On the Quest for Originality, Recombine the Familiar
Most of the time, success comes from a well-placed tweak, a novel combination of two or more existing elements, or the better version of an idea or product not yet perfected.
Culture
Latest Stories
God of the Gaps: How the Supernatural Explains What We Can’t
Humans turn to the supernatural to explain both natural and social phenomena when we can’t point to a clear human cause. But supernatural explanations are more common for natural than for social phenomena. Why?
Tips, Clicks, and Charitable Gifts: The Persuasive Impact of a Single Touch
Restaurant servers, canvassers, and robot elderly care assistants may all be a single touch on the hand away from greater satisfaction, engagement, and compliance.
Older Stories
It’s a Bouba, Not a Kiki: The Relationship Between Sound, Form, and Meaning
We don’t assume that we can understand the meaning of words based on their sound alone. But a long history of research in psycholinguistics hints that we’re better at it than we might think.
Humans vs. AI in the Quest to Be the Bard of #BehavioralValentines
Will human or machine pen the perfect love poem for your behavioral valentine?
How Winning (or Losing) a Grammy Changes the Music Artists Make
Recent research shows how winning a Grammy can spark innovation, but losing one can snuff it out.