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This article originally appeared in The Conversation.There’s an optimal strategy for winning multiple rounds of rock, paper, scissors: be as random and unpredictable as possible. Don’t pay attention to what happened in the last round.However, that’s easier said than done.To find out how brains make decisions in a competitive setting, we asked people to play 15,000 games of rock, paper, scissors while recording their brain activity.Our results, now published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, found that those who were influenced by previous rounds really did tend to lose more often.We also showed that people struggle to be truly random, and we can discern various biases and behaviours from their brain activity when they make decisions during a competition. Rock, paper, scissors. via Canva/PhotosWhat we can learn from a simple gameThe field of social neuroscience has mostly focused on studying the brains of individual people. However, to gain insight into how our brains make decisions when we interact with each other, we need to use a method called hyperscanning.With this method, researchers can record the brain activity from two or more people while they are interacting with each other, providing a more real-world measure of social behaviour.So far, most research has used this method to investigate cooperation. When cooperating with someone else, it’s useful to act as predictably as possible to make it easier to anticipate each other’s actions and intentions.However, we were interested in decision-making during competition where unpredictability can give you a competitive advantage – such as when playing rock, paper, scissors. Rock, paper, scissors. via Canva/PhotosHow do our brains make decisions, and do they keep track of the previous actions of both ourselves and the other person?To investigate this, we simultaneously recorded the brain activity from pairs of players as they played 480 rounds of rock, paper, scissors with each other on a computer. From the resulting 15,000 total rounds across all participating pairs, we discovered that players were not good at being unpredictable when deciding which option to play next.Even though the best strategy is randomness, most people had a clear bias where they overplayed one of the options. More than half of the players favoured “rock”, followed by “paper”, and “scissors” was favoured least.In addition, people tended to avoid repeating choices – they went for a different option on their next round more often than would be expected by chance.Real-time decisionsWe could predict a player’s decision about whether to choose “rock”, “paper”, or “scissors” from their brain data even before they had made their response. This means we could track decision-making in the brain, as it unfolds in real time.Not only did we find information in the brain about the upcoming decision, but also about what happened in the previous game. The brain had information about both the previous response of the player and their opponent during this decision-making phase. Rock, paper, scissors.via Canva/PhotosThis shows that when we make decisions, we use information about what happened before to inform what to do next: “they played rock last time, so what’s my move?”We can’t help but try to predict what’ll happen next by looking back.Importantly, when trying to be unpredictable, it’s not helpful to rely on past outcomes. Only the brains of those who lost the game had information about the previous game – the brains of the winners did not. This means overreliance on past outcomes really does hinder one’s strategy.Why does this matter?Who hasn’t wished they knew what their opponent would play next? From simple games to global politics, a good strategy can lead to a decisive advantage. Our research highlights our brains aren’t computers: we can’t help but try to predict what’ll happen next, and we rely on past outcomes to influence our future decisions, even when that might be counterproductive.Of course, rock, paper, scissors is one of the simplest games we could use – it made for a good starting point for this research. The next steps would be to move our work into competitive settings where it’s more strategic to keep track of past decisions.Our brains are bad at being unpredictable. This is a good thing in most social contexts and could help us during cooperation. However, during competition, this can hinder us.A good takeaway here is that people who stop overanalyzing the past may have a better chance at winning in the future.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Our brains love to play tricks on us, especially if we're prone to being Nervous Nellies. It can be easy to settle into letting your mind run wild with a cornucopia of catastrophic ideas about all the ways the thing you want to do can go wrong. Going out on a date? What if they don't laugh at your jokes or think your lucky shirt is ugly? What if you trip on your shoelaces and fall flat on your face when you greet them? Your brain knows all of your fears. It's lived with you your entire life, after all, so if anything has the ammunition to make you doubt everything, it's your wrinkly bestie, filled with grey matter and anxiety. But you don't have to fall victim to your brain's tricks; real people have figured out how to outsmart their brains, and they're sharing their secrets to help others. In the age of finding community on the internet, people who are struggling sometimes turn to social media spaces like TikTok or Reddit to crowdsource helpful information. Not only does it help the original poster feel less alone, but it also