Interesting Links for 26-07-2012

[andrewducker]

• Does sunshine make us happier? No, it does not. Finland's suicide rate is also not that high (same as France). Gosh.
  (tags: suicide happiness sun )
• Stress hormones switch off areas of the brain for goal-directed behaviour leading people to slip back into habits.
  (tags: stress cortisol adrenaline habits behaviour )
• Scotland to legalise marriage between a man and his Mars bar
  Presumably battered.
  (tags: scotland funny marriage viaJohnSmith )
• National Citizen Service is popular with teenagers - 30,000 volunteers this summer.
  (tags: teenagers NationalService volunteers )
• You can give evidence on how Atos/DWP have treated you for DLA. If you can, do so.
  (tags: welfare disability uk )
• The making of Warcraft part 1
  (tags: WarCraft games design )

Comments

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Interesting, apparently Atos are also the UK Border Agency payment processing contractor, and were the people who fucked up our application (according to the response to our complaint Erin got yesterday).

[andrewducker]

Yeah, they're like Accenture or Tata Consultancy Services - they do huge numbers of different things.

[andrewducker]

Oh, did you get a refund?

[erindubitably.livejournal.com]

We did, AND a very apologetic letter admitting they screwed up, AND they're going to refund the fee hike of £11 because we shouldn't have been required to pay it.

It pays to talk to your MP, quite literally!

[andrewducker]

That's fantastic! I'm glad your MP was helpful, despite differences in opinion!

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

I have my own tag!

This is a proud, proud day.

[andrewducker]

Deservedly. I've been meaning to do it for ages, but being rubbish when I forget which open tab came from you!

Also, I wasn't sure whether to go with your real name or your LJ name, as you never use LJ to post!

[elmyra.livejournal.com]

That's hardly scientific analysis there from the BBC on sunshine and happiness. And the headline is practically at a Daily Mail level, right down to being phrased as a question. Next: Does BBC News cause cancer?

Interesting Links for 26-07-2012

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User d_c_m referenced to your post from Interesting Links for 26-07-2012 (http://d-c-m.livejournal.com/348292.html) saying: [...] been a fan of sunshine myself.  Originally posted by at Interesting Links for 26-07-2012 [...]

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Coooome oooon Warcraft part 2+!

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

Lies! Sunshine REALLY does make me happier, I promise you. Not if it's all the time but the degree to which it brightens my mood is astounding.

Then again, I grew up in Florida. I wonder if it makes a different how much sunshine you're used to?

[andrewducker]

I suspect that "less sunshine than you grew up with" is correlated with unhappiness.

I grew up in the South of England, and I miss it up here.

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

I grew up in the Midlands/North West and miss it up here! Although to be fair, I get SAD so my issue is more about daylight length than sunshine per se.

[0olong.livejournal.com]

This is one of those 'but it's perfectly obvious that what they're saying the science says is not true' things. I can buy that people might not be happier on average once they get used to living somewhere sunny, but if they're seriously saying that people (or anyway the 93% of people who apparently don't suffer from SAD) are simply imagining that their mood noticeably improves when the weather brightens up, or that gloom going on for weeks or months on end gets them down? I'm going to want to see some very strong evidence...

[naath.livejournal.com]

I like the sun, it makes me a bit happier; but equally I know lots of people who find it too hot and bright and are uncomfortable in the hot sunny weather. So I don't think it's "obvious" that sunshine makes people-on-average happier, it clearly makes some individuals happier but that's not the same.

But I think the actual data only supports the notion that people are not on-average happier if they live in more-often-sunny places. I think perhaps the sun is happy-making for me almost *because* I see so little of it; I reckon if I moved to somewhere much sunnier I'd get used to it fast.

[ashfae.livejournal.com]

This is certainly true. When in Florida, the sun was omnipresent and oppressive and to be avoided, because it was too bloody hot there already. Even when I went to Colorado (which has more average temperatures and seasons overall), I often preferred overcast days. I did get the same point you're getting from the article, that people who live in places that are more-often-sunny are not overall happier than those who don't, but I did also get the impression that they were then jumping to conclusion "Ergo, the sun doesn't make you happy", and that bit I disagree with. It varies from person to person and circumstance to circumstances, of course.

Though that said, I *do* know people who have moved to sunny warm places and are generally happier as a result, and have noticed as much. So hmmm.

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

Presumably battered.

Can I just check my first reading - is this a joke about domestic violence?

[andrewducker]

Thank you for checking:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar

[kerrypolka.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, I know those exist - I wasn't sure whether it was going for a double meaning or not.