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Study: People Who Text Frequently Tend To Be More Racist, Shallow

WINNIPEG (CBS Cleveland) - A new study indicates that people who engage in text messaging tend to be more racist and shallow than their less technologically savvy counterparts.

Researchers at the University of Winnipeg found that young people are specifically susceptible to the trend, according to the Edmonton Journal.

The study was conducted by observing 2,300 psychology students for three years, with observations beginning during their first years of college. Participants were asked to fill out online surveys during the course of the several-year study.

Students who said they sent more than 100 text messages per day were reportedly 30 percent less likely to concern themselves with living ethical lives, researchers  including Dr. Paul Trapnell and Dr. Lisa Sinclair  were said to have observed.

On the other hand, those who said they sent 50 text messages or less were far more likely to care about living principled lives.

Researchers additionally asked some students to send text messages, talk on cell phones, or abstain from all phone activity during a lab experiment connected to the study.

Afterwards, those participants were asked to rate their approval levels of different groups of minorities  and the people who sent more text messages during the experiment also gave more generally negative ratings to different demographics than those who did not.

The brevity of modern forms of communication is said to be a contributing factor to the phenomenon.

Ultra-brief social media like texting and Twitter encourages rapid, relatively shallow thought and consequently very frequent daily use of such media should be associated with cognitive and moral shallowness, researchers noted, according to the Journal.

Well it's a good thing I don't use twitter that much. Though some might say otherwise because of my politics .

Image here
And now, from Taiwan, a cautionary tale with the following lesson: Don’t wear T-shirts with writing that you can’t understand.

A fugitive in the town of Huwei, in the southern country of Yunlin, learned that the hard way when he was arrested earlier this month while wearing a shirt bearing the word “Wanted," a police spokesperson told the French news agency AFP.

The criminal, identified in reports by only his surname Wu, didn't know any English, and had no clue what his shirt, a gift from his son, meant. 

But as it turned out, a patrolling police officer did; he’d passed a proficiency test and was curious about the word on the tee.

That exchange led to Wu inspiring more questions—no doubt he appeared nervous—and to the cop checking his status on his police system. Which led to Wu being hauled in on drug charges. 

End of lesson. Capiche?

Victory for Victor Meldrew, as pessimistic people 'live longer'
It may be an unfamiliar concept to them, but the Victor Meldrews of the world finally have
something to rejoice about.
 
Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew in One Foot in the Grave Photo: BBC
By Hannah Furness
10:00PM GMT 27 Feb 2013
 
Older people blighted by pessimism and fear for the future are more likely to live longer, according
to scientists.
 
A study, into 40,000 adults across ten years, has found those with low expectations for a “satisfying
future” actually led healthier lives.
 
In contrast, people who were “overly optimistic” about the days ahead had a greater risk of disability
or death within ten years.
 
The extraordinary research, published by the American Psychological Association, will not doubt
prove comfort to anyone with a tendency to grumpiness.
 
Frieder R. Lang, lead author of the study from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany,
said: “Our findings revealed that being overly optimistic in predicting a better future was associated
with a greater risk of disability and death within the following decade.
 
"Pessimism about the future may encourage people to live more carefully, taking health and safety
precautions."
 
The research, based on data collected between 1993 and 2003, asked 40,000 respondents to rate how
satisfied they believed they would be in five years time.
 
They were interviewed again five years later, and their satisfaction levels compared with their own
predictions.
 
Those who overestimated how happy they would be were found to have a 9.5 per cent increase in
reporting disabilities, and a ten per cent high risk of death.
 
Older people, who tended to have a “darker outlook” on the future, were shown to be the most
accurate in their predictions, with optimistic youngsters overestimating their success.
 
"Unexpectedly, we also found that stable and good health and income were associated with expecting a
greater decline compared with those in poor health or with low incomes," said Dr Lang.
 
"Moreover, we found that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
"We argue, though, that the outcomes of optimistic, accurate or pessimistic forecasts may depend on
age and available resources.
 
"These findings shed new light on how our perspectives can either help or hinder us in taking actions
that can help improve our chances of a long healthy life."
 
Of those interviewed, 43 percent of the oldest group were found to have underestimated their future
life satisfaction, 25 percent had predicted accurately and 32 percent had overestimated, according to
the study
 
Research published last year by the Office for National Statistics found most people are now living
six years longer than current life expectancy projections, with no sign of an upper age limit.
 
Previous studies have suggested that “unrealistic optimism” about the future can help people feel
better while facing inevitable negative outcomes, such as terminal disease.
 
Another, published in 2009, noted that a positive outlook depended largely on where one lives, with
those in London being the grumpiest and those in the countryside being the most relaxed

GAUHATI, India (AP) — Adolf Hitler is running for election in India. So is Frankenstein.
 
The tiny northeast Indian state of Meghalaya has a special fascination for interesting and sometimes controversial names, and the ballot for state elections Saturday is proof.
Among the 345 contestants running for the state assembly are Frankenstein Momin, Billykid Sangma, Field Marshal Mawphniang and Romeo Rani. Some, like Kenedy Marak, Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem and Jhim Carter Sangma, are clearly hoping for the electoral success of their namesake American presidents.
 
Then there is Hitler.
 
This 54-year-old father of three has won three elections to the state assembly with little controversy over being named after the Nazi dictator.
 
His father had worked with the British army, but apparently developed enough of a fascination with Great Britain's archenemy to name his son Adolf Hitler — though he also gave him the middle name Lu, Hitler said.
 
"I am aware at one point of time Adolf Hitler was the most hated person on Earth for the genocide of the Jews. But my father added 'Lu' in between, naming me Adolf Lu Hitler, and that's why I am different," Hitler told The Associated Press from the small village of Mansingre, 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Gauhati, the capital of the nearby state of Assam.
 
Hitler said his name has not stopped him from traveling the world, including to the United States and Germany.
"I never had problems obtaining a visa but I was asked many times during immigration as to why I should have such a name. I told the immigration staff I possibly didn't have a role in my naming," he said.
 
India had thousands of troops fighting alongside the allies in World War II, especially in North Africa and Burma, but many Indians view Hitler not as the personification of evil but as a figure of fascination. Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is prominently displayed at many Indian bookstores. The owner of a menswear shop named his store "Hitler," then expressed puzzlement last year after Israel complained.
 
Musfika Haq, a teacher in Meghalaya's capital, Shillong, said such names are common in the state.
"Parents obviously get fascinated by names of well-known or great leaders, but must be unaware that some of them, like Hitler, had been highly controversial," he said.