Science News for Writers

If you follow current brain science, you're probably aware that very little in the way we react to situations comes from our conscious mind.  Rather, our reactions to almost everything we experience are controlled by one or more of the twenty modes of the brain.  Current thinking is that these reactions are out of our conscious control. For a more complete report on the function of our conscious mind, read this post from earlier this year: Passive Frame Theory: "Free will. . . does not exist." In essence, our conscious mind plays the role of a traffic cop, allowing through and coordinating thoughts and reactions from one of the twenty some modules that organize the eight billion neurons in the typical human brain.   The report below demonstrates one of the basic reactions that many White people experience when approached by a Black person.  According to this report just published in the American Psychological Association publication, the Jour...

How many movies and TV shows use the conflict between potential in-laws and a suitor?   Some?   . . .most?                 . . .all?  This is the conflict of so many sit-coms and rom-coms.  Boy meets girl.  Girl introduces boy to parents.  Parents freak out.  A plot is born. So what does science say about this ever-lasting theme?  Is there a best way to resolve the issue? Note to authors and screenwriters :  Here is a list of ways to do it right.  Of course, you want to use the wrong ways in your story, (at least at first), or have no story.  Romeo & Juliet wouldn't be Romeo and Juliet without the Montagues and Capulets, would it?  As always, there is a link to the full report in the attribution. *  *  *  *  * 'I am right for your child!' Research reveals the best tactics for manipulating your partner's parents The key to dealing...

Women and men react differently to infidelity, study shows Men are more jealous of sexual infidelity than emotional infidelity; the opposite is true for women If your partner has sex with someone else, it is considered infidelity -- even if no emotions are involved. But it is also considered infidelity when your significant other develops a close personal relationship with someone else, even if there is no sex or physical intimacy involved. A recent Norwegian study shows that men and women react differently to various types of infidelity. Whereas men are most jealous of sexual infidelity, so-called emotional infidelity is what makes women the most jealous. Evolutionary psychology may help explain why this may be. Significant gender differences "Men and women's psychology is similar in most areas -- but not when it comes to reproduction," says Associate Professor Mons Bendixen, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Department of ...