In a poignant turn of events, Kane Tanaka, recognized as the world’s oldest person, has passed away at the age of 118. Tanaka, who was born on January 2, 1903, in Fukuoka, Japan, held the title of the world’s oldest living person according to the Guinness World Records. Her remarkable lifespan spanned three centuries, witnessing profound changes in the world.
Tanaka’s long life was marked by her resilience and positive outlook. Despite her advanced age, she remained active, engaging in activities such as playing board games and solving puzzles, which she attributed to her longevity. She lived in a nursing home in Fukuoka, where she continued to inspire those around her with her vibrant spirit.
Throughout her lifetime, Tanaka experienced significant historical events, including two World Wars and numerous technological advancements. Her life was a testament to the extraordinary potential of human longevity, and her passing has prompted reflections on the progress of medicine and living conditions over the past century.
Tanaka was officially recognized by Guinness World Records in March 2019. Her achievement of living to 118 years old captured global attention, highlighting not only the advances in healthcare but also the importance of lifestyle and genetic factors in extending human life.
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I don’t know if I want to live that long.
I asked AI who is the new oldest person:
Following the death of Kane Tanaka, the new oldest living person is Lucile Randon, a French nun also known as Sister André. She was born on February 11, 1904, making her 120 years old as of August 2024.
It’s always the females. I think they kill off the men
And it’s bad enough that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is getting involved.
According to WGN-TV, a number of “female offenders” sneaked into the Fairmont Hotel — which was hosting the 2024 Democratic National Convention Breakfast in Chicago — to contaminate various food items with maggots.
“Multiple unknown female offenders are alleged to have entered a building (200 block of North Columbus Drive) and began placing unknown objects onto tables containing food,” a statement from law enforcement handling security at the DNC noted. “The offenders are believed to have then left the area.
For many, middle age is associated with midlife crises and internal tumult. According to new research, it is also when the human body undergoes two dramatic bouts of rapid physical transformation on a molecular level.
In a new study, scientists at Stanford University tracked age-related changes in over 135,000 types of molecules and microbes, sampled from over 100 adults. They discovered that shifts in their abundance — either increasing or decreasing in number — did not occur gradually over time, but clustered around two ages.
“Obviously you change throughout your entire life. But there are two major periods when there are lots of changes: One is when people hit their mid-40s, and one is they hit their 60s,” said Michael Snyder, a geneticist at Stanford University who co-wrote the study, in a phone interview. On average, the changes clustered around the ages of 44 and 60.
Fun question for men, is there any female hobby — that’s legal — that is so bad you would be unwilling to date or marry a girl no matter how hot she is because she does it? I can only think of one — pet snakes. I’m out. Can’t be with a snake person. You guys? https://t.co/F4Dkig7UAu
Being an introvert, I’d put small talk when you talk at someone instead of talking to them, or being interesting. Don’t narrate your day and expect me to want to engage
I don’t have to be motivated. It comes from within. I was born with a sense of responsibility that causes me to do what needs doing. I also prioritize it over other things because it is the right thing to do. That is life, work, and the stuff you have to do.
I think it comes from my father who always did a complete job until it was right. It rarely took him two tries
It’s why I never understood people who let things go
Now for stuff I want to do, I know that there is some sacrifice to become good at anything. It was that was for all of my avocations and is what keeps me healthy.
One West Virginia dad etched his name in fishing history by making an impressive catch on the most unassuming gear imaginable.
On July 21, Tyler Rutherford and his relatives spontaneously decided to fish a family farm pond.
They took worms and a few poles, and Rutherford soon cast a line from his 3-year-old daughter’s pink fishing pole out into the 1.5-acre pond.
The young girl is only able to reel the line in, so Rutherford casts it for her.
“We all just grabbed a thing of nightcrawlers,” Rutherford told the West Virginia Outdoors podcast. “I’d got my daughter a little pink $9.99 Zebco from Academy Sports and I’d got my little boy one for Easter.
I know I hate mine and it’s coming up, mostly the attention thing. No extrovert will understand this, but you should.
Anyway, here it is and boy is it right. Again, courtesy of Introvert Dear, link at the end
I’ve never really liked my birthday. In fact, it’s one of the days I dread the most. I hate all the extra attention and the pressure to make it a special day, usually with a party. It’s insufferable.
When I was a teenager, I used to have long, exhausting fights with my mother in the weeks leading up to my birthday. She always wanted me to celebrate with a huge party filled with family and friends. But to me, a huge birthday party is synonymous with torture, not celebration. Instead, I wanted something small, like going to the movies or the bowling alley with a few close friends.
No Birthday Party For Me, Thank You
More often than not, I used to win these fights and ended up doing what I wanted for my birthday. But all these arguments took a toll on my mental health and self-esteem. Whenever I refused to have a party or make a big deal out of my birthday, people called me a party pooper, a killjoy, and a downer. I didn’t have the words to defend myself (I was still a kid), so I internalized all those insults and convinced myself that there was something “wrong” with me. It took me years to realize and accept that there was nothing wrong with me — I am an introvert.
I am now a proud introvert who can defend the reasons behind my actions and behaviors. In case you’re curious, my relationship with my mother has improved, but I still hate my birthday. I believe a lot of the reasons stem from the fact that I’m an introvert.
Obviously, not all introverts hate their birthdays, but over the years I have noticed that a significant portion of the online introvert community feels aversion or indifference toward their birthdays. Here are a few reasons I believe some introverts (like myself) don’t like their birthdays.
Why Some Introverts Hate Their Birthdays
1. Too much attention
This one’s a no-brainer. Most introverts don’t like being the center of attention, so having an entire day dedicated to them can be quite uncomfortable. It’s especially tough when they are put on display in front of a lot of people, anxiously waiting to see their reactions while opening gifts or making a wish and blowing out the candles to the tune of “Happy Birthday.”
In my case, I especially hate all the attention I receive for something as trivial as turning one year older. I feel like I haven’t earned it, and I don’t know what to do with it. Being the center of attention makes me anxious, uncomfortable, and insecure. I always try to avoid it and redirect that attention to something or someone else. But when it’s my birthday, that is almost impossible to do because it’s “my day.”
When we throw a party, we might end up feeling anxious and worrying if everyone is having fun. It’s our party, so we feel the pressure and responsibility to be a good host and ensure everyone is enjoying themselves. But in the process, we sometimes forget to have a good time ourselves.
And don’t even get me started on surprise parties. It’s undoubtedly a nice gesture for someone to throw you a surprise party because it shows they care enough to go through all the trouble of organizing it. But a surprise party is practically a living nightmare for an introvert. If there’s anything worse than having a party, it’s not having knowledge or control over your own party.
