We know that focusing conscious awareness on the mechanics of one's performance, while useful in very early stages of skill acquisition, has a disruptive effect on more experienced players or performers. Similarly, regardless of level of expertise, focusing on the environment and effects one wishes to have upon it ("external focus") is more effective than focusing on one's own bodily movements or internal states ("internal focus"). For instance, swimmers told to focus on pushing the water back (external focus) as opposed to pulling their hands backwards (internal focus) swim faster, and this effect has been shown in a large variety of domains. There are various hypotheses about why directing one's attention outward, rather than inward, is more effective in learning and performing a physical skill. When you focus on your own movements, you allow your conscious mind to insert itself where it doesn't belong, disrupting smooth, automatic motor programs and allowing other distractions - social pressure, personal anxieties, promised material rewards - to invade and degrade your performance. Focusing on the skill-relevant environment facilitates your ability to get "lost" in the to-and-fro of the play.

Even when we do something as apparently simple as picking up a screwdriver, our brain automatically adjusts what it considers body to include the tool. We can literally feel things with the end of  the screwdriver. When we extend a hand, holding the screwdriver, we automatically take the length of  the latter into account. We can probe difficult-to-reach places with its extended end, and comprehend what we are exploring. Furthermore, we instantly regard the screwdriver we are holding as "our" screwdriver, and get possessive about it. We do the same with the much more complex tools we use, in much more complex situations. The cars we pilot instantaneously and automatically become ourselves. Because of  this, when someone bangs his fist on our car's hood after we have irritated him at a crosswalk, we take it personally. This is not always reasonable. Nonetheless, without the extension of  self  into machine, it would be impossible to drive.

Today, the secret of success of many profitable businesses lies in their ability to process the data using advanced analytical methods. The business of information management encompasses more than just storing the data. It also covers 'data mining' or acquiring information by processing data using a new form of business intelligence, Hence, organizations need to invest in data mining techniques (aided by statistical analysis, visualization and neural networks) to uncover hidden patterns, discover new knowledge, and as a consequence gain more insight into the current business situation. For example, a typical report is able to identify the best-selling product in a supermarket. However, a report aided by data mining or business intelligence) is not only able to identify the bestselling product in a supermarket but the report is also able to explain the reasons why the product is the best. This ability of knowing 'why' will therefore empower the organization to make the necessary strategic changes. For example, the organization should capitalize on the newfound knowledge by building a stronger, one-to-one relationship with its customers

We might think that our gut instinct is just an inner feeling —a secret interior voice —but in fact it is shaped by a perception of something visible around us, such as a facial expression or a visual inconsistency so fleeting that often we're not even aware we've noticed it. Psychologists now think of this moment as a ‘visual matching game'. So a stressed, rushed or tired person is more likely to resort to this visual matching. When they see a situation in front of them, they quickly match it to a sea of past experiences stored in a mental knowledge bank and then, based on a match, they assign meaning to the information in front of them. The brain then sends a signal to the gut, which has many hundreds of nerve cells. So the visceral feeling we get in the pit of our stomach and the butterflies we feel are a(n) result of our cognitive processing system.

Perhaps worse than attempting to get the bad news out of the way is attempting to soften it or simply not address it at all. This "Mum Effect" – a term coined by psychologists Sidney Rosen and Abraham Tesser in the early 1970s – happens because people want to avoid becoming the target of others' negative emotions. We all have the opportunity to lead change, yet it often requires of us the courage to deliver bad news to our superiors. We don't want to be the innocent messenger who falls before a firing line. When our survival instincts kick in, they can override our courage until the truth of a situation gets watered down. "The Mum Effect and the resulting filtering can have devastating effects in a steep hierarchy," writes Robert Sutton, an organizational psychologist. "What starts out as bad news becomes happier and happier as it travels up the ranks – because after each boss hears the news from his or her subordinates, he or she makes it sound a bit less bad before passing it up the chain."

The dodo, a flightless bird native to Mauritius, became extinct in the late 17th century with the arrival of humans on the island. However, there has recently been an intriguing development made by researchers at a biotechnology company. They are currently looking into bringing the dodo back through an innovative method. It involves extracting avian primordial germ cells from the eggs of the Nicobar pigeon—the dodo's closest living relative—to eventually produce a dodo-like bird. Given the undeniably ambitious nature of this effort, it has attracted a great deal of interest There are concerns, however, such as whether the resurrected bird will exhibit typical dodo behavior. As it has been extinct for over 300 years and there are no parental examples for the birds to learn from, the dodo's behavior could be altered in unforeseen ways. Ethical questions about the role of humans in changing the course of nature and reviving extinct creatures have also been raised. The project emphasizes the critical need to find a harmonious balance between human interference and the world's natural order,

Few things are more desirable to business owners than being the sole or dominant player industry. This an ensures that their businesses stay profitable as customers are compelled to buy their products. But is this best for individual consumers and the economy) as a whole? It does not appear so. One reason is that competing companies frequently lower their prices to appeal to customers, making products more affordable overall. In turn, affordability often boosts product turnover and thus motivates companies to produce even more, which helps to sustain economies. Furthermore, because they must stand out against competing firms, companies continuously find ways to innovate, which improves their offerings. And lastly, the constant push for more and better products also increases the range of choices available to consumers, leading to a better quality of life for all.

In many cases, the motivation to adopt (or, at least, to consider) a suggested memory may be complex. Consider, for example, an adult who now recalls some awful childhood event. If the remembered event was painful or shameful, one might think the person gains nothing from this memory; instead, it hurts the person to hold these memories. Nonetheless, there may be what clinical psychologists call "secondary gain" that derives from the memory. Perhaps the person gets in long-hoped-for attention and respect. Perhaps the person is excused from various responsibilities. Perhaps the person at last gains the powerful feeling reflected statements like, "Finally, my life makes sense, and I see why all these bad things happened to me," or "At last, I realize that the bad things in my life were not my fault." Thus, anyone evaluating the memory and seeking to decide if the memory is accurate or not should weigh these possibilities

A champion of free speech and religious toleration, Voltaire was a controversial figure. He is, for instance, supposed to have declared, "I hate what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it," a powerful defense of the idea that even views that you despise deserve to be heard. In eighteenth-century Europe, however, the Catholic Church strictly controlled what could be published. Many of Voltaire's plays and books were censored and burned in public, and he was even imprisoned in the Bastille in Paris because he had insulted a powerful aristocrat. But none of this stopped him challenging the prejudices and pretensions of those around him. In his short philosophical novel, Candide, he completely undermined the kind of religious optimism about humanity and the universe that other contemporary thinkers had expressed, and he did it in such an entertaining way that the book became an instant bestseller. Wisely, Voltaire left his name off the title page, otherwise its publication would have landed him in prison again for making fun of religious beliefs.