provides them with a plethora of options to choose from. When people turned to Reddit to overcome catastrophizing, users didn't hesitate to pour their most helpful advice into the comments in hopes of helping others. Here are some of the best ones: Concerned woman sits on bed, looking at her phone.Photo credit: Canva1. Speak to yourself in a silly voice"One technique that always stuck with me regarding intrusive, negative thoughts is to allow yourself to have those thoughts, but say them in a silly voice, and thus take their power away. I always chose a Cartman voice. Or sarcastically respond to your negative thoughts. It challenges the legitimacy of them. So rather than these thoughts raising an alarm in your brain, no true threat is detected and you can move on. Also, lavender. I take a deep breath of lavender oil and it helps immensely."2. Lie on the floor for a little refocusing"I had a roommate in college who taught me a thing she does that helps me even today. You lie on the floor and close your eyes and talk to yourself (out loud if you can, because at least for me anxiety makes my thoughts race and it's harder to hold the thread if I'm not speaking aloud). You start with 'Okay, my name is [name] and I'm lying on the floor.' You state some very basic things about yourself, and then you start describing everything that's going on in your life, including things/situations that you're stressing about and what you can do about them, like 'I have a test tomorrow.' Concerned friend offers comfort during crisis moment.Photo credit: Canva'After dinner, I can study for 2 hours before bed' or 'I'm worried about money. I can start writing down what I'm spending my money on and work out a budget'. It can help if you can really concretely nail down what your anxieties are about - for me at least, a lot of the time the cause of my anxiety is hard to pin down, more like a sense of existential dread. So talking myself through everything that's going on in my life almost feels like hitting a reset button in a way that just saying 'why are you anxious? you have no reason to be anxious' to myself doesn't."3. Remind yourself of the odds"I have to remind myself of the odds. Ex- How likely is it that my car will do a Fast & Furious style flip causing a deadly pile up while I go the speed limit on my way to work? Not very. So I just kind of remind myself like that. I also squeeze my fingers and hands a lot, as the pressure will help bring me back to centre. Sometimes my SO will squeeze me or even lay on me to help me get a grip on my anxiety as well." Lost in thought, scrolling by the window.Photo credit: Canva4. Treat the anxiety like a child needing care"I treat my anxiety like a little person I'm calming down and taking care of. Like when I'm in public and start panicking, I imagine holding it and saying things like 'hey, it'll be fine. You're good, calm down.'"5. Imagine the worst-case scenario until it loses power"I amp it up. Trying to reason with my anxious thoughts never works, so instead, I poke at that intrusive thought until my anxiety gets higher and higher until it finally peaks and drops off, and that thought stops making me anxious. For instance, if I'm freaking out about something I did at work and getting fired, I'll tell myself, 'Okay, yep, this small mistake I made will absolutely get me fired. I'll never find a job again. My husband will leave me and I will end up dying homeless and alone,' and I'll keep that up. Eventually, the thought loses its power to freak me out and I can see just how ridiculous I'm being." Man sitting on the floor, deep in thought by the window.Photo credit: Canva6. Think about all the times your brain got it wrong"Remember all the times you've been wrong. It helps me," one person shares before someone adds their own experience practicing the technique. "Yep. My record is 0:2746392 for the amount of times I thought I had cancer or something life-threatening. Remembering that helps, but every once in a while I think 'this is it. This is the one.'"7. Work out a plan for what you’ll do if the worst happens"The way I dealt with it was, I accepted that if the worst case scenario happens, I’ll face it, whatever happens. Took me a while to get there, but I realized over time that I can deal with mishaps if they happen. I developed the habit of catastrophizing when I faced some bad situations in the past that I totally did not expect and wasn’t prepared at all. It sort of scarred and I was always afraid of those situations happening again. Over time, I realized I’m much more wiser than before, and at that point when the bad situation happened, I wasn’t very mature and honestly, my luck was bad. So comparing my current situation to the time when I had those bad experiences and looking how far I have come along helped me deal with it much better." Contemplation in a busy world.Photo credit: Canva8. Reframe catastrophizing into a positive"I don't think it's a bad thing to imagine different scenarios and let yourself get emotional if you can change your state of mind within a few minutes. If you can sit on your a** and freak yourself out just from imagination, then congratulations, you have a resourceful mind, and there is a good chance the process can be beneficial to yourself and those around you. Thinking about different possibilities is interesting, and sometimes things don't go according to plan, and that may lead to a feeling you should try to be comfortable with. Ask yourself, "So what?" when the process feels heavy."The next time you're feeling overwhelmed and catastrophizing, try one of these techniques to see if it helps you regain control of your runaway brain.

