The distinction between genetic and environmental influences has led to a significant change. During most of the 20th century, the prevalent view was that all behaviors are influenced solely by environmental input. Now, there's an understanding that genotype also plays an important role in influencing our behaviors. Yet, the picture is much more complicated than these early perspectives suggested. The interplay between genotype and environment is difficult to measure. For instance, studies have shown that children who play with more aggressive peers act more aggressively themselves. However, we must ask why these children choose to play with aggressive peers to begin with. Playing with aggressive peers may simply be a reflection of their own characteristics, so it may trigger pre-existing aggressive tendencies, or increase aggressive behaviors that were already present.

In his book, Catching Fire, Richard Wrangham claims how fire transformed the lives of our ancestors. A pound of wood fuel can release up to 1,600 kcal of energy when burned in a fire. While most of that heat energy is lost to the air in a simple campfire, the energy that is absorbed by food through cooking changes its chemistry and structure, making it easier to digest. Meat becomes more tender, proteins break down, and indigestible starches are transformed into digestible carbohydrates. This effect is especially evident with root vegetables, which contain some starches that our bodies cannot digest. Cooked potatoes, for example, provide twice the calories as raw ones. In essence, fire revolutionized our ancestors' diet by increasing the amount of energy per bite and reducing the amount of energy used in digestion.

If you want to master the art of connection through conversation, just remember to play verbal ping-pong. I love to talk, so I have to stop and think all the time: "Has the ball been on their side of the table much during this conversation?" If the answer is no, I quickly say that I've been doing a lot of talking about myself, but I really want to hear about what's happening with them. You can't fake it, though. Talking for an hour about your life and ending with, "Gotta go — by the way, how are you?" is not going to be enough. Neither is asking them a bunch of questions about their life but not saying anything about yourself. In order for people to feel connected to you, they need to know how you're doing, what you're up to, and how you've been feeling. If you hide behind a battery of questions, a person may feel as if you care about him, but he won't feel connected to you.

An effective leader will create the right environment for each person to grow. They also ensure that the overall environment is the same for everyone whether experienced or inexperienced. Into that environment they plant the seeds and nurture them, again ensuring that some need more nurturing in order to help them establish themselves within the environment and grow. They nurture them with compassion, attention, support, and direction that is just right for each person. As a gardener you would not put manure on your roses. Why? It is too strong and would kill the plant. At the same time, if you put it onto a more hardy plant such as an apple tree, that manure would probably be perfect. I'm not suggesting that manure is a good way of helping people grow. People are different and need an approach that is suitable and brings out the best in them.

An economist at Augsburg College, Jeanne Boeh, said that Americans are buying a lot more than they used to. "It used to be that if you were poor, you didn't have things like air conditioning, TVs, and cell phones," Boeh said. "And now even poor people have those things." According to Boeh, it's because things are cheaper. "The law of demand says as price goes down, you buy more of them," Boeh said. "And it costs us less in terms of work hours." Take cell phones: In 1984, for someone earning the average wage, it cost 456 hours to buy one. Today, it's closer to 4 hours. In 2006, the average family spent around $48,000. In 2022, they spent over $72,000. But, in general, our money buys more. There's no need for feeling guilty. "I think a lot of the things have made life better for many people," Boeh said. Consumer spending usually makes up about two-thirds of the economic activity in a country, so consumer culture is important to the economy.

Cory brought her writing assignment on the letter g to her first-grade teacher, Mr. Tuttle, who looked at the paper and asked Cory to point out her favorite one. After Cory pointed to her favorite g, Mr. Tuttle asked, "May I point out my favorite one?" Then he pointed to a g with a double tail, and asked Cory if she could fix it by herself. Cory said she could and went back to her desk to fix it. Mr. Tuttle did not point out only the error. He focused on strengths first and then asked Cory to evaluate the error herself. This example incorporates the concept of building on strengths, not weaknesses. Parents and teachers are responsible for helping children learn and improve academic and social skills. However, encouragement is usually the best way to inspire a child to want to do better. If other methods are used, they will be most effective if the child has already been positively influenced through support so that he or she will be receptive.

Numerous businesses hold the view that early adopters are the most influential consumers in any market. They assume that these individuals possess the same level of product knowledge and enthusiasm as the product designers. However, directing marketing efforts towards early adopters in specialist magazines and other channels may not be the most effective use of marketing resources. Research on popular technologies such as mobile phones, computers, GPS traffic systems, and cars indicates that early adopters are too absorbed in exploring their devices to significantly impact the less technically knowledgeable consumers. Businesses need to re-evaluate their marketing strategies which rely on early adopters to drive product adoption.

Architecture is an art form. It seems strange to have to say this. However, architect Stephen Davies denies it, although he holds that some buildings are artworks. According to his argument, architects give priority to functional over aesthetic considerations and this excludes them from the category of artist. He concludes that most buildings designed by architects are not artworks. His argument is quite unusual. It depends largely on the belief that functional and aesthetic considerations are completely different from each other. Davies acknowledges that sometimes architects transcend the functional, but insists that architects usually and properly should give priority to functional over aesthetic considerations. This is based on a false black-and- white thinking. Functional and aesthetic aspects of architecture are inherently intertwined, and the art of architecture should be the process of making the functional aesthetic.

Socrates was certainly unique, saying the only thing he was sure of was his own ignorance. Indeed, he often taught by asking people to explain what they thought about common ideas like "beauty," "the good," or "courage." He would then use logical arguments to show that their definitions and usual understandings were contradictory or didn't make sense. Some people at that time thought this technique dishonest, and that Socrates knew more than he seemed. However, Socrates' method was meant to provide necessary lessons on the dangers of uncritical acceptance of common beliefs. He often criticized those who claimed to have certain knowledge of some particular subject. It is chiefly through the influence of Socrates that philosophy developed into the modern discipline of continuous critical reflection. The greatest danger to both society and the individual, we learn from Socrates, is the stopping of critical thought.

The history of Western art (mainly painting) was a search for creating more realistic images. Oil painting enabled artists to achieve an increasingly powerful "copy" of Nature. Many people enjoyed art that resembled their favorite scene or object. But many developments, including photography, in the last century have made the Imitation Theory of art seem less popular. Since the late nineteenth century, imitation has seemed less and less to be the goal of many genres of art: impressionism, expressionism, surrealism, abstraction. Nor does the Imitation Theory leave room for our modern emphasis on the value of an artist's creative vision. Do Van Gogh's or O'Keeffe's irises impress us because they are accurate imitations? That did not seem to be their aim, and we value Van Gogh's or O'Keeffe's flowers for other reasons.