She must have been speaking our minds. We need trust for social and economic interactions like building friendship, forming business partnerships and allowing strangers into our premises to work smoothly. Don’t fall into the inviting trap of trusting a pretty face