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On the morning of September 25, 2023, 35-year-old Samantha Jo Petersen struck an Amish buggy on a southeastern Minnesota road while driving her SUV back from work. Amid the strewn debris, two children lay dead. When police arrived, Sarah Beth Peterson, Samantha Jo’s identical twin sister, greeted them. She quickly confessed to the tragic accident. Samantha was nowhere to be found. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the sisters had switched positions to spare Samantha, who was high on methamphetamines, from prison. Thanks to a couple of drive-by witnesses, the ruse was eventually uncovered. The sisters, who had extensive criminal histories...... Read Full article on HadNews

Genes are quite remarkable things. But in the last few decades, the power that we have ascribed to them has gotten a little out of hand. This has led to the rise of biological (or genetic) determinism. This is the idea that our biological makeup (as opposed to culture, environment, or personal decisions) is the dominant determinant of our behavior.  There is now a “warrior gene” legal strategy for criminal defenders advocating on behalf of persons accused of violent crimes. (One cartoon depicts an attorney rendering his client’s plea before the bench: “Not guilty by reason of genetic determinism, Your Honor.”) There is at least one comp...... Read Full article on HadNews

One of the primary motivators of human behavior is avoiding regret. Before the legendary behavioral economists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky formalized prospect theory and loss aversion, they believed that regret avoidance was at the root of the human behaviors they were studying. However, they learned that there are behaviors that regret avoidance could not explain and were led to a broader picture. Let’s take a look at a simple game that sheds a bit more light on the psychology of regret. I have two dice — one red, one white — and two identical cups. I secretly place one die under each cup (no trickery), mix them up, and ask you to sele...... Read Full article on HadNews

The mysterious behavior of insects being drawn to light, like moths to a flame, has puzzled scientists and intrigued casual observers for centuries. However, recent advancements in camera technology and research methods have shed light on this strange phenomenon. Researchers have discovered that flying insects, such as moths, butterflies, and even dragonflies, exhibit a behavior called the dorsal light response when approaching artificial light sources. By tilting their backs towards the light, insects become disoriented in 3D space and find themselves trapped in a loop, circling around the light source. This behavior can have detrimen...... Read Full article on HadNews

In the TEDxSurat talk, Anuj Krish discusses how digital security depends on human behavior and how scammers think to exploit human vulnerabilities in online scams. He shares a personal experience where he fell victim to an online scam and emphasizes that he is not the only one, with millions of Indians falling prey to such scams. Anuj highlights the staggering amount of money India has lost to online scams and the frequency of online crimes in the country. Anuj and his friend identified four parameters that scammers exploit to deceive people: trust, urgency, ignorance, and money/information. They also discuss the need for a role reversal in ...... Read Full article on HadNews

MIT neuroscientists have found that the brain’s sensitivity to rewarding experiences — a critical factor in motivation and attention — can be shaped by socioeconomic conditions. In a study of 12 to 14-year-olds whose socioeconomic status (SES) varied widely, the researchers found that children from lower SES backgrounds showed less sensitivity to reward than those from more affluent backgrounds. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the research team measured brain activity as the children played a guessing game in which they earned extra money for each correct guess. When participants from higher SES backgrounds guessed correc...... Read Full article on HadNews