If you’re looking for ways to stop the doomscrolling and reclaim some of your attention span back, good news: Gen Z and millennials might have finally cracked the code. And thankfully, the answer isn’t deleting every app, throwing your phone into the sea, or becoming a monk.It’s…a tote bag. A tote bag that screams '90s nostalgia, but apparently works like a charm against modern-day ails. All over TikTok, people are assembling what they call “analog bags”—carefully packed totes full of screen-free activities: fantasy paperbacks, tarot cards, sticker books, embroidery hoops, tiny radios, you name it…the possibilities are endless. Some even concoct full-on craft stations in a wicker basket for extra whimsy points. The idea is simple: instead of trying to use willpower alone to fight the pull of your phone, you replace the habit with something more hands-on, creative, and perhaps most important of all, enjoyable. The trend first took off thanks to content creator Sierra (Siece) Campbell, who first shared her own analog bag containing a knitting project, a good book, an old-school Polaroid camera and film, her planner, and a portable watercolor set. @siececampbell Replying to @miranda_ducky what are you putting in yours???? put your phone down right now and go make one it'll take u 10 minutes max. #whimsicallife #whimsywithsiece #analoglife #analogue ♬ original sound - SIECE CAMPBELL “Put your phone down right now and go make one,” she said. And the people listened, apparently. Pretty soon, more folks were showing off their own analog bags filled with retro entertainment. @cortneydryden WHAT’S IN MY ANALOG BAG ?? When I need to stay off my phone, I reach for this ? Thanks for the inspo @SIECE CAMPBELL #analogbag #whatsinmybag #junkjournal #wimb ♬ New Romantics TV instrumental - Dan Swift Del Rey @joyfulnoiseteaching I would love to know what you’re putting in yours! Put your phone down, grab a tote in your house, and fill it with the things that help you get analog again @SIECE CAMPBELL #whimsicallife#analoglife#analogbag#llbean#digitaldetox ♬ original sound - Emily One of those people is Emily Dietzmann, who told Upworthy:“I have been loving my analog bag because we try to do no screen time since we have little ones in our house, so having the analog bag has given me a way to keep my hands busy while my daughter plays on her own or naps! It’s also so fun because spending my time using the things in it always comes with a physical reward when I finish the projects!” @emilydietzmann I have been seeing analog bags all over tiktok lately, so I wanted to do one of my own! ?? IB: @SIECE CAMPBELL #analogbag #momlife #momsoftiktok #toddlermom #pregnantmama ♬ original sound - emily dietzmann For overwhelmed parents, chronically online young adults, and really anyone whose phone has slowly eaten their attention span, finding novel ways to unplug feels like a lifeline back to themselves. No wonder #AnalogLife has jumped more than 330% in the first nine months of 2025. The Global Wellness Institute even named “analog wellness” one of its top trends for 2025 because of the cultural craving for slower, more tactile experiences.As one person in the comments section put it, “I miss the 90s lifestyle. It’s time to bring it back.”Why analog bags are an effective tool for brain rotFrom Campbell’s perspective, breaking a scrolling habit “isn’t less technology, it’s more analog fun.” In her video, she referenced Charles Duhigg, best-selling author of The Power of Habit, who noted that changing a habit is easier when you replace it with a new behavior that offers a similar reward to a repeated cue. In this case, scrolling is driven by a cue (boredom) and offers the reward of entertainment (aka dopamine). An analog bag offers that same feeling and is at arm’s length, making it an easy swap. If you want your own analog bag, you don’t need anything fancy. Grab a tote or a basket, toss in things that make you feel human, and keep it within reach. It really is that easy—and so, so pivotal for reclaiming some peace and vitality. Or, as Campbell told Business Insider, those “really wonderful opportunities to have a fun and deep life.”

