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Too much free time is not a problem for dogs. Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash
Daily Conquest: Coming soon! Check it out here:
21st century headlines: Scorned wife raids ex-husband’s cryogenics lab stealing frozen brains of people who hoped to be brought back to life
A SCORNED wife raided her ex-husband's cryogenics lab and stole the frozen brains of people who hoped to be brought back to life.
Valeria Udalova, 59, and staff from her company grabbed the remains of people who paid thousands of pounds hoping they could be resurrected.
Some of the corpses were from Britain and the US and were stored in Valeria's ex-husband Danila Medvedev, 41, lab in the Moscow region of Russia.
The lab is Russia's leading cryo-storage facility, say reports.
They drained liquid nitrogen from giant dewar flasks containing frozen bodies and grabbed these and some detached human brains, then loaded them on trucks.
Police were called and intercepted the macabre cargo of human remains preserved by “Frankenstein” technology offering humans the chance to "come back to life” in future.
But Medvedev told RTVi: "The police did not catch Valeria.
“She left, taking someone's brain from the cryo-storage.
Read the article for all the sordid details. Basically, all the frozen brains and bodies stored in the cryogenics lab have become pawns in what seems to be an ugly post-marital feud.
Moral: Be careful who you entrust your frozen brain to.
Too Much Free Time: Most of us wish for more free time in our busy schedules, but as with most things, we should be careful what we wish for. Study links too much free time to lower sense of wellbeing
Researchers have found that while levels of subjective wellbeing initially rise as free time increases, the trend does not necessarily hold for very high levels of leisure.
“The sweet spot is a moderate amount of free time,” said Dr Marissa Sharif, a co-author of the study from the University of Pennsylvania. “We found that having too much time was associated with lower subjective wellbeing due to a lacking sense of productivity and purpose.”
In turns out we may need the constraints of having too much to do if we’re to get anything done at all. I’ve certainly seen this and found that I need some minimum of structure and outside constraints on my time; otherwise I accomplish far less than I think I will.
Hence the saying: If you want something done, give it to a busy person.
The Stoics knew this — there is, paradoxically, freedom in discipline. And now we’ve got actual science to confirm what we already knew! Thanks, science!
Here is more from the study authors: “People often complain about being too busy and express wanting more time. But is more time actually linked to greater happiness? We found that having a dearth of discretionary hours in one’s day results in greater stress and lower subjective well-being,” said Marissa Sharif, PhD, an assistant professor of marketing at The Wharton School and lead author of the paper. “However, while too little time is bad, having more time is not always better.”
You can download the study here: Having Too Little or Too Much Time Is Linked to Lower Subjective Well-Being
Per the Guardian article, the authors conclude that “people who feel they have too little free time should not quit all of their obligations, but instead try to find a couple of leisure hours a day. Meanwhile those with empty days should try spending their time with purpose, be it connecting with others or doing something productive.”
Words of Yesteryear: Being a writer, I love discovering new words, or being reminded of old words I’ve either never encountered or have forgotten about. So here are Ten Awesome Historical Words We Should Bring Back. They include:
Fudgel: To “fudgel” means pretending to work without actually accomplishing anything.
I may or may not be guilty of this one. (See previous item about free time…) In my defense, the process of writing often looks like fudgeling.
Grufeling: Often used in ridicule, to be “grufeling” is to wrap yourself up and lie down comfortably.
Oh, I can grufel with the best of them.
Kakistocracy: “Kakistocracy” is a forgotten word that describes an unqualified and incompetent government.
Sadly, I was already keenly familiar with this word.
Other fun words on the list include: twattling, frobly-mobly, expergefactor, philogrobilized, pannychis, lanspresado, and callipygian. Read the article for definitions of those and then challenge yourself to use all ten words in conversation by next Thursday! :)
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