

We're happier when busy but our instinct is for idleness - mhb
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2010/07/were-happier-when-busy-but-our-instinct.html

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sp332
Ugh, what's with the "evolutionary vestige" and "instinctual idleness" crap?
The lead researcher is a behavioral psychologist, not an evolutionary
biologist. There's no basis for the conclusion that this behavior is genetic,
let alone instinctive.

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microcentury
This makes perfect intuitive sense to me and is reflected frequently in my
life. I have a job where I can often get away with doing very little, but if I
do that I feel bad (and it creates a negative spiral). If instead I engage and
work hard, I feel much better, but it seems I am always batting a innate
preference for inaction. Or just laziness :-)

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amk
I like the chocolate bar experiment. Even if the rewards were switched, more
people would still opt for the "busy" option. That has very interesting
implications: At times, the reward really doesn't matter. It's the process
which is important.

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mhb
Implications for user interface design?

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amk
Hmm.. I can think of one off the top of my head. Give the user something to do
or read while he is waiting for content to load

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redorb
Google has made this a lab option in gmail called 'gmail preview' if shows a
quick snapshot of your email while loading ... pretty cool