Do you have trust issues? At some point in our lives, most of us are forced to reflect upon a difficult experience. Something that might make us question whether we should or can trust people again.When Brené Brown's 4th-grade daughter came home crying after a classmate's betrayal, the moment turned into an unexpected lesson on building trust. Appearing on The Diary of a CEO Podcast, Brown reflected on how a simple demonstration for her daughter can be a healthy model that even top CEOs can use to better understand how trust works. Hikers working together while climbing.Photo credit Canva Brené Brown joinsThe Diary of a CEO PodcastBrené Brown is a researcher and storyteller focusing on courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. Her website highlights a Guffington Foundation Endowed Chair, her professorship at the University of Houston, award-winning podcasts, and her authoring of six #1 New York Times bestsellers. During her appearance on the podcast, she described how the experience with her daughter inspired the model that explains building and earning trust.You can watch the short video here: - YouTube www.youtube.com Do you have any 'marble jar' friends?Brown recalls the conversation with her daughter, Ellen, and explains her "marble jar" theory on the podcast. Knowing who to trust follows how many marbles you put in a jar for their favor. "Every time you share something with someone that's confidential and they don't share it, they get a marble. When you want to share something really private and personal, you look for a friend whose jar is full of marbles." This seems like a really smart way to visually explain the concept of earned trust with a child. Brown then asked her daughter, "Do you have any marble jar friends?"Ellen had an immediate response, naming two friends—Hannah and Lorna. Ellen claimed the two young girls had big marble jars that were full. The reasons why Ellen explained their jars were full unlocked an understanding for Brown that demonstrates how we build trust.Brown explains, "This was why. It was crazy." Ellen talked about how, when arriving late to lunch with nowhere to sit, her friend Lorna would scoot over and share the seat. Another example was when Ellen was sick with strep throat, Hannah was worried and called to see if she was okay. Another time, Hannah remembered Ellen's grandparents' names. Ellen thought that was really important and worthy of a marble, too.Brown explains, "What was shocking to me is that Ellen was conveying that these marbles were being earned on these very small [things]: she knew my grandparents' name, she gave me a seat to sit at, [and] she checked on me when I was missing school. Trust is built slowly over time, a marble at a time. And that's how we teach trust to these most senior leaders in Fortune 100 companies." Trust exercise with a dog. media3.giphy.com Brown explains how the little things build trust, so you don't have to ask for itBrown describes that, in crisis moments, many leaders believe asking for trust is the best way to get it. Brown claims this philosophy has very little to no value. She believes, "What matters is a leader that walks past you in the morning and says, 'Hey, good to see you Steven. How's your mom's chemo going?' Marbles. Marbles. Then, when the crisis happens, you don't need to say, 'trust me.' You just need to say what's on your mind. They trust you." Trust in a puzzle.Photo credit CanvaWhy is building and earning trust important to our health?A 2025 study in the National Library of Medicine found that trust over the course of a lifespan had a significant impact on a person's well-being. The results also demonstrated that individuals who experienced more situations and had more connections to trustworthy people predicted a longer lifespan. A 2025 study in MDPI found that social trust affected young adults' mental health through neighborhood interactions, reciprocity, and perceived work stress. It implied that mental health and psychological happiness were directly influenced by the framework of trust within the community. Jennifer McKenna, a strategist and executive advisor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told Upworthy, "Trust may take time to build, but the return is priceless." She noted the value of trust in the workplace, saying, "People who trust each other don't take extra steps to verify information, and they don't create 'workarounds' for fear of what the other might think, say, or do. Additionally, trust perpetuates compassion, empathy, respect, and emotional safety, which gives everyone the freedom to spend less time second-guessing, and more time reaching their potential." Karol Ward, a confidence expert and licensed psychotherapist, told Upworthy about the value of consistent behavior and the psychological safety built through trust. Ward said, "When you are not consistent in how your interact with others, they cannot trust how you will respond. Expressing rage, sarcasm, or withdrawing when hurt, creates instability within relationships. This causes fear or anxiety in another person because they cannot trust you. Then when you are back to being loving or kind and it is not reciprocated, you end up questioning why."Helping her daughter navigate tough feelings created a perfect model for Brown to teach some of the world's most powerful leaders the means of earning trust. The marble jar theory is an effective tool that explains the best type of people to invest our trust in. The people who consistently do the little things that demonstrate they care are the most trustworthy.