3. The pressure to make it a “special” day
This is one of the things that bother me the most about my birthday. Sometimes, I just want to do something small to celebrate, like going to the movies or taking a long walk around the city. But the pressure from others to make it a “special” day can be too much. I get it, I was born on that day, but why does it have to be the most special day of my year? Why do I have to have the time of my life specifically on that day? That’s just setting myself up for failure because the expectations are always way too high. (And we introverts don’t like pressure anyway!)
Plus, when your birthday is coming up, it seems like everyone has their own opinion about how you should celebrate it. Instead of asking you what you want to do, some people tell you exactly what you should do. Whether it’s a party or going dancing at a club, your birthday might end up being about what other people want to do instead of what you want.
And God forbid you suggest you don’t want to do anything for your birthday — people might look at you as if you’re crazy. They will try to convince you that you’re wrong and that you will regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t do something special on that day.
4. All the phone calls and “happy birthday” messages
This one might come off as ungrateful because it’s undoubtedly nice to have people who care enough to wish you a happy birthday. But to an introvert, all that attention can be overwhelming.
Phone calls, in general, make some introverts uncomfortable. When the sole purpose of a call is to wish us a happy birthday, it’s even worse because all the attention is on us. After the “Happy Birthday”s and “Thank you”s, the inevitable small talk follows, making us even more uncomfortable. It doesn’t help that the people who usually call are relatives or friends you only talk to two or three times a year.
The same goes for the Facebook messages and texts you receive throughout the day. After the pleasantries and birthday greetings, you have to make small talk (again, in a different form) with all the people who wished you a happy birthday. This can be a bit too much, which is why I think some introverts hide their birthdays from their social media pages.
Few situations are worse for an introvert than being in front of a cake while friends and family sing what feels like a three-hour rendition of “Happy Birthday.” I never know what to do or where to look when that melody starts, and suddenly I have a cake in front of me and dozens of eyes on me.
There is no appropriate reaction to that situation. Do I smile the whole time? No, that would look fake, and my cheeks would probably start to hurt after the third “Happy birthday to you…” Do I put on a poker face? No, that would probably come off as bratty and ungrateful. Do I sing with them? No, that would look awkward. Do I run away and hide in the bathroom? No, that would probably lead to a lot of questions. Whoever came up with this particular birthday tradition obviously hated introverts and wanted to see them suffer.
I Don’t Hate All Birthdays, Just Mine
I love celebrating my friends and family’s birthdays. I enjoy seeing them happy and buying them presents to celebrate another year of their lives. But when the spotlight is on me and it’s my birthday, I hate it. I hate the pressure, the attention, and the Happy Birthday song.
However, that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed my birthdays before. The birthdays I have enjoyed the most are the ones when I did what I wanted to do, like going to the movies or the bowling alley with my best friends, not when I succumbed to the pressure from others and ended up doing what they wanted me to do.
So if you have an introvert in your life and you want to make their birthday special, just ask them what they want to do and respect it. Don’t assume everyone wants to celebrate with a huge party and be the center of attention.
And if you’re an introvert who hates their birthday like I do, there are ways to enjoy this “special day.” Set realistic expectations, put your foot down, and do what you want to do, whether that’s having dinner with your family, going dancing with your friends, or staying home with a good book and a Netflix marathon. I can’t promise you’ll start loving your birthday, but at least you’ll enjoy it more. And the good thing about birthdays is they only happen once a year.
You’ve probably met or heard of someone who claimed to be ‘bad at tests,’ to be ‘anxious about test-taking,’ or some other euphemism for ‘I score poorly.’ The typical explanation for poor scoring is self-serving and naturally has less to do with the person being unintelligent and more to do with anxiety interfering with their ability to show their skills or with tests being unfair.
The anxious tend to do worse on tests not because anxiety interferes with test performance, but because they tend to have lower levels of ability. A possible explanation for the association is, therefore, that living the life of someone with low ability gives people a life of learning experiences that rightly promote anxiety about test performance, even if that anxiety doesn’t play a role in how well people test.
Now there are some gaps in the literature, but thanks to the size of the stereotype threat literature, I think it’s safe to argue those gaps are small.
The biggest gap has to do with the representativeness of sampling and the presence of anxiety as an interfering versus deficit-representing variable in high-stakes settings. Since high-stakes setting tend to see reduced stereotype threat—an anxiety-based hypothesis—I’m going to say ‘anxiety probably has reduced impacts in testing environments that matter.’ One down.
Since we see invariance most of the time in representatively sampled comparisons of demographic groups proposed to be differentially impacted by stereotype threat, I’m going to argue even further that the deficit account is probably right if there’s any truth whatever to groups varying in their anxiety levels. Since invariance generally applies to male-female comparisons and women definitely tend to be more anxious, I’ll wager the support is strong.
Or in other words, it’s not that you’re bad at taking tests5, it’s that you’re just not that smart.
As an introvert, I’ve been asked this question countless times. It mostly happened when I was a child, but I distinctly remember one instance in high school when someone asked if I was mute. I replied that I simply didn’t like talking that much.
Growing up, I was the shy girl who preferred reading and writing stories over engaging in conversation. Classmates would ask me this question, while teachers and other adults would often sigh and comment, “Oh, she’s so quiet!”
Not all introverts are shy and quiet, but I happen to possess both these traits. And, I require much more alone time than most people around me.
In an effort to help the world better understand us “quiet ones” — and perhaps spare some of my fellow introverts from having to answer this annoying question — here are five reasons why an introvert might not be talking.
The takeaway: Don’t try to force an introvert to talk more or change them into an extrovert. It won’t happen. Love them for who they are because there’s nothing wrong with being an introvert.
Thanks again to Introvert Dear who makes my life more understandable.
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati’s bulge might have played a role in costing him Olympic gold — but now it’s given him the chance for some major green.
After Ammirati’s bulge clipped the crossbar during his pole vault heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Saturday, August 3, the image spread like wildfire on social media as viewers marveled at his endowment, while lamenting what it had taken from him.
As it turns out, Ammirati’s misfortune also caught the attention of adult entertainment company CamSoda who offered him $250,000 in exchange for a 60-minute cam show.
In a letter obtained by Us Weekly, CamSoda Vice President Daryn Parker made the offer to Ammirati, 21, to show off his “goods” in exchange for the big payday.
Anthony Ammirati failed the bar and the commentators are clearly having a hard time acknowledging what happened 😂 HELP I'M DYING pic.twitter.com/5hOHttVA5g
I asked a Facebook group of 58,000 women to tell me their biggest dating app red flags.
