The New York Times recently ran an article about the effects of decision fatigue on willpower, which is a quality read for the psych nerd, UX professional, and generally inquisitive alike (I, of course, happen to fit into all three categories). Here's a snippet:

Once you’re mentally depleted, you become reluctant to make trade-offs, which involve a particularly advanced and taxing form of decision making. In the rest of the animal kingdom, there aren’t a lot of protracted negotiations between predators and prey. To compromise is a complex human ability and therefore one of the first to decline when willpower is depleted.

What's most interesting is the conclusion that we lack the instinctive ability to recognize decision fatigue. Though the cortex (where decision-making takes place) is the most complex part of the brain, it is also the youngest part evolutionarily. Therefore, it's more prone to errors, and we're slower to recognize what it's telling us than we are the less-evolved, but older, parts of the brain. Perhaps a few more million years of evolution will leave humans in a better position to recognize when their brains are exhausted and when a break from decision-making is needed.

Kim brought us back gifts from her trip to Comic-Con. I'm excited to spend the afternoon putting together my very own Draco Malfoy action figure. Thanks, Kim!

On his way back from lunch, Shawn handed me a bag from McNally Jackson. In it was this:

I think it goes without saying that this is an atypical gift from one's boss, but I'm not sure what confuses me more – that I'm not actually surprised about this, or how I've acquired such a reputation for myself.

Just a typical day.

My roommate just passed along the FakeMTA's hipster-friendly NYC subway map, originally posted back in May. We agreed that it looks about right (though it's not like I only leave those areas begrudgingly or something).

Check out the full-sized version here.

This morning, I came across yesteday's Google's guitar-modified doodle in honor of Les Paul's birthday. When I realized that I could actually "play" that guitar...well, Google succeeded 100% in it's goal to grab my attention. I completely forgot about whatever I had been googling.

If you missed it, the doodle was still (obviously) up this morning, and might be up for a few more hours. If you're feeling ambitious, learn how to play some tunes on the Google guitar, like so:

Come on, you know you've been dying to see where the magic happens. Take a tour of Harvest with me, and don't forget to visit us on Friday as part of Walkabout NYC!

I've had Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness on my shelf for almost a year now, but it wasn't until three weeks ago that I took my first steps into Positive Psychology, which explores positive human traits, especially happiness, and the strengths and virtues that help us lead meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Authentic Happiness is a detailed psychological theory that provides a counter-approach to the popular disease model (making miserable people less miserable) which has reigned in psychology in the last few decades.  This book is a sound discussion of what creates happiness, what makes happy people different from your "average" person, and why we should be concerned with making people happier in the first place.

While I could write a thesis on the lessons learned from this book, the most salient is certainly about creating happiness in the present. Seligman posits that we can increase happiness in our day-to-day by engaging in activities that increase flow (flow can be shortly described as total engagement, that "where did the time go?" phenomenon). Activities which exercise your strengths likely produce flow.

I took a rather lengthy questionnaire on authentichappiness.org to find out more about my strengths. The results weren't particularly earth-shattering; I spend a good amount of time thinking about thinking, so I already knew my high and low points (humility scored dead last in my test of the 24 strengths. I'm coloring nobody surprised). However, consciously practicing my strengths has helped me to be more engaged in day-to-day activities, and has made me aware of those which bring me flow. Even briefly putting these techniques into practice has influenced the projects I want to pursue in my personal and work life in the coming months, which has brought me an increased sense of fulfillment.

Maybe my never-ending psycho-babble isn't your thing, but if I had to pick one thing for you to give a chance, it would be this TED talk. Take 20 minutes to get acquainted with the future of psychology.

There's a difference between an exercise of privacy and holding back.

As a teen, I told anything to anyone. Now, I'm more discerning about the people with whom I choose to share the details of my personal life. You will not see my bad moods, family issues, or boy dramas on Facebook. This is an exercise in privacy.

While privacy serves to avoid intrusion into one's personal life, holding back serves to avoid judgment or conflict.

Sometimes, holding back is a necessity. People don't [shouldn't] blatantly insult each other or air every issue on their mind, and for good reason.  Being obnoxious or offensive in the name of honesty is just a poor excuse for a lack of social prowess and respect for others.

However, holding back is purposeless when it's done to avoid fleeting awkwardness. Not sharing your opinions when asked, hiding your interests or habits, or simply not speaking up may protect you from the occasional hurtful comment or harmless disagreement, but it comes at the price of closing others out. This isn't a good excuse for holding back.

Ultimately, holding back doesn't change reality, it just changes people's perception of reality. That's well and good when done for the right reasons, but it only isolates a person when it's done in the name of saving face. Consider the judgment you're protecting yourself from, and if it's really something from which you need protecting.

For a smart girl, I've got a very un-intellectual habit.

I have an undeniable, unhealthy, and uncontrollable love of reality TV. You name it, I've watched it. Besides the complete lack of substance, the worst part about reality TV is its drug-like effect. First, you're ok with the Real World. Then you need more of a shtick, so you turn to things like Jersey Shore. Then it's not so much about "quality," but you want quantity, so you begin to watch every Real Housewives series just to get your fix. After a while, that's not enough, either.

Well, folks, I've hit an all-time low. Last night, I found my next fix. I found Mob Wives.

There, I said it.

Mob Wives follows four Staten-Island women living their lives apart from their mobster husbands or fathers, who are all serving time. I don't think I can do it justice, let's just suffice it to say that these women make the Real Housewives series look like childsplay. Now that I think about it, the ultimate reality showdown would be Mob Wives vs. Real Housewives (I'll give you a clue as to how it would end – four Mob Wives take down about 30 Real Housewives with a single stare). After all, what would you expect from people who are more concerned with snitching than their husbands/fathers taking out entire families? I don't intimidate easily, but I would not so much as breathe the wrong way around one of them. Take this for example:

I swear, I'm surprised that this woman didn't melt that finger with her gaze. These women are crazy.

Anyway, I'll be getting my fix every Sunday at 8 pm. That is, as long as no one comes after me for writing this post.