INDIA New England News
By Juan Siliezar
Harvard Staff Writer/The Harvard Gazette
Ever get stuck talking to someone, and you can’t figure out how to get out of it? How about finding yourself in a really interesting conversation but having it end kind of prematurely? You’re not alone, and it’s all because we’re uncoordinated conversationally, anyway.
A new study looking at 932 conversations between pairs of people finds that most conversations don’t end when the participants want them to. Some feel as if conversations are too short while others think they go on far too long, as many folks are undoubtedly, sometimes painfully, aware. In fact only about 2 percent of conversations ended when both people wanted them to, according to the research.
How to Use Daydreams to Ward off Boredom lifehacker.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lifehacker.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Know why conversations either seem too short or too long?
Ever get stuck talking to someone, and you can’t figure out how to get out of it? How about finding yourself in a really interesting conversation but having it end kind of prematurely? You’re not alone, and it’s all because we’re uncoordinated conversationally, anyway.
A new study looking at 932 conversations between pairs of people finds that most conversations don’t end when the participants want them to. Some feel as if conversations are too short while others think they go on far too long, as many folks are undoubtedly, sometimes painfully, aware. In fact only about 2 percent of conversations ended when both people wanted them to, according to the research.
Why we’re so bad at daydreaming, and how to fix it
Did you daydream as a kid, maybe even get in trouble for it? If you find it harder to be pleasantly lost in your thoughts these days, you’re not alone.
“This is part of our cognitive toolkit that’s underdeveloped, and it’s kind of sad,” said Erin Westgate, Ph.D., a University of Florida psychology professor.
The ability to think for pleasure is important, and you can get better at it, Westgate says. The first step is recognizing that while it might look easy, daydreaming is surprisingly demanding.