What is one thing on a man’s dating profile that will instantly make you swipe left or un-match?
I got hundreds of responses, but they all boiled down to the same seven answers.
And — perhaps surprisingly — none of them had anything to do with looks, height or holding a fish.
So let’s get to it.
7.Kids In Photos
This doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to date a man who has children. They just feel it’s irresponsible to put your child’s face on a dating app.
“I understand loving your children and making it very clear that they are a part of your life,” one woman wrote. “But also, it’s an app where hundreds of people can just access your stuff and keep on keeping on. Like I’ve seen what people do to grown women’s posts on the Internet. I would never put a picture of my child on Tinder or any other app.”
6. Photos With Women
Other than maybe your mom.
One time, a guy told me he includes photos of himself with hot girls on his dating profile because it sends a subliminal message that he’s a catch “since he can get hot women.”
And if that’s not the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, it’s in the top 10.
Just like your wife or girlfriend doesn’t want to look at pictures of you with your ex, potential matches don’t want to feel like it’s a competition before they’ve even gone on a first date.
5. Can’t Hold A Conversation
I think one of the reasons dating apps could not keep my interest is because many of the men simply could not hold a stimulating conversation.
Just an endless stream of, Hey, wyd? Sup? How was your day? over and over again until we both lose interest and quit talking to each other.
I’d say about 99 percent of dating app matches never make it out of the chat.
4. “Not Into Drama”
This was a new one for me, but A LOT of women said it. So clearly, it’s a common line on men’s dating profiles.
“If he has ‘not into drama’ in his bio, it means he IS the drama,” one woman wrote.
Apparently a lot of men also don’t like women who “take themselves seriously.”
3. They Want To Talk On Snapchat
“What’s your snap?”
Three words that will make any woman’s eyes roll to the back of her head — and not in a fun way.
If a grown man only wants to communicate on Snapchat, he is in a relationship or married. Every single time. You might as well write “I’m a cheater” on your forehead and call it a day.
2. Shirtless Photos
This one was my answer, and I’m glad to see I’m not alone. Because this got the second-most mentions out of all the red flags.
A fundamental difference between men and women: If a very hot woman posts a half naked selfie on a dating app, every single man is swiping right. If a very hot man posts a shirtless mirror selfie on a dating app, women are repulsed.
The shirtless mirror selfie (or maybe worse, the pulling-up-my-shirt-to-show-my-abs selfie) is the dead giveaway of douchery. I don’t care if the guy is built like a renaissance statue — I want nothing to do with the level of narcissism he brings to the table.
And — drum roll — the No. 1 answer from the Facebook group. The BIGGEST red flag…
1. Getting Sexual Too Quickly
The ladies have spoken.
If a man immediately starts talking about sex or — God forbid — sends an unsolicited dick pic, it’s game over.
“Not only is it annoying if a guy goes immediately to sex, but it also tells me he’s talking like that to any woman who will entertain it,” one woman wrote.
Just so the men know: If a woman has ever played along with your sexting, then she really likes you. Because that does nothing for us. Dudes get so worked up and horny when they’re sexting. Meanwhile, she’s in the kitchen microwaving noodles in her baggy flannel jammies.
on the other hand, too many piercings, lots of tattoos, unnatural hair dye, a lot of cats, overly emotional outbursts, and being a feminist are red flags the other way. If they generalize that “all men are”, your clue is that all men should be out of there.
And for my Danish relatives who brag that they are always the happiest country, It’s easy to be happy when you have such low expectations. I never bought it.
For college students arrested protesting the war in Gaza, the fallout was only beginning
Since her arrest at a protest at the University of Massachusetts, Annie McGrew has been pivoting between two sets of hearings: one for the misdemeanor charges she faces in court, and another for violations of the college’s conduct code.
It has kept the graduate student from work toward finishing her dissertation in economics.
“It’s been a really rough few months for me since my arrest,” McGrew said. “I never imagined this is how UMass (administration) would respond.”
Some 3,200 people were arrested this spring during a wave of pro-Palestinian tent encampments protesting the war in Gaza. While some colleges ended demonstrations by striking deals with the students, or simply waited them out, others called in police when protesters refused to leave.
Many students have already seen those charges dismissed. But the cases have yet to be resolved for hundreds of people at campuses that saw the highest number of arrests, according to an analysis of data gathered by The Associated Press and partner newsrooms.
Along with the legal limbo, those students face uncertainty in their academic careers. Some remain steadfast, saying they would have made the same decisions to protest even if they had known the consequences. Others have struggled with the aftermath of the arrests, harboring doubts about whether to stay enrolled in college at all.
They should get what they deserve, kicked out and jobs at Starbucks
A man who stuffed a live eel up his backside was left in agony when the sharp-toothed sea creature tried to bite its way out of his digestive tract.
Horrified medics in Vietnam discovered the 26-inch long eel in X-ray scans taken to diagnose the cause of his pain on July 27, local media reports.
They found the eel had attempted to chew its way out by biting through the wall of his large intestine.
But initial attempts to remove the fish with a probe through his anus were thwarted when medics at Viet Duc Hospital, in Hanoi, found a lemon stuffed up there too.
Surgeons had to cut in through his abdomen to remove the eel with forceps, with stomach-churning pictures showing the creature on the operating table.
I’ve never really liked my birthday. In fact, it’s one of the days I dread the most. I hate all the extra attention and the pressure to make it a special day, usually with a party. It’s insufferable.
Introvert Dear has a great article today. Here goes.
When I was a teenager, I used to have long, exhausting fights with my mother in the weeks leading up to my birthday. She always wanted me to celebrate with a huge party filled with family and friends. But to me, a huge birthday party is synonymous with torture, not celebration. Instead, I wanted something small, like going to the movies or the bowling alley with a few close friends.
No Birthday Party For Me, Thank You
More often than not, I used to win these fights and ended up doing what I wanted for my birthday. But all these arguments took a toll on my mental health and self-esteem. Whenever I refused to have a party or make a big deal out of my birthday, people called me a party pooper, a killjoy, and a downer. I didn’t have the words to defend myself (I was still a kid), so I internalized all those insults and convinced myself that there was something “wrong” with me. It took me years to realize and accept that there was nothing wrong with me — I am an introvert.
I am now a proud introvert who can defend the reasons behind my actions and behaviors. In case you’re curious, my relationship with my mother has improved, but I still hate my birthday. I believe a lot of the reasons stem from the fact that I’m an introvert.
Obviously, not all introverts hate their birthdays, but over the years I have noticed that a significant portion of the online introvert community feels aversion or indifference toward their birthdays. Here are a few reasons I believe some introverts (like myself) don’t like their birthdays.
