We assume our memories are accurate. A 2011 survey found 63 percent of the public saying, “Human memory works like a video camera, accurately recording the events we see and hear … .” The problem: Not one academic expert on memory agrees with this proposition, accepted by nearly two-thirds of […] Read more »
Why Movie ‘Facts’ Prevail
This year’s Oscar nominees for best picture include four films based on true stories …. Each film has been criticized for factual inaccuracy. … You might think: Does it really matter? Can’t we keep the film world separate from the real world? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Studies show that […] Read more »
How Movies Can Change Our Minds
As the reactions to “Selma” and “American Sniper” suggest, movies often still have the power to provoke national debate. Do they also have the power to affect our view of government? A recent study by Michelle C. Pautz, an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, suggests […] Read more »
Is the Defendant White or Not?
As jury selection continues in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the defendant in the Boston Marathon bombings, so does debate about what would constitute a fair and impartial jury. … Within hours of the F.B.I.’s release of the suspects’ photographs, we collected responses from 426 white Americans to a broad […] Read more »
The Top 10 Insights from the ‘Science of a Meaningful Life’ in 2014
It’s time once again for our favorite year-end ritual here at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center: Our annual list of the top scientific insights produced by the study of happiness, altruism, mindfulness, gratitude–what we call “the science of a meaningful life.” We found that this year, the science of […] Read more »
The Paradox of the Free-Market Liberal
In American politics, personality is, supposedly, destiny: Having a conservative personality makes us conservative on economic and social policy, and vice versa for liberals. Think of the stereotypes: the free-spending, libertine liberal; the rock-ribbed, free-market conservative. But there’s nothing natural about this pairing between personality and such broad ideologies. Instead, […] Read more »