For an experienced reader, recognising the words on this page feels effortless. Yet, evolutionarily speaking, your brain shouldn’t be able to read. Reading has existed for too short a time to have shaped a dedicated centre in the brain. Therefore, the brain has to learn to read using systems that evolved for other purposes. But it has long […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
The brain isn’t hardwired to read – here’s how we pull it off and why some are better at it than others
What cannabis use really tells us about university students’ eating habits
Cannabis has a reputation for making people hungry. Popular culture has long joked about the “munchies,” and many people assume that students who use cannabis naturally have poorer diets than those who don’t. Our latest research suggests the story is more complicated. As researchers who study the health behaviours of university students, we surveyed more than […] … learn more→
‘You’re a 4 out of 10’: the troubling rise of AI appearance ratings
A teenager joins an online video chat. Within seconds, artificial intelligence analyses their face and gives them a score out of ten for “attractiveness”. They are compared in real time with another user who scores higher and is declared the winner. The game is live-streamed, and the audience ridicule the loser in the chat. This […] … learn more→
Students are anxious – and it’s no surprise, since we are teaching them to be that way
Temporary anxiety can often surface before the first day of school. Sometimes, that can help kids get in the right mindset for a big day. But when anxiety becomes a constant feature of children’s and teenagers’ days, that stress doesn’t switch off when they leave the classroom or finish an exam. It can become the body’s […] … learn more→
End-of-year trips: educational experience or just a party?
Few events generate as much excitement during adolescence as end-of-year trips. Being away from home, spending time with friends, and enjoying a newfound sense of freedom make these trips particularly intense experiences. For many young people, they represent one of their first opportunities to develop greater autonomy, make their own decisions, and interact with their […] … learn more→
Are all digital devices equally addictive?
The Onlife Manifesto, “Being Human in a Hyperconnected Age , ” was published over a decade ago . Promoted by the European Commission, the document analyzes the social penetration of information and communication technologies and their impact on people’s lives. Based on the premise that technology has ceased to be an external tool that we use at […] … learn more→
How information overload has caused us to lose the ability to read deeply, and what to do to recover it.
Never before have we had so much information available. News, analysis, commentary, and opinions circulate endlessly on social media, digital platforms, and messaging apps. Paradoxically, this abundance doesn’t always translate into a better understanding of reality. Often, the opposite occurs: information overload encourages quick reading and immediate reactions that fuel increasingly polarized debates. When phenomena […] … learn more→
Can’t stop endlessly scrolling? Tips to help you take back control
It’s called the infinite scroll – a design feature on social media, shopping, video and many other apps that continuously loads content as you reach the bottom of the page. Handy? Yes. Clever? Also yes. Devious? Very much so. The infinite scroll is likely the main reason you find it so hard to stop scrolling once you […] … learn more→
Digital media is using negativity to steal our attention — here’s how to reclaim it
With the internet and its widespread accessibility, many of us have front-row seats to widespread suffering and death across the globe for the first time in history, even when we are not directly affected. We’re living in what scholars describe as a “polycrisis” — a set of interconnected crises that compound and intensify one another. Climate change intensifies displacement […] … learn more→
How Hemp-derived CBD vape carts are evaluated for purity and transparency
In recent years, the hemp industry has grown rapidly, but not all products on the market meet the same quality standards. Reports of contaminated vape products and mislabeled cannabinoid content have made many adults more cautious about what they inhale. Because vape cartridges are heated and inhaled directly into the lungs, concerns about purity and […] … learn more→