For decades, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol has been commonly referred to as “bad cholesterol” because of its association with increased risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), such as heart attacks and strokes.
However, a new study involving more than 4 million people across China challenges this belief, suggesting LDL may not be as harmful as previously thought—at least, not for everyone.
Research led by Dr. Liang Chen and colleagues reveals a more nuanced picture. While high LDL levels are linked to increased mortality in some groups, they do not pose the same risk for others, they found. The relationship between LDL and mortality varies significantly based on an individual’s cardiovascular disease risk and overall health status.
These findings suggest reconsidering the one-size-fits-all approach to cholesterol management. Instead, personalized treatment strategies may be essential for effectively managing cholesterol and improving health outcomes.
Harris Campaign Is Paying People to Make Kamala Look ‘Cool’ to GenZ Voters
The Harris campaign’s reliance on social media to make Vice President Kamala Harris appeal to GenZ has taken a desperate and cringe-worthy turn.
As Harris positions herself to be the Democratic 2024 nominee, the campaign has taken a pivotal shift in its political strategy to boost her votes.
Harris’ TikTok account, initially used to make President Joe Biden appear more relatable, is now flush with memes trying to make Harris seem “cool.” CNN commentator Van Jones pointed this out, saying that Harris has gone from “cringe to cool.”
In an even more desperate attempt to gain the votes of the younger generations, social media influencers are reportedly being offered money in exchange for posting content that makes the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee seem more appealing.
Comedian Steve McGrew shared an email he received from a company called “Launch Viral,” offering a “paid post-collaboration opportunity” to support Harris. The offer includes a “$150 cash paid bonus incentive.”
Democratic National Committee compliance manager Joyce DeCerce admitted while on a hidden camera that he did not believe Vice President Kamala Harris — his party’s new de facto nominee — could win the 2024 presidential election.
In a new video released Tuesday afternoon by James O’Keefe, DeCerce told an O’Keefe Media Group undercover journalist that Harris was “weirdly unpopular” and did not have any real “accomplishments to speak of,” even after serving three years as vice president to President Joe Biden.
What traditions have you not kept that your parents had?
Making my kids eat everything on their plate.
I had to finish everything when I was young. My Dad would sit at the table while I chewed tough meat like I was chewing gum forever. This was after the others left.
Or my personal worst, choking down boiled okra. That slimy shit made me gag and I suffered through it until it was done. I think after a while my Mom had either mercy on me or tried to serve something I could finish.
I made sure my kids had enough to eat and that there was healthy food on their plate. When they were full and I believed it, I ended the pain for both of us. They grew up and survived, but then I guess I did also.
I always tried to learn from what they did right and wrong. There are lessons in both.
Cal Quantrill said “you jacked off in a fucking parking lot you dumb fuck” to Reese McGuire. #RedSox#Rockies That caused the benches to clear. pic.twitter.com/ajAiKkntSp
Rockies starting pitcher Cal Quantrill was facing a jam with two outs on the board, and ended up getting out of it after Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire flew out to center field. However, things hit a boiling point, and quickly, before he even made it back to the dugout. And on top of that, the situation got incredibly personal — incredibly, incredibly personal. Like, we’re talking disrespectful as hell. So much so, that it cleared the benches and nearly sparked up an outright brawl.
But his momentum didn’t last long at all, as Quantrill savagely trolled that ass.
“You j*cked off in a f*cking parking lot, you dumb f*ck,” Quantrill yelled at Reese.
And from there, the two nearly got into a fight, with benches clearing that almost sparked up an outright brawl between the Rockies and Red Sox.
Rapper Snoop Dogg is set to carry the Olympic torch during the final leg of its tour across France ahead of Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony in Paris.
Mathieu Hanotin, the mayor of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris, took to X on Monday to confirm the news. Mr. Hanotin said the city—perched on the bank of the Seine River—will serve as the final stop on the Olympic Torch Relay’s cross-country route, marking the start of the 2024 Paris Games, set to run from July 26 to Aug. 11.
In addition to his torchbearer duties, Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., will also serve as a commentator for NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Paris Games. The rapper previously reported for NBC’s streaming platform Peacock during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics—held in 2021 because of the pandemic—providing colorful sports commentary alongside comedian Kevin Hart.
What’s your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?
Once again, you get the introvert answer. I loathe those long assed games where people get together and socialize for hours playing Monopoly or Bridge. I’m ready to leave before it starts.
I had the chance to play video games in 1981 before Nintendo came out with the orange button controller. I knew then that I didn’t have time to waste playing the same scenario over and over, although I get the attraction to others.
If I play a card game, it’s going to be solitaire. I don’t really play it anymore, rather spend my time writing and learning, but anytime I can do something to not drain my social battery quickly.
I played golf yesterday. I can be alone there also. I have my earbuds in and tune out the world.
Since I just got off the course, I asked one of the AI engines and this is the answer.
Ah, golf. That beloved sport where people spend hours on the green, only to come back with a score that would make a caveman proud. Why do people suck at golf, you ask? Well, let me enlighten you with my wit and sarcasm.
First and foremost, it’s because golf is a game of precision, and who needs that in their life? I mean, who wants to spend their weekends perfecting their swing, when they could be binge-watching the latest season of “The Bachelor”? It’s so much more fun to watch other people’s lives fall apart, am I right?
Secondly, golf requires patience, and we all know that’s a dying art in this fast-paced world. Who has the time to wait for their turn to putt when they could be scrolling through TikTok and watching videos of people falling off treadmills? Clearly, golf is just not meant for the modern world.
Now, let’s talk about technique. Who needs proper form and a good grip when you can just swing that club like a baseball bat? I mean, it’s not like there’s any difference between the two sports, right? Oh wait, there is. But who cares about that when you can look cool while completely missing the ball?
And let’s not forget about the mental aspect of the game. Golf is a sport that requires focus and the ability to block out distractions, like your annoying golf buddies who insist on giving you unsolicited advice. But why bother with that when you can just let your mind wander and think about what you’re going to eat for dinner? Priorities, people.
In conclusion, people suck at golf because they just don’t have the time, patience, or mental fortitude to truly excel at the game. But hey, who needs to be good at golf when you can be a pro at procrastination and watching reality TV? Keep on sucking, my fellow golfers. It’s what makes this sport so endearingly frustrating.
Number sequences: Finding patterns and completing number sequences.
Word problems: Solving logical or mathematical word problems.
Logical reasoning: Questions that test your ability to draw logical conclusions.
Pattern recognition: Identifying visual or numerical patterns.
Spatial awareness: Questions involving shapes, rotations, or spatial relationships.
