A recent study has found that the quality and quantity of your social life can have a large effect your health. The study, Social Relationships and Mortality Risk, is a meta-analysis of 148 published studies looking at the topic of the health effects of one's social relationships.
The analysis found that the influence of one's social interactions affects your risk of mortality to a degree that is comparable to other well established risk factors. In other words, poor social interaction has an equivalent effect on your chance of dying as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. Poor social relationships are twice as risky, health wise, than being obese.
In short, make great friends - quickly!
However, the benefits one gains from high quality friends extends beyond better health. Friends also expose you to ideas and places that you would not otherwise experience. Not to mention the intrinsic joy of spending time with friends and loved ones.
Unfortunately, the road to acquiring these friends is less clear. I have yet to find a decent book or website addressing the matter. It is certainly a topic that is worthy of some thought.
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
What do we know?
Overheard today: "How do you know stuff daddy? How do you know stuff?"
Now, the musings of a two year old are generally not worthy of a blog post. However, this question provoked some contemplation by Yours Truly.
Most people are familiar with the concept of evidence and proof in the context of scientific theories and laboratory experiments. However, the child's question seemed to encompass all of the beliefs and knowledge that an individual collects. This caused me to wonder, for how much of what we hold to be true have we seen the evidence, or at least a reasonable justification for? How many of my actions, both big and small, are based on ideas that are either false or have no evidence to support them?
Having recently read Ben Goldacre's excellent book Bad Science, this question has been particularly fresh in my mind. Ben showed in his book how some of my beliefs on matters regarding science are false, what would the same rigorous standards of evidence and analysis reveal in other areas of my life? Furthermore, Bad Science reveals how evidence can be manipulated in order to justify that which it should not.
It strikes me that we should be more careful regarding what we allow into our minds.
Now, the musings of a two year old are generally not worthy of a blog post. However, this question provoked some contemplation by Yours Truly.
Most people are familiar with the concept of evidence and proof in the context of scientific theories and laboratory experiments. However, the child's question seemed to encompass all of the beliefs and knowledge that an individual collects. This caused me to wonder, for how much of what we hold to be true have we seen the evidence, or at least a reasonable justification for? How many of my actions, both big and small, are based on ideas that are either false or have no evidence to support them?
Having recently read Ben Goldacre's excellent book Bad Science, this question has been particularly fresh in my mind. Ben showed in his book how some of my beliefs on matters regarding science are false, what would the same rigorous standards of evidence and analysis reveal in other areas of my life? Furthermore, Bad Science reveals how evidence can be manipulated in order to justify that which it should not.
It strikes me that we should be more careful regarding what we allow into our minds.
Monday, 4 February 2013
The unread library
I have more books in the "to read" folder on my e-reader, than all other folders. Not a library for ornamentation; without being read. A library that you slowly and consistently wade through, inevitably adding more books as you go. This, I feel, is how it should be.
Most people have a library, however large or small, of the books they have already read. I want the opposite. I want an anti-library. A library which serves as a reminder that although you may know a lot, you have really only made a tiny clearing in the jungle. Umberto Eco reportedly has a library containing 30 000 unread books. This is a monument to how much he still wishes to know. Nicolas Taleb argues, I think correctly, that the more knowledgeable one is, the longer your reading list grows. The anti-library also serves as a poignant reminder of the limits of your knowledge and the fundamental inability of humankind to know.
Ideas matter, they are the conscious and unconscious assumptions and beliefs upon which our lives are built. Actions are justified or avoided based on the ideas you have encountered in your lifetime thus far. Many people only read when they are forced to. This is unfortunate since who knows, the next book you read may change your life!
In today's world, locating and buying books has never been easier, so get reading...
Most people have a library, however large or small, of the books they have already read. I want the opposite. I want an anti-library. A library which serves as a reminder that although you may know a lot, you have really only made a tiny clearing in the jungle. Umberto Eco reportedly has a library containing 30 000 unread books. This is a monument to how much he still wishes to know. Nicolas Taleb argues, I think correctly, that the more knowledgeable one is, the longer your reading list grows. The anti-library also serves as a poignant reminder of the limits of your knowledge and the fundamental inability of humankind to know.
Ideas matter, they are the conscious and unconscious assumptions and beliefs upon which our lives are built. Actions are justified or avoided based on the ideas you have encountered in your lifetime thus far. Many people only read when they are forced to. This is unfortunate since who knows, the next book you read may change your life!
In today's world, locating and buying books has never been easier, so get reading...
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