The Neuroscience of Trust

I BELIEVE IT: Demise Of A Close Friend Can Affect One’s Health For Years, Says Study. 

Robert Davis reviews Socrates in Love: The Making of a Philosopher by Armand D’Angour, at The New York Journal of Books.

New York Times op-ed:  Harvard Betrays a Law Professor — and Itself, by Randall Kennedy (Harvard):

Misguided students believe that defending Harvey Weinstein makes Ronald Sullivan unfit to be their dean. Apparently the university agrees.

I have been a professor at Harvard University for 34 years. In that time, the school has made some mistakes. But it has never so thoroughly embarrassed itself as it did this past weekend. At the center of the controversy is Ronald Sullivan, a law professor who ran afoul of student activists enraged that he was willing to represent Harvey Weinstein.

Coming up

The Fair Work Commission will hold a hearing in the annual minimum wage case in Sydney. ACTU president Michele O’Neill will address the hearing.

Public hearings in the royal commission into aged care quality and safety will continue focusing on residential care, in particular the needs of people living with dementia.

Last weekend Bill Shorten did something unthinkable: he launched an arts policy. After six tumultuous, gooseflesh-raising years for Australia’s arts community, marked by deep cuts, an onslaught of grim news and a tremendous sense of uncertainty, the sector has come to expect nothing and fear everything,” writes Luke Buckmaster. “But there was an elephant in the room during that arts policy launch. Labor did not address the single-most important issue currently facing the future of the Australian screen industry: the subject of content quotas.”

Time Experience .... why do we live philosophy ... Failure
Peak pork: The marginal seat where election promises add to $26,500 per voter

A lawyer whose phone was targeted by spyware that exploits a WhatsApp vulnerability says it was an attempt to hack his human rights data. The lawyer is involved in a civil case brought against the Israeli surveillance company NSO Groupwhose sophisticated Pegasus malware has reportedly been used against Mexican journalists, and a prominent Saudi dissident living in Canada.

Harvard Business Review – Paul J. Zack: “Companies are twisting themselves into knots to empower and challenge their employees. They’re anxious about the sad state of engagement, and rightly so, given the value they’re losing. Consider Gallup’s meta-analysis of decades’ worth of data: It shows that high engagement—defined largely as having a strong connection with one’s work and colleagues, feeling like a real contributor, and enjoying ample chances to learn—consistently leads to positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. The rewards include higher productivity, better-quality products, and increased profitability.

So it’s clear that creating an employee-centric culture can be good for business. But how do you do that effectively? Culture is typically designed in an ad hoc way around random perks like gourmet meals or “karaoke Fridays,” often in thrall to some psychological fad. And despite the evidence that you can’t buy higher job satisfaction, organizations still use golden handcuffs to keep good employees in place. While such efforts might boost workplace happiness in the short term, they fail to have any lasting effect on talent retention or performance.

In my research I’ve found that building a culture of trust is what makes a meaningful difference. Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance…”

SCIENCE DENIERS: Expert Psychologist Blocked on Twitter for Expressing Clinical Opinion on Transgenderism