The whole shebang should feel pretty old by brunch
The newsletter is coming to you a bit early today, lest you all miss it in your 3:00 rush to the beach or the big city or wherever it is people weekend these days. Yes, PSA: Monday is Memorial Day. You (probably) have the day off. Potentially more important PSA: Social science suggests that our enjoyment of vacations peaks between 40 and 70 percent of the way in. So if you leave work at 3 today, and come home at 3 on Monday ... the whole shebang should feel pretty old by brunch-time on Sunday. (Sorry.) To the links!
1. Is Upworthy ultimately a force for good or evil? On the one hand, it's attracting attention to important subjects. On the other, it's polluting the web with horrible clickbait -- for profit! On the conflicting morality, and economics, of the site everyone loves to hate. (Or vice versa.)
2. Are smartphones ruining our memories? Research shows that the more we take pictures, the more we forget. Worse, phones could corrupt the way we pass memory and identity down through generations. Frets Marryanne Gerry, a New Zealand psychologist: "If parents are giving away some of their role as the archivist of the child's memory, then they're giving away some of their role as one of the key people who helps children learn how to talk about their experiences."
3. Is coffee ruining our brains? The good news: Nope! Many of the things we think about caffeine are actually untrue.
Chin up, Dory, the week's almost done.
Postscripts: Le selfie. #Worsecollegeclasses. Tupac's last words. Why the pope won't join Facebook and why Tumblr and Reddit are often at war. The secret of Facebook is stalking. The secret of life is abandoning dreams. Today, in questionable life experiences: "I went to a singles mixer for people obsessed with death" and "I let a Youtube sleep hypnotist talk me into lucid dreaming." Whew.
Enjoy the long weekend! Links is back on Tuesday.
Until then,
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