There's been a lot of discourse on the state of modern dating and a lot of theories on why it seems harder than ever for people to find connection with romantic partners. Could it be that the achievement and education gaps between men and women are altering the dynamics? Have social media and dating apps broken our brains and hearts? Do we all have unrealistic expectations and unlimited options, leading to never feeling satisfied with anything or anyone?Those are all intriguing options, but an alternate theory has recently arisen that's quickly gaining steam: Maybe being single isn't as lonely as we think. Maybe being single is actually freaking awesome. Happy Girl GIF by RetMod Giphy A guy on TikTok who goes by @gettothepointbro shared a hilarious monologue on why women who have been single for a long time "don't want to date anymore." Women say he absolutely nailed it.At first, it might seem like he's poking fun, either at single women or at the men who can't seem to win them over. But not so! What he's done is perfectly captured the joy many people find in being single and, frankly, able to do whatever the hell they want."Some women have been single for so long they don't date anymore, they grant you access to their peaceful little empire like a reluctant queen handing you a visitor's badge," he says. "You text her good morning and she's already annoyed, like 'Why are you disturbing the sacred silence of my personal growth journey?'"He goes on, "Bro she's been sleeping diagonally in her bed for three years, she's not giving up that territory because you opened the door and paid for coffee.""You plan a cute date, she's thinking 'That sounds nice but also I could stay home, deep clean my apartment, do a 12 steps skincare routine, order sushi and not have to listen to a man breathe.'" Woman enjoying some self care time.Canva Photos"You try to check in emotionally, 'How are you feeling?' She's feeling fantastic because you're not here.""You're not competing with other guys. There are no other guys. You're competing with her weighted blanket, her peace, her cat named Chairman Meow, and the simple joy of not having to share her fries."These are just a few of the best lines from the nearly two-minute rant, all delivered in the most amazing French accent you can imagine. Please, enjoy: @gettothepointbro DATING A GIRL WHO IS USED TO BE ALONE CAN BE VERY HARD . The best thing about the video is the discussion in the comments. Women want to know how this man got access to this top-secret information. The rant is so eerily, frighteningly accurate that women are convinced this French guy is living in their heads. That, or someone's secretly leaking intel."dammit. somebody call a meeting of the council. he knows too much.""I dont often offer this compliment to the male species but you explained it better than I ever could.""Alright, who’s told him this info??? So exposed right now""The joy of sleeping diagonally across my bed cannot be fully explained.""This is the most accurate profiling I’ve ever heard. You absolutely ailed it."Clearly, we've tapped into a real phenomenon here, with users lovingly calling him The Croissant King. @gettothepointbro CAN YOU RELATE LADIES ? THAT’S WHY WE LOVE YOU ❤️ The truth is that many people—both men and women—are disillusioned with the sad state of the dating scene these days. App burnout is a real thing, and meeting new people in real life is a ton of work. So, it's no surprise that more and more people are just choosing to stay single and enjoy all the perks that come along with it. This is a stark change, especially for women.According to FiveThirtyEight, "Women were also more likely than men to say that they weren’t dating because they have other priorities right now." Priorities like travel, career, friendship, and even just self-care—all things that wind up taking a backseat when people get involved in relationships. It wasn't too long ago that women of a certain age that were still single were called "spinsters," but that word has lost a significant amount of power. This new generation of women aren't embarrassed or ashamed to be single; they're loving it for exactly all the reasons this video describes.And to make matters even more interesting, Vogue recently published an opinion piece from writer and podcaster Chanté Joseph simply titled, "Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?" In the mega-viral piece, Joseph interviewed lots of women and, based on their answers, explores a budding new era of women finding their boyfriends or even the simple idea and prospect of a boyfriend "embarrassing." @chantayyjayy So many thoughts! This is my 2AM summary please go and read ❤️ Some say it's because of too much "boyfriend content" on social media. Others note the issue seems to be that once a woman gets a boyfriend, her entire personality (and social media) revolves around him. Other women cite being embarrassed by men's behavior and the oft-experienced paradox of losing the relationship the moment it's made public (i.e. the "hard launch" to breakup pipeline). That said, women would rather keep their boyfriends on the down low for privacy and to avoid the "evil eye" as Joseph reveals, or else do the next best thing and stay happily single. A lot of people have a lot of thoughts about Joseph's piece, its virality, and what that means for the current state of dating and relationships worldwide. CNN even caught up with Joseph to understand more about her piece and the polarizing response to it. Watch: @cnn CNN’s Antoinette Radford spoke with Chanté Joseph, the author of the British Vogue article making shockwaves worldwide. #britishvogue #vogue #dating #relationships We may not yet have a final answer on where this shift in women's attitudes toward dating will land, but one thing's for sure: whether you're single or partnered, embarrassed or proud, Croissant King's take is resonating with the masses.This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

