All posts tagged: acts

New psychology research reveals that wisdom acts as a moral compass for creative thinking

New psychology research reveals that wisdom acts as a moral compass for creative thinking

Published by José Betancourt

A recent study published in the journal Intelligence has found that wisdom plays a key role in ensuring people use their creativity for the benefit of others. The findings suggest that while creativity can be a powerful tool, it requires the moral guidance of wisdom to be directed toward socially constructive goals rather than selfish ones. “A recurring concern in psychology is that intelligence and creativity are ‘morally neutral’: they can be used to help others, but they can also be used manipulatively or destructively. Many theories propose that wisdom functions as a moral regulator that helps channel cognitive strengths toward prosocial ends, but empirical evidence for this moderating role has been limited,” said study author Yuling Wang, a PhD candidate at Peking University and member of the Self Exploration and Meaningful Existence Lab. “We also noticed a methodological issue: intelligence/creativity are often assessed with natural science–oriented measures, while wisdom is assessed with more humanistic, value-laden measures, creating a domain mismatch that may obscure how these constructs work together in real life.” “Beyond this theoretical …

Macron denounces ‘antisemitic hydra’ and calls for election bans for antisemitic and racist acts

Macron denounces ‘antisemitic hydra’ and calls for election bans for antisemitic and racist acts

Published by Sam Flores

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the murder of Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old French Jewish man who was tortured and murdered in 2006, at the Elysée in Paris on February 13, 2026. BERTRAND GUAY / AP President Emmanuel Macron denounced what he described as an “antisemitic hydra” on Friday, February 13, saying it had crept into “every crack” of society as he commemorated Ilan Halimi, a French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006. In a crime that horrified France in January 2006, Halimi was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 youths and tortured, in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found three weeks later, the 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital. “In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the antisemitic hydra has kept advancing,” he said. “Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crevice, too often accompanied by that same …

Macron calls for ‘mandatory electoral bans’ for people guilty of anti-Semitic or racist acts

Macron calls for ‘mandatory electoral bans’ for people guilty of anti-Semitic or racist acts

Published by Sam Flores

French President Emmanuel Macron Friday denounced what he described as an “anti-Semitic hydra” that had crept into “every crack” of society as he commemorated Ilan Halimi, a French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006. In a crime that horrified France two decades ago, Halimi was kidnapped by a gang of around 20 young people in January 2006 and tortured in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux. Found more than three weeks later after the kidnappers had failed to extort a ransom payment from his family, the 23-year-old died on the way to hospital. Prosecutors at the time described the 28-year-old gang leader Youssouf Fofana as a “perverted megalomaniac” who instructed accomplices to target Jews for ransom kidnappings “because they are loaded with dough”. “In 20 years, and despite the resolute efforts of our police officers, gendarmes, judges, teachers and elected officials, the anti-Semitic hydra has kept advancing,” Macron said. “Constantly assuming new faces, it has insinuated itself into the heart of our societies, into every crevice, too often accompanied by that …

Motivation acts as a camera lens that shapes how memories form

Motivation acts as a camera lens that shapes how memories form

Published by José Betancourt

New research suggests that motivation acts less like a volume knob for effort and more like a camera lens that changes how the brain records events. A theoretical framework published in the Annual Review of Psychology proposes that distinct chemical signals in the brain create specific motivational “moods” that determine whether we remember the big picture or focused details. We often assume that being motivated simply means having the energy to pursue a goal. Psychologists have historically categorized this drive by its source, such as an internal desire to learn or an external reward like money. However, these categories do not fully explain the biological mechanisms at play. To bridge this gap, Assistant Professor Jia-Hou Poh of the National University of Singapore and his colleague Professor R. Alison Adcock of Duke University analyzed existing literature to build a new model. They wanted to understand how the brain shifts between different modes of processing information. Their work focuses on how chemical messengers shape the “neural context” of our thoughts. The researchers argue that motivation is not …

Voters from both parties largely agree on how to punish acts of political violence

Voters from both parties largely agree on how to punish acts of political violence

Published by José Betancourt

Recent research published in the journal Political Behavior shows that Americans largely prioritize the severity of a violent act over the perpetrator’s political identity when determining punishment. While partisanship does influence how individuals judge political violence, the study suggests that the specific nature of the crime plays a much larger role in public opinion. Political violence has become a prominent concern in the United States following high-profile events such as the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the January 6 Capitol attack. Social scientists have debated whether the American public is becoming more tolerant of violence as a means to achieve political goals. Previous scholarship has often focused on whether individuals support violence in the abstract or in relation to specific, highly charged events. The authors of the current study sought to understand how citizens apply standards of accountability when faced with concrete scenarios. They aimed to determine if Americans are willing to punish individuals from their own political group who engage in violence. “We saw a good deal of unresolved scholarly debate on …