Two faces, double chin
“Never mind that some restaurants have started listing calories on their menus,” says Associated Press. “Forget even that we keep saying we want to eat healthy. When Americans eat out, we order burgers and fries anyway. … In a country where more than two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese, food choices are often made on impulse, not intellect. So, while 47 per cent of Americans say they’d like restaurants to offer healthier items like salad and baked potatoes, only 23 per cent tend to order those foods, according to a survey last year by food research firm Technomic.”
Why mistakes are good
“Individuals who believe they can learn from a mistake have a different brain reaction just after making an error than those who think intelligence is fixed, according to a new study to be published in Psychological Science,” Psych Central reports. “ ‘One big difference between people who think intelligence is malleable and those who think intelligence is fixed is how they respond to mistakes,’ says Jason Moser of Michigan State University. … In general, when a person makes a mistake, the brain puts out two quick signals: The first indicates that something has gone wrong, and a second indicates that the person is consciously aware of the mistake and is trying to correct it. Both signals occur within a quarter of a second of the mistake. For the study, volunteers were asked to perform a task in which mistakes could be easily made. … Individuals who believed in the idea of learning from mistakes actually did better after making a mistake. Their brains also reacted differently, creating a stronger second signal, the one that says, ‘I see that I’ve made a mistake, so I should pay more attention,’ says Moser.”
