Tag: Emotions

Smells can help restore memories

Sniff by Smabs Sputzer, on FlickrFreshly cut grass, rain falling on sun-baked tarmac, the cologne of your first love… we all have smells that stir up special, personal memories. For me, the smell of wood smoke evokes memories of camping as a child. A close friend told me that, for him, even the faintest whiff of a burning mosquito coil reminds him of living in Africa when he was five. Smelling is the most primitive of all our abilities and is the first sense we use from the moment we are born. Yet for people whose faculties are failing with age, an aroma can be the key to unlocking memories long forgotten. Read more

Nostalgia: Why we think things were better in the past

HotlineThey just don’t write blogs like they used to. Back in the good old days there was none of this Twitter or Facebook piffle. Web pages were once simple and images didn’t instantly appear but – like a photo being developed – gradually formed out of a pixelated mess. In the 1990s, receiving an email was still a fun novelty. Ah, the how things were better back then. You kids don’t know you’re born.

Contrary to what you might think, it’s not senior citizens who are the experts in nostalgia. At the tender age of thirty, I’m as adept at reminiscing as anyone. I can fondly remember a bygone era where social engagements weren’t cancelled on the whim of a text-message. Foolish sentimentality? We rose-tinted nostalgics are perhaps the ones most capable of dealing with modern-day life. Today’s blog post is for everyone who thinks things were better when they were a kid… Read more

Is Love Enough? Science Shows 6 Ways Kate and Wills can have a lasting Royal Marriage!

Are you getting excited about the Royal Wedding yet?

Wills and Kate
The Perfect Couple? Prince William and Kate Middleton will be wed on 26th April 2011 at Westminster Abbey
(Even if you’re not, Brits have an extra day off work to look forward to!)

In a world with frighteningly high divorce rates, and facing a life in the limelight, is there really any hope that the royal marriage can survive a lifetime?

Well here are some tips for them that come from a rather surprising place – a recent edition of Social Science Research! (no, really) It contains a thorough analysis of some of the most comprehensive research ever done on marriage and divorce. Professor Wilcox from the University of Virginia scrutinised all previous research before delving into six years worth of surveys of married couples. He came up with some fascinating answers to those elusive questions, ‘What makes for a happy marriage?‘ and ‘Why do some people divorce?

I fear Kate and Wills have a copy of ‘Social Science Research’ sitting in their magazine rack- so I have summarised for them six top tips on how they can improve their chances of having a long and happy marriageRead more