Verbal comprehension: Understanding and analyzing language-based questions.
Family relationships: Determining familial connections based on given information.
Word associations: Finding words that are least like others in a group.
Mathematical calculations: Solving math problems, often presented in word problem format.
Visual puzzles: Analyzing and completing visual patterns or sequences.
Time management: The tests often have time constraints, requiring efficient problem-solving.
Progressive difficulty: Questions typically increase in difficulty as the test progresses.
Multiple-choice format: Many Mensa test questions are presented in a multiple-choice format.
Diverse subject matter: Questions can cover a wide range of topics to test general intelligence rather than specific knowledge.
I’m well acquainted with the Mensa community. Like all people, they come in many flavors. Just because you are in the top 2% of the population in terms of IQ doesn’t make you any better or worse than others. Some of those people are truly amazing people. A couple were royal fuck ups in life.
I half expect some woman to say he sexually harassed her 20 years ago soon the haters and liars are so predictable.
Here’s Tucker on the hate:
Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson told Republicans gathering in Milwaukee on Monday that Americans should “be thrilled” by Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Earlier in the day, as the Republican National Convention opened, Trump posted on social media that he had chosen Sen. JD Vance, an Ohio Republican, as his running mate in the Nov. 5 election.
“So now JD Vance is the VP pick, and I think every person who pays close attention has got to be thrilled by that,” Carlson said in a speech to convention delegates.
“And if you don’t know much about JD Vance, I’m not even going to make a case for [him],” the former Fox News host said.
Vance, 39, became a celebrity after writing the bestselling “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of Family and Culture in Crisis,” published in 2016. A venture capitalist, Vance initially opposed Trump but admired his presidency; he won election to the Senate in 2022 with Trump’s endorsement.
“I’m going to tell you what I just saw, which is that every bad person I’ve ever met in a lifetime in Washington was aligned against JD Vance,” Carlson quipped to the convention audience, referring to recent speculation by liberal media outlets and others that Trump would pick the conservative Ohio senator.
Carlson said Vance’s enemies are establishment politicians who support U.S. involvement in “pointless wars.”
“Every single one of those people, in a line that would extend from Milwaukee to Chicago, was lined up over the last week to knife JD Vance,” Carlson told the RNC audience.
Writing. Note, I want to hear from my reader nicknamed bocopro who has great comments every time. It turns out that he’s a better writer than me and his stuff is funny to read. He has a lifetime of experience to draw upon and I like hearing from the readers.
While I do a lot of physical activities, I’m able to stay in the present about what is going on around me or in life. When I start writing, especially in a personal journal where I pour out my heart on my feelings or memories, I can get lost for a long time.
Occasionally, if I go back to read those words, I can relive that time of the actual occurrence and the time when I wrote it. I feel those feelings deeply and once in a while I am proud of what I wrote.
Keep in mind, that nobody is completely introverted or extroverted — we all show both traits at different times, though we tend to lean more in one direction or the other.
If you could host a dinner and anyone you invite was sure to come, who would you invite?
I had this question at a team meeting years ago at IBM. An answer that I thought was better than mine came from another person. This is how it went.
I’d invite myself from 20 years ago, now, and 20 years from now. It would allow me to forgive myself for the mistakes I’ve made, congratulate myself for the things I’d overcome, and get advice from the future me on how to live my life.
While it seems a bit narcissistic, fundamentally it would be sound advice.
I forget what I answered, but I’m pretty sure Jesus and my parents who had since passed were some of my guests.
Nothing is better for me than when plans are cancelled for an event. The minute I agree to do something I’m somewhat on the edge about, the regret begins. I bet I burn up as much of my social battery dreading going to these events as being there. Hell, I’m burnt out before I even go if I realize it’s a big mistake or someone says there will be a lot of people there.
In fact, if you want to give your introverted friend the gift they want the most, give them cancelled plans. It’s one of our favorites. Heck, call them up and say that the plans you had to go out together are cancelled, even if you didn’t make any. That’s how good of a gift it is.
While most Americans were trying to figure out how to get through their Monday back to work after Fourth of July weekend, legendary competitive eater Joey Chestnut was right back to throwing down at the table and setting records.
During the holiday weekend, the official Twitter account of Buffalo Wild Wings issued a challenge to Chestnut to smack 200 boneless wings — challenge accepted.
Normally, Chestnut is getting some relaxation in after winning another belt at the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, but he ended up getting banned from the event after inking a contract with Impossible Foods, a grower of fake meat that Nathan’s didn’t want any part of.
But B-Dubs did!
“hey @joeyjaws if you eat 200 boneless wings tomorrow at all you can eat, i’ll extend it to 8/14,” wrote Buffalo Wild Wings in a Sunday morning tweet.
Now this. I didn’t think you could cheat, yet here we are:
The competitive eating world has been completely shaken up after a cheating scandal has rocked the 2024 edition of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest that takes place every Fourth of July, with a contender being hit with allegations of trying to crank up his score by using hand trickery.
Nick Wehry, the husband of women’s hot dog champion Miki Sudo, allegedly used sleight of hand trickery while the contest was happening in an attempt to fraudulently increase the number of hot dogs that he ate to become a part of the elite contenders of the sport, according to insider sources who told this information to the New York Post.
“100% he cheated,” one source said Tuesday to The Post.
Originally, Wehry had a score of 46.75 hot dogs eaten, however, that figure got bumped up to 51.75 later. According to the outlet’s sources, he ended up getting credit for eating five more wieners than what he actually did. On top of that, Wehry is also being knocked with accusations of “stealing plates” from a fellow competitor, stacking them in his area to bring his tally over 50. Oh! And he asked for a recount after the original scoring from the judge.
I, like a lot of Trekkies, have seen almost all of the episodes of the good series. I don’t include Discovery in that and I’m struggling to finish Picard. That includes seeing some episodes double-digit times. I saw The Original Series when it was first aired in the 60’s. Heck, I’ve met him and talked about it.
I maintain that The Wrath of Khan and First Contact are the best movies. They stayed true to the TV series and brought in characters like Khan Noonian Singh.
Well, it turns out that Captain Kirk doesn’t watch it much. Read and weep.
At 93 years old, William Shatner continues to surprise us.
In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 93-year-old actor — who portrayed Capt. James T. Kirk on the original “Star Trek” TV series from 1966 to 1969, and reprised the role in various films — revealed he’s actually only seen a “few” episodes of his work and has “never seen” any of the spinoffs.
“I’m gonna tell you something that nobody knows. I’ve never seen another ‘Star Trek’ and I’ve seen as few ‘Star Treks’ of the show I was on, I’ve seen as few as possible,” he said. “I don’t like to look at myself, and I’ve never seen any other. I love it, I think it’s great. I just don’t, you know, I don’t watch television, per se.”