Have grandparents become more self-involved than their grandparents in past generations? The baby boomer generation has been dubbed the "Me Generation" because after the social upheaval of the ‘60s, they began to focus on themselves, prioritizing wealth accumulation, personal growth, self-help programs, and fitness. Now that baby boomers are grandparents, some millennials aren’t too happy that the Me Generation has taken that ethos into their golden years.Although we can't paint every generation member with the same brush, many older millennial parents feel that their baby boomer parents, known for being the least involved in recent history, are too hands-off as grandparents. Mother Phyllis, a popular TikToker with much to say about boomer grandparents, recently shared a video about how her parents live 40 minutes away and put very little effort into being grandparents, yet brag on social media about how much they love their grandchildren.Millennial mom says her boomer parents aren't around for their grandkidsThe crux of Phyllis’ point is that older millennials had grandparents who were very involved in their lives, but their parents don’t seem to have the same dedication. @motherphyllis Can anyone else relate?????? I should’ve said absent grandmother’s not grandparents but y’all know what I mean ? #fyp #fypシ #fypage #viral #fyp #viral #millennial #boomer #momlife #mom #sahm #funny @laneige_us “My mom comes over for her yearly visit and snaps a picture of the kids. Or sometimes she doesn't even do that. She'll just take a picture off my Facebook page, post it to her Facebook page, and say, 'I love hanging out with my grandkids so much,'" Phillis says in a video with over 200,000 views. “They're so amazing. And then her friends comment and say, ‘Being a grandparent is so amazing, it's just so great.’” Phyllis adds that when she had a child, her boomer parents didn’t show much interest in helping after her birth, saying that helping out was her husband's job. Some grandparents spend more time on Facebook than they do with their grandkids.Photo credit: Canva The post resonated with many people in the comments who are having the same struggles with their boomer parents. "Their parents raised us. They didn’t even want to be parents, so they’re sure as hell not gonna be grandparents," Kim wrote. "I mean, you think having boomer grandparents are bad, try having them raise you. Generation X basically raised ourselves because they’re busy," Queen added.Why are a lot of baby boomers absentee grandparents?A big reason why parents like Phyllis feel betrayed by their parents for refusing to be involved in their children’s lives is that they probably had grandparents who were involved in theirs. Many older millennials and Gen Xers had grandparents involved in their upbringing, providing daycare, babysitting, and making social visits, because their grandmothers were raised to be homemakers and didn’t have jobs. So their lifestyle was more geared toward caring for children. Boomer women were much more likely to have had careers and still work to this day.Baby boomer grandparents are also financially better off than their parents were, which means they have more disposable income and can spend more time on vacation and pursuing their hobbies. In previous generations, when grandparents had less money, they found joy by spending time with their families and raising the next generation. But what is fortunate for baby boomers—having more money—means that their kids feel less supported than they did. @motherphyllis Millennials just can’t understand the way some boomers act If I’m being honest ##fyp##foryoupage##fypシ##fypage##mom##sahm##momlife##honest##truth##relatable##millennial##boomer##generation##millennialstothemoon##phyllis “Here’s the thing, though: it’s statistically more likely that your own grandmothers were homemakers, at least from the time they had children,” DeeDee Moore, a grandparenting influencer, writes for Scary Mommy. “They were home to watch you after school, or host you and your cousins for weeks during the summer. Starting with the baby boomer generation, women were more likely to be in the workforce, making babysitting grandkids and cousin camp harder to pull off.”' A happy Baby Boomer couple.Photo credit: CanvaWhile parents like Phyllis have a good reason to be upset that their parents aren’t involved in their children’s lives, everyone’s situation is different, so we can’t bash all boomers for being uninvolved in their grandchildren’s lives. However, their accusation does follow a significant generational trend: Gen Xers and older Millennials, known by some as Generation Goonie, were raised in a world with very little parental involvement. So, it's unsurprising that their children have grandparents who may not be around much.This article originally appeared in April.

