Human behavior

After the surgery, all ten of the patients in the study reported greater mobility and less pain. In fact, the men who received “pretend” surgery did just as well as those who’d received debridement or lavage surgery. There was no difference in the results—even six months later. And six years later, when two of the men who’d received the placebo

Behavioral addiction consists of six ingredients: compelling goals that are just beyond reach; irresistible and unpredictable positive feedback; a sense of incremental progress and improvement; tasks that become slowly more difficult over time; unresolved tensions that demand resolution; and strong social connections.

Having a strong sense of controlling one’s life is a more dependable predictor of positive feelings of wellbeing than any of the objective conditions of life we have considered.

“The child says: ‘When I am a big boy.’ But what is that? The big boy says, ‘When I grow up.’ And then, grown up, he says: ‘When I get married.’ But to be married, what is that after all? The thought changes to ‘When I’m able to retire.’ And then, when retirement comes, he looks back over the landscape traversed; a cold wind seems to sweep over it;

Confucius says you have two lives, and the second one begins when you realize you only have one. When and how did your second life begin?