“I’m watching documentaries, I’m watching the news, I’m watching sports, I’m watching things that were, documentaries that were made, but I don’t watch television for some reason,” he added. “I’ve been urged to watch certain shows by my family, ‘You’ll love this,’ and I just never get around to it.”
In May, while promoting his documentary “You Can Call Me Bill,” Shatner told The Canadian Press it’d be “an intriguing idea” to reprise Captain Kirk today.
“It’s almost impossible, but it was a great role and so well written and if there were a reason to be there, not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it,” he said.
President Joe Biden’s campaign staff is scrambling to excuse the candidate from a golf contest against his 2024 opponent, former President Donald Trump.
The two presidential candidates clashed at their first debate of the cycle on June 27, where their skill at the gentleman’s sport became a point of contention.
“I just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships,” Trump said on the debate stage in response to a question about his age and fitness. “To do that, you have to be quite smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way. And I do it. He doesn’t do it.
“He can’t hit a ball 50 yards,” the former president continued. “He challenged me to a golf match. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards.”
“Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him,” Biden said in response. “I got my handicap, which, when I was vice president, down to a 6.”
“And by the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?”
This bravado from Biden echoes a post made to the president’s X account earlier in the year enthusiastically challenging Trump to face him on the links.
Any man vs man contest is a dick measuring contest.
It turned out that Biden pussed out. I’ll cut him slack on his health, but he’s been a braggart all his life and now he gets called to the mat and can’t back up his bravado talk.
The real contest is who has the biggest balls here, and I’m going with Trump
I’m retired. I was tired yesterday and I’ll be retired today. I have all the time in the world to sleep and now I can’t pull it off like the good old days
I go to bed when I’m tired. Sleep can be a battle anyway when you get older. I get as much as I can so getting a head start is not unknown to me.
As far as waking up? I don’t have a real choice in that matter either. If the sun is up, I’m hosed. I just have to hope I have enough by then. I’m glad I don’t live in Northern Europe where the sun is up by 4:30.
Then there is the fun game that seasoned citizens play called get up to pee. There is no telling how many times that will happen. That can throw a spanner in the works of trying to get back to sleep. An all nighter for me would be not having to piss, but I can’t remember that happening in a decade.
What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life?
Yes, it’s Introvert time again. I am more comfortable alone than I am among a lot of people. While it’s possible to be alone in a crowd (introvert strategy here), it still comes with stress.
I also hate deadlines and the stress that comes with making it. I try to get stuff done well in advance so I don’t have to deal with it at crunch time.
Oh, and avoid family reunions as much and as often as possible.
I’m sure others have much better strategies to increase their comfort, but here’s my .02.
People vote with their money. The vegetarian weenies didn’t like McDonald’s to begin with and those who do go would never go for a sandwich that tastes like McShit.
The iconic hamburger chain McDonald’s thought it might try to appease the anti-meat forces by experimenting with McPlant. The result was a spectacular failure.
McDonald’s declared that its experiment with plant-based burgers was a disaster.
Joe Erlinger, who heads US operations for the Chicago-based fast food giant, told a business conference that the company discontinued the pilot program after customers in San Francisco and Dallas-Fort Worth panned the McPlant.
The McPlant “was not successful in either market,” Erlinger told the Wall Street Journal’s Global Fast Food Forum in Chicago on Wednesday.
“I don’t think the US consumer is coming to McDonald’s or looking for McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s now.”
The McPlant was test-marketed in San Francisco. If a plant-based burger can’t succeed in this super-woke city, it is doomed.
Speaking at the WSJ Global Food Forum, Erlinger said he had “asked the team to test the McPlant in two very different markets, and they chose San Francisco and Dallas.”
McDonald’s kicked off testing of the plant-based burger in the two cities in February 2022 and concluded it after a limited time. It involved about 600 restaurants in total.
“It was not successful in either market,” the McDonald’s USA president said at the forum. “So, I don’t think the U.S. consumer is coming to McDonald’s or looking for a McPlant or other plant-based proteins from McDonald’s now.”
I’m not surprised that it did better in Europe, but I would expect that and that’s nothing to be proud of.
I’ve been on vacations as a kid, with that family growing up. I was kind of a tag along and did what my parents decided mostly. We went to the beach a lot growing up in Florida. That meant I grew up next to Disney World. Heck, we didn’t even have Disney until 8th grade for me. My memories there are of playing alone next to the ocean in my own world.
Then came vacations with a different family, my wife and kids. We traveled around the world. They were good times that I’ll remember while taking one kid fishing everywhere and the other doing anything to keep her from being bored. There was no time to recover or recharge my social battery.
Later in life I did stuff like sailfishing in Costa Rica or going to F1 in Italy and again they were good, but stressful trying to catch planes and waiting in huge crowds. I still had to rush to catch planes and was a mule hauling luggage around the world.
As always though, my introvert self comes out. Vacations where you are always on the run and trying to make everyone happy wore my social battery out to the point that I’d need a vacation to recover from vacation.
Now, I just go to the mountains where there aren’t many people and I can relax without having people acting like tourists or waiting in line. I have my stuff in my place and I can do gardening and tree trimming out in field with no one telling me what to do.
Not having the next deadline or trying to catch the next plane is my favorite.
I became enamored with this contest by phenom eater Kobayashi, a skinny kid from Japan who revolutionized competitive eating. It also grosses out my wife. That means I’ve been watching for decades.
Kobayashi was defeated by Joey Chestnut who will not defend his championship this year because of a conflict with the sponsor, Nathan’s hot dogs and others (see below). I’ll still watch, but we will be in the 30 or 40 dog range to win, versus the 60 to76 that we’ve been treated to by Chestnut.
his Fourth of July, Joey Chestnut will be doing what Joey Chestnut does better than any human being alive:
Eating hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog after hot dog…
And on and on, down the hatch, with stunning pace and a strange sort of grace.
Chestnut—aka “Jaws,” the Michael Jordan of competitive eating, the Picasso of Pork, the Federer of Frankfurters, the GOAT of bloat, a man who once ate a world record 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes—will spend the holiday competing casually alongside members of the U.S. military at Fort Bliss in Texas in a quickly-assembled event airing on his YouTube channel.
Though Chestnut is honored for the opportunity, the stunning news is where the 40-year-old won’t be–parked at a table outside Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island, N.Y., dominating a legendary hot dog eating contest he has won a staggering 16 times.
“Bittersweet,” Chestnut told me in an interview this week.