In 1968 John Calhoun, a scientist and animal behavioralist, devised a pretty fascinating conceptual experiment. He decided to create a "utopia" for mice. It would have unlimited food and water, with beautiful nesting spaces and plenty of materials for the mice to make cozy homes with. Sweet experiment! the mice were probably thinking. Much better than the Maybelline trials we're used to.However, there was a catch, of course. There was one thing the utopia would be lacking, and that would be physical space. As the mouse population grew, overcrowding would become an issue, and Calhoun wanted to study the problems this would potentially cause. Ever heard of personal space?! Photo by fr0ggy5 on Unsplash That sound you hear is the collective sigh of the disappointed mice who were stoked about the 24/7 all-you-can-eat buffet.The experiment, dubbed Universe 25, began when Calhoun introduced four mouse "couples" into the utopian complex. A year or so later, it was overrun and the conditions had turned hellish, even though the mice had not run out of food or water.Initially, for just the eight original mice, the square box Calhoun built included 256 nesting boxes (or apartments) stacked on top of one another. Water bottles and food dispensers were located all along the nesting spots, and mice could travel throughout the complex at will via mesh tunnels. The starter mice were also screened for diseases and the population was obviously protected from predators. The climate was controlled and comfortable. Conditions were perfect.The first mouse pups showed up a little over three months later, with the population of the colony doubling every 55 days. Nineteen months later, there were 2,200 mice living inside the box. With such perfect surroundings, the infant mortality rate was practically zero, leading to the rapid rise in numbers. John Calhoun poses with his rodents inside the mouse utopia. Yoichi R Okamoto, Public Domain By month 19, this rodent utopia had become an overcrowded hellscape. Calhoun noticed three alarming trends, in particular.In short, everything was devolving into chaos and the very society of the mice began to collapse at a rapid rate.The "Beautiful Ones" and the "Dropouts": Mice have a complex social hierarchy ruled by dominant alpha males. Sam Kean of Science History Institute Museum & Library notes that, in the wild, non-dominant males (the ones who lose macho showdowns) can skip town and start over somewhere else. But in the close quarters of Calhoun's experiment, with nowhere to hide, they were forced to hang around and viciously battle with each other over scraps. Eventually, non-dominant male mice, which Calhoun called the "Beautiful Ones," withdrew from society completely and only ate, slept, and groomed themselves.Though resources were unlimited, certain aggressive males hoarded them anyway: The alpha males ruled over everything in the once-utopian mouse society. They kept harems of females in the apartments to mate with and fought fiercely to defend their territory. But new waves of hungry young male mice kept coming and coming, and eventually even the most dominant alphas abandoned their posts. This led to more attacks on nursing females, which in turn led to more mothers kicking their pups out of the nest early.Birth rate declined dramatically: With the non-dominant males giving up completely and focusing on #SelfCare, dominant males too exhausted from endless battles, and females sick and tired of it all (many became asexual hermits by the end), stopped mating and giving birth entirely. Once this happened, the society was doomed. Even with plenty of food still available, cannibalism was rampant.Calhoun was not shy about drawing parallels between his research and humanity. "I shall largely speak of mice, but my thoughts are on man, on healing, on life and its evolution," he once wrote. Alpha Mouse! Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash There are aspects of his wild experiment that certainly sound familiar.We live in a world with plenty of resources for everyone, but a few select people hoard more than their fair share. When you think of the rodent "apartments," it's hard not to picture densely packed urban environments where people are stacked on top of each other at every turn. Maybe on some level some of us can relate to the “Beautiful Ones” and their urge to not participate in all the ugliness and just sequester and groom themselves. You can make an argument that when the mice stopped having to worry about food and shelter, it removed the element of challenge from their lives and left them lost. Similarly, many of us are lucky enough to not have to wonder where our next meal comes from, and maybe that has something to do with our never-ending search for meaning. Some even go so far as to link more people choosing to delay having children, or not have children at all, with the collapsing society of the mice.But Calhoun's work has also been heavily scrutinized, with some claiming it's based on shaky science. And in the end, there’s the small matter that humans are not mice. We are infinitely more complicated, and so much better suited to adapting to our environments. Dr. Lee Alan Dugatkin, who wrote the definitive book on Universe 25, tells Psychology Today: "Much of the basic science he did on population growth and behavior in nonhumans was solid enough, but he missed the mark as a futurist predicting human population trends and human social dynamics."The experiment also comes under fire for being unethical.Kean writes, "Ultimately Calhoun’s work functions like a Rorschach blot—people see what they want to see."It's fascinating and thought-provoking nonetheless. Watch this breakdown of the experiment shared by the National Library of Medicine in the early 1970s. - YouTube www.youtube.com This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

