Thursday Things: Fools Rush In Edition
1 April 2021. Vol 3 No 13 By Dan McGirt. #86
Welcome to Thursday Things! If you enjoy this edition, please click the heart icon in the heading or at the end of the post to let me know. You can also post a comment by clicking the dialogue bubble next to the heart.
I like my immortality medium rare. Photo by Emerson Vieira on Unsplash
Today is April Fools’ Day! But why? History.com tells us all about the history and origins of the prank-filled day.
Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. In the Julian Calendar, as in the Hindu calendar, the new year began with the spring equinox around April 1.
People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes and were called “April fools.” These pranks included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.
But that’s only one theory of many. Read the article to learn more!
The secret of living longer is apparently “sun, steak, and steel”. No fooling! Longevity Hacks: A Short Guide to Long, Healthy Life. Sun means get plenty of safe exposure to sunlight, which among other benefits boosts your body’s Vitamin D production. As for the rest of the formula":
Steak is among the healthiest foods you can eat, another point against what we’ve been advised. Full of protein and healthy fats, it won’t produce insulin resistance and is in fact a great fat-loss food.
Steel refers to weights, as in lifting them. Strength training has been the neglected stepchild of the exercise world, and increases both muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness.
Practice sun, steak, and steel, and you’re winning the battle.
Sounds good to me!
Silence is golden, but the silent treatment is not. What You’re Saying When You Give Someone the Silent Treatment
The silent treatment goes by many names: shunning, social isolation, stonewalling, ghosting. Although psychologists have nuanced definitions for each term, they are all essentially forms of ostracism. …
Although a perpetrator might use the silent treatment in many different scenarios, this is what every scenario has in common: “People use the silent treatment because they can get away with it without looking abusive to others,” Williams explained, “and because it’s highly effective in making the targeted individual feel bad.”
Ah, the silent treatment is indeed an insidious psychological weapon. And as new means of communication have proliferated — such as email, social media, etc. — so have new way of withdrawing from others. But, like the Soul Stone, the silent treatment cannot be used without the user paying a price:
But the silent treatment ultimately harms the person causing it, too. Humans are predisposed to reciprocate social cues, so ignoring someone goes against our nature, Williams said. The perpetrator is therefore forced to justify the behavior in order to keep doing it; they keep in mind all the reasons they’re choosing to ignore someone. “You end up living in a constant state of anger and negativity,” Williams said.
That said, I find that muting annoying people on social media greatly improves my peace of mind. Your mileage may vary.
How many friends is too many friends? Revealed: The EXACT number of friends you need to be successful - and why having too many can be just as bad as having none
British anthropologist and 'mathematician of relationships' Robin Dunbar believes we can only maintain a certain number of human connections at any one time.
In his latest book, Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships, the 73-year-old dissects scientific research into human groups to determine that 150 is the 'magic number' needed for success.
That seems like a reasonable number. But not all friends are created equal:
Within the 150 figure, Mr Dunbar suggests we have five 'intimate' friends - who would donate a kidney to you - and anywhere from 12 to 15 'supportive' friends, who would be distraught if you died.
He also claims we have 50 'good' friends, who would be invited to a birthday party but not to an intimate dinner at your house.
Mr Dunbar's theory is based on the idea that we only have a certain amount of 'emotional capital' or energy to invest in others, which is why the majority of people have roughly the same amount of friends.
Please let me know in the comments if you’d be distraught if I died. Just for my records. I might even unmute you!
Thank you for reading Thursday Things. Please click the hearts, comment, and use the share button to send this issue to a friend who might enjoy it. See you next Thursday!