Behind Chestnut’s absence is a dispute involving his nascent relationship with Impossible Foods, the plant-based food maker. The partnership chafed the powers behind Major League Eating and the Nathan’s Famous competition, who felt Chestnut was getting cozy with a rival.
So Chestnut is out, casting a footlong shadow over the annual beachside showdown—and riling a fan base that can’t believe the iconic competition will happen without its signature stomach.
No Joey Chestnut in Coney Island on the Fourth of July? It’s like asking a bald eagle to stay home in the nest.
“Stop being such weenies!” New York City mayor Eric Adams wrote in a pun-tastic tweet.
“The entire country’s [expletive] bummed,” said ESPN’s biceps curl Cronkite Pat McAfee. “I don’t even know if people are going to light off fireworks now.”
“Let the guy suck down dogs!” McAfee pleaded.
Chestnut, who won his first Nathan’s event in 2007 and parlayed his talent into global fame and a full-time occupation, sounded plenty bummed by the conflict. He doesn’t see his relationship with Impossible Foods as a deal-breaker–he’s still a devoted carnivore who sees plant-based food as a supplement to his meat diet, not a replacement.
He compared it to Tom Brady endorsing Under Armour cleats and also Ugg boots–an interesting choice, given that Tom Brady would sooner eat an Adirondack chair than a meaty hot dog.
“You can eat meat and you can also eat plant-based meat,” Chestnut said. “I feel like that should be OK with people.”
Impossible Foods had no issues with Chestnut consuming meat products at the Nathan’s event–or anywhere else, said the company’s CEO, Peter McGuinness.
“He’s a flexitarian,” McGuinness said. “He is our target audience. We’re not a vegan company and we need to be appealing to meat eaters.”
Major League Eating’s president, Richard Shea, echoed Chestnut’s term to describe the situation: bittersweet. The issue was a brand conflict, he said. He went on to rave about Chestnut’s talent and indelible mark on the annual competition, which is televised by ESPN.
“We love Joey, we wish he was there, we support his choice and think it’s a cool tribute, what he’s doing with the troops in Texas,” Shea said. “He’s a great champion.”
After the initial dust-up, MLE and Nathan’s Famous offered to put aside their issues and allow Chestnut to participate in 2024 – but the offering couldn’t bring the hot dog Hoover vac back to the table.
The relationship may need further repair. Chestnut believed his team was still negotiating when the controversy spilled into view with a Major League Eating statement that they were “devastated” at Chestnut’s decision to partner with “a rival brand that sells plant-based hot dogs.”
Having the impasse go public felt like a gut-punch to Chestnut, the contest’s most identifiable winner, long ago surpassing the competitive eating godfather Takeru Kobayashi of Japan.
“It’s hard to rebuild trust once bridges have been burned a little bit,” Chestnut said.
Chestnut trains like an endurance athlete, with vigorous eating sessions to prepare him to push his physical limits. He practices breathing techniques to stay calm and loose and even asks people to come yell at him in practice to try and simulate a noisy contest environment.
The champion felt on pace for a potentially record-setting Fourth of July.
“It was definitely my best training in years,” he said.
While consuming even a half dozen hot dogs would curl me into a fetal ball for a month, Chestnut said he’s in good health. He said he gets his blood regularly checked, and that his doctor remains comfortable with his career choice.
“He told me whatever I’m doing, I can keep doing it,” Chestnut said.
After the event at Fort Bliss, Chestnut will turn his attention to a brand-new event–a showdown with storied rival Kobayashi to be shown on Netflix. Billed as “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef” the mano-a-mano gulletpalooza will go down on Labor Day, Sept. 2.
“I want to make him uncomfortable and he wants to make me uncomfortable,” Chestnut pledged.
As for a future return to Coney Island, the champ is trying to stay optimistic.
Can it really be the Fourth of July without Joey Chestnut dogging dogs near the Brooklyn boardwalk?
“I love that contest,” said the hot dog gawd. “I would do anything reasonable to make it back there.”
Take Cher, Samuel L Jackson, Meathead, Whoopi, Clooney, De Niro, Alec Baldwin and the rest of them with you. I’m sure Elon has enough money to pay. Take some other America haters with you.
Since it’s being reported that it’s going to be between Her, Hillary and Newsome to replace Biden, we might as well know about her past and priorities so they don’t hide that in the basement also
Now, 20 years later, after getting inspired to enter politics by former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, Westrich is a solidly conservative state representative from blue-collar southeast Iowa who is pro-gun and anti-vaccine mandate. It may be an unusual trajectory for someone who played moog synthesizer in a popular alternative rock band, but, given the politics of people in her generation, it actually might not be unusual at all.
Gen Xers, which can be roughly defined as those born between 1965 and 1980, came of age under President Ronald Reagan amid the end of the Cold War. The popular image of Generation X has never quite fit in within any easy political framing. It’s the generation that produced grunge rock and gangsta rap but also reached cultural consciousness at the height of the “greed is good” 1980s memorialized in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street. In fact, if there was any popular image of this generation’s politics, it was that they were apolitical. The slackers depicted in Richard Linklater movies or the grunge rockers in flannel were almost devoid of political inclination save a generalized cynicism and MTV’s “Choose or Lose” campaign, which was designed to simply convince young voters that politics matters at all. After their first election in 1984, they bounced back and forth in presidential elections — although exit poll data doesn’t always provide a clear generation breakdown — but were never at all particularly progressive and veered to the right of the nation as a whole.
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And there were always hints of a more right-wing inclination culturally even if they may have been camouflaged by the less politically charged atmosphere at the time. The first major political depiction of this cohort was on the sitcom Family Ties, where Reagan-loving teenager Alex P. Keaton clashed with his liberal boomer parents. As Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini put it to Politico, “the MTV generation has always been a little bit more conservative.”
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Now, though, there is no confusion: Generation X is safely Republican. One model from 2014 measuring only white voters through the 2012 election shows those born in the mid-to-late 1960s being the most Republican-leaning of all, more so than the older Boomers and Silent generation. In a poll released in late April by Marist/NPR that separated voters by generation, Generation X had the highest level of disapproval for Biden and were the generation most likely to say they would vote for a Republican candidate in the midterms if they were held that day.
While voters have historically tended to be more conservative as they age, that has accelerated with Generation X. In fact, Tom Bonier, the CEO of TargetSmart, a Democratic data firm, told me that Generation X has now become the most conservative generation, surpassing the Boomers in their rightward tilt.
So much for that celebration and waste of time. No one really cares except for the optics. You really make it on something when you don’t have to make a big deal of it and it just comes naturally, unlike Pride month.
I have 2 neighbors that are homosexuals whose nicknames are tossed and salad, which is funny to everyone. They didn’t give a shit about it either.
Again, this comes from Introvert Dear, a resource that helps me understand me. The link is at the end
The Curious Connection Between Introverts and Rewards
When writing my book, I spoke with Colin DeYoung, a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota who had recently published a paper on introversion. He explained that one reason introverts need alone time is related to how we respond to rewards.
No, I’m not referring to the gold foil stars you might have earned in grade school (though it could be argued that stickers are indeed a reward for kids). For adults, rewards can be things like money, social status, social connections, sex, and food. When you get promoted at work or convince an attractive stranger to give you their phone number, you’re receiving a reward. Hurray!
Of course, introverts also value things like money, relationships, and food. However, researchers believe that introverts are wired to respond differently to rewards than extroverts. Compared to our more outgoing counterparts, we “quiet ones” are simply less motivated and energized by these same rewards. It’s as if extroverts see big, juicy steaks everywhere, while introverts often see overcooked hamburgers.
In fact, as any introvert can confirm, sometimes those “rewards” aren’t just less appealing — they can actually be tiring and annoying, like a big party. This brings me to another reason why introverts need alone time: We react differently to stimulation.
An Extrovert and an Introvert Go to a Party
Take, for example, two friends at a house party — one an extrovert, the other an introvert. They’re crammed into a crowded room where loud music blares from huge speakers. Everyone is practically shouting to be heard over the din. There are a dozen conversations happening simultaneously, with just as many things demanding their attention.
For the extrovert, this level of stimulation might feel just right. He sees potential rewards everywhere — an attractive stranger across the room, opportunities to deepen old relationships, and the chance to make new friends. Most importantly, tonight offers a chance to boost his social status within his friend group, especially if he navigates the evening skillfully.
So, the extrovert feels energized and excited to be at the party. In fact, he’s so motivated that he stays late into the night. He’s exhausted the next day and needs time to recover — after all, partying is hard work. But to him, the energy spent was well worth it.
Now, back to our introvert. See him over there, hunkered down in the corner? For him, the environment feels overwhelming. It’s too loud, there are too many things happening at once, and the crowd creates a dizzying buzz of activity. Sure, he wants to make friends, fit in, and be liked, but these rewards just aren’t as tantalizing to him. It feels like he would have to expend a lot of energy for something he’s only mildly interested in to begin with.
So, the introvert heads home early to watch a movie with his roommate. In his own apartment, with just one other person, the level of stimulation feels just right. He exchanges some texts with a woman he met a few weeks ago in one of his classes. Like the extrovert, he too wants friends and a romantic partner. However, he finds it too tiring to deal with the noise and socializing at a big party to make those connections.
The Dopamine Difference
Chemically, there’s a good reason the introvert in the above scenario feels overwhelmed, and it relates to a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This chemical, found in the brain, is often referred to as the “feel good” chemical because it regulates our pleasure and reward centers.
One of its roles is to make us notice potential rewards and motivate us to pursue them. For example, dopamine alerts the extrovert to the attractive stranger at the party and fuels his motivation to come up with a cheesy pick-up line.
Another important function of dopamine is reducing our cost of effort. Socializing requires energy because it involves paying attention, listening, thinking, speaking, and moderating our emotional reactions. Technically, socializing is tiring for everyone, including extroverts. However, dopamine helps make it less exhausting for them.
According to DeYoung, extroverts have a more active dopamine reward system. As a result, they can better tolerate — and often push through — the tiredness that inevitably comes with socializing. Much of the time, they don’t experience the same level of mental and physical fatigue that introverts do, thanks to this dopamine boost.
It’s called the “introvert” hangover, not the “extrovert” hangover for a reason.
Introverts Are Sensitive to Dopamine
Dr. Marti Olsen Laney explains the difference between introverts and extroverts in her 2002 book, The Introvert Advantage. She states that introverts are more sensitive to the effects of dopamine, requiring less of it to feel its pleasant effects. Too much dopamine, she notes, can lead us “quiet ones” to feel overstimulated — another reason why introverts need alone time
Extroverts, in contrast, may have a low sensitivity to dopamine, meaning they need more of it to feel happy. Social activities and stimulating environments increase dopamine production, which helps explain why extroverts relish socializing and “being on the go” more than introverts.
Interestingly, Dr. Laney explains that introverts may prefer to use a different brain pathway, one activated by acetylcholine. This neurotransmitter is linked to long-term memory, perceptual learning, and the ability to stay calm and alert, among other functions.
Introverts might enjoy spending time alone partly because of acetylcholine. According to Laney, this neurotransmitter can produce a sense of happiness for introverts when they engage in inward-focused activities, such as quietly reflecting or enjoying hobbies.
Extroverts Place More Significance on People
Finally, a study found that extroverts might simply find humans more interesting than introverts do. This finding aligns with the idea that introverts are less motivated to seek social rewards.
In this study, researchers observed a diverse group of individuals and recorded their brain’s electrical activity using an EEG. As participants were shown pictures of both objects and people, the researchers measured their brains’ P300 activity. This activity happens quickly in response to sudden changes around us and gets its name because it occurs within 300 milliseconds.
Interestingly, researchers found that extroverts showed the P300 response primarily when viewing images of faces, whereas introverts only exhibited this response after viewing objects. Essentially, extroverts’ brains became more active when looking at people.
This doesn’t mean that introverts hate people (though, admittedly, the human race can get on my nerves occasionally). Researchers still don’t fully understand introversion. However, these findings suggest that extroverts might simply place more importance on social interactions than introverts do.
So, the next time an introvert in your life needs alone time, remember that it’s not personal. Introverts need alone time because their brains are wired that way. It isn’t necessarily a reflection of how they feel about you or your relationship.
As for me, you can find me at home tonight. Preferably with the whole place to myself, that is.
To gain insight into the U.S. economy, we’ve visualized the median income by state, as of May 2024. These figures come from WalletHub, which sourced income data from the U.S. Census Bureau and adjusted it for cost of living according to the Cost of Living Index (COLI).
The Cost of Living Index, published by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), was established in 1968, and allows for consistent place-to-place cost comparisons.
The index considers six categories of spending: groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care, and miscellaneous.
After adjusting for COLI, the top three states by median income are the District of Columbia (DC) (technically a district), Hawaii, and Massachusetts.
In DC, federal government agencies are the biggest employers. Many of them offer high-paying jobs that require higher education and specialized skills. DC, like Hawaii, also has a relatively higher cost of living, which may push up the average salary.
In the case of Massachusetts, the state is home to many of the world’s most prestigious universities and research institutions, as well as high-earning sectors like healthcare and tech.
Delusions of Adequacy 