There's been a lot of talk about "kids these days." The Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids that supposedly lack respect, critical thinking skills, motivation, and basic knowledge. Reports are numerous of teachers getting frustrated, burnt out, and ultimately quitting the profession they'd dedicated their lives to.Anyone who has tried to wrangle a classroom of kids knows that it's a formidable feat at any age and in any generation. Having a group of learners who are engaged, attentive and reasonably courteous is the goal, but managing diverse personalities from various backgrounds and home environments and who have different standards and expectations of behavior can be tricky.Some teachers take the old-school "law and order" approach, laying out a list of classroom rules everyone is supposed to follow. Those who don't fall in line face consequences of some sort. Others still insist that this new generation of kids is not a lost cause; they just need a different approach. A teacher teaches in a high school classroom CanvaHigh school Language Arts teacher Monte Syrie takes a different tack—one that sees students as valued citizens of a community instead of young people to be controlled.Syrie, who has been teaching for more than two decades, says he's always striving to make the school year better than the last one. That means regularly reflecting and reevaluating how he communicates with his students, which is how he came up with the radical idea to get rid of all of his classroom's rules.That's right. A classroom with no rules!But that's not to say Syrie didn't replace the rules with anything. What he did was reframe them as "Policies and Procedures" to tossing out the concept of "rules" altogether.Now he offers 4 R's—Roles, Routines, Rights and Responsibilities—as a framework for classroom management. — (@) "I think teachers are framers. We frame the room. We frame the work. We frame the day. We frame the year. We frame the entire experience–whether we want to or not," Syrie shares. "The kids look to us for the frame. What we do–or don’t do–decides the day. And, man oh man, is there pressure in that. But, there’s also possibility–powerful possibility."Syrie explains in his book about teaching that kids respond differently when teachers frame things differently, and being greeted with classroom rules on day one evokes a specific response in kids."We seem to believe if we don’t get rules in front of the kids immediately, we will never get the kids where we want them," he writes. "I don’t believe in this anymore. I did, I suppose, at one point, but at this point, I believed there was a better way to 'get kids.'"Syrie decided to reframe his classroom policies as as Roles that let kids see themselves through various lenses, Routines that tell them what to expect, Rights that give them individual autonomy and Responsibilities that help them contribute to a shared community.So what does that look like?Roles in Syrie's classroom include the roles of Yourself (the most important role, he says), Valued Community Member, Reader, Writer, Mistake Maker, and Reflector. He explains to the students what each of these roles entails and why it's important for kids to take them on.Routines include daily and weekly activities such as starting class with a community check-in called Smiles and Frowns and ending class with Journey Journaling. Each day of the week also has a specific focus, such as writing, reading or grammar.Rights include things like, "I have the right to feel safe," "I have the right to learn," and "I have the right to ask as many questions as l want." Syrie also gives students the right to eat and drink in class and the right to make mistakes without fear of penalty. He gives them a little more leeway than other teachers might, and with it, more trust. Monte Syrie talks to a student in one of his classes.\u00a0MonteSyrie As for Responsibilities, students have a responsibility to get to class on time, know and honor the class routines, self-regulate use of electronic devices in the classroom, be a great listener, self-regulate leaving the room, take ownership of their learning, and be sensitive and respectful of others' viewpoints, among other things. Students are expected to do their best to fulfill these responsibilities and to handle any breaches (such as being late to class) with courtesy and minimal disruption to the rest of the class. If they are struggling with any of these responsibilities, interventions include reminder(s), conversation(s), parent contact, and as a last and unlikely resort, office referral.The beauty of Syrie's four R's is that they demonstrate a sense of trust in students right off the bat, helping them see themselves both as responsible individuals and as valued parts of a communal whole. High school students celebrate CanvaWhen people feel trusted and valued and are empowered by a clear balance of rights and responsibilities, most tend to rise to the occasion—even when they're in high school. That's not to say that this framing eliminates all classroom management issues, but it's a framework that encourages character development from within the students rather than exerting control from the top down. They'll be able to take this framing through their whole educational career and beyond.A fellow educator wrote on X, "Love this in so many ways! In these times, this answers 'how can we help learners understand the principles of a democracy?'" Imagine if we all reflected more on our roles, routines, rights and responsibilities as citizens rather than just memorizing the laws we are obliged to follow. Perhaps Mr. Syrie's rethinking and reframing of the educational experience can help us all consider a new framing for our own lives as individuals and community members as well.Today's students are different from the ones that came before them. They openly struggle with mental health and all the negative side effects of growing up with cell phones, social media, and tons of screentime. Some have also lost faith in the traditional education system, and who could blame them in a world where working hard in school and going into massive debt to go to college still won't guarantee them a comfortable shot at the "American Dream"?Syrie believes the answer isn't dropping the hammer on his so-called "lazy students," but empowering them through a unique approach to running the classroom. So far, the results have spoken for themselves. Monte Syrie, teaching, classroom management, 4 R's, no rules, Project 180, Gen Z, teacher burnout, progressive education, education reform YouTube You can follow Monte Syrie on X and find his book, "better: A Teacher's Journey: Project 180 Book One," here.This article originally appeared last year.