so much entertainment at our fingertips every day that anyone still treks out to see live theatre.

However, as Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke discuss in this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, psychologically we may get more from a visit to our local playhouse than we think.

The Placebo Effect

There are a lot of factors that help to regulate our overall health and wellness. If we are content in our lives and relationships, we are more likely to be healthy.

If we exercise and eat well, we reap the benefits in our mind and body. Also, as recent studies by Ted Kaptchuck and others show, if we take medications or supplements, even if they’re nothing but rice powder and sugar, we can feel better.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about why taking placebos somehow makes us feel healthier.

How vs. Why Knowledge

Because we know “how” things work sometimes we think we understand “why” these things work as they do, and that can be a problem.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the difference between “how” vs. “why” knowledge, and why it’s important to recognize what you really need to know.

Presenter’s Paradox

When thinking about how we present ourselves, say at a job interview, we might think that the more good stuff we tell our prospective employer the better. However, that’s not really the case. Our best assets can be overshadowed by the average of all we present.

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about The Presenter’s Paradox, and how we can put our best foot forward.

Nostalgia

Last month on All Things Considered NPR’s Kelly McEvers and Pop Culture Happy Hour‘s Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon talked about this era of TV and movies, many of which are catering to Gen X nostalgia.

Weldon asserted that, “…the strongest nostalgia you feel is for the stuff that you chose. So in your teens and 20s, you make a decision. You make your first cultural choices. You say, this is mine.”

But is that actually true? How does our brain process memory? And what is nostalgia?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about the psychology of nostalgia and how it works in our brains.

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