Each week, I’m going to be sharing some things I’ve learned from stuff I’ve read. Topics may range from philosophy to sports and anywhere in between.
If you liked what you read, feel free to share the post with your friends.
Like clockwork, every time I’d come home from school, I’d throw a fit. I was 6, and my mom had no idea what was going on.
For the most part, I was a pretty decent kid, but for whatever reason, I turned into some sort of demon-child when I’d arrive home after school.
After probably way too many weeks of this, my mom complained to her aunt who listened patiently and asked my mom a simple question:
“Is he hungry when he comes home?”
Soon, my mom began packing me bigger lunches and giving me a snack on the car ride home. And just like that, demon-child AJ disappeared off the face of the earth.
In the context of a child coming home from school, being hangry (angry + hungry) seems relatively inconsequential.
But, if you change the context to a courtroom, being hangry can mean the difference between life, and life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In a study on over 1000 rulings in the Israeli legal system, researchers at Columbia University found strong evidence of how hangry judges tend to dole out harsher sentences.
The likelihood of a favourable ruling peaked at the beginning of the day, steadily declining over time from a probability of about 65% to nearly zero, before spiking back up to about 65% after a break for a meal or snack.
While the courtroom example is an extreme one, I’m sure the effects of being hangry aren’t just isolated to that context. I mean, I bet that a pretty substantial share of negativity in society is a result of people’s glucose levels just not being up to par.
Oddly enough, we often don’t just chalk up negativity to someone being hungry. Instead, our brain gravitates towards explanations with a clear-cut cause-and-effect narrative.
For example, if we were to survey a group of hangry people why they’re currently frustrated, I’m sure that a sizable portion of these people would come up with some sort of causal narrative, unrelated to hunger, about why they’re currently upset.
Maybe one person claims he’s upset because his boss put a last-minute meeting on his calendar on a busy day. Another might attribute his current frustration to his wife not responding to his texts all afternoon.
These narratives, while probably believable, would essentially just be a posthoc rationalization of someone needing some calories.
So, the next time you find yourself irritated or pissed off, listen to the story you’re telling yourself.
Have you actually been upset this whole afternoon because of that narrative you’re telling yourself?
Or, maybe it’s 1:30 pm and you haven’t eaten all day.
Assorted Links
Nevada is allowing tech companies to build their own self-governing cities.
The Sahm Rule, proposed by economist Claudia Sahm, calls for automated fiscal stimulus when economic indicators hit certain thresholds, thus avoiding the pitfalls of manual, politically-driven fiscal policy.
Officially, 99% of Iran adheres to Shia Islam. Recent surveys suggest that the percentage has dropped to 32% as Iranians flock to Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and atheism.
If you liked what you read, feel free to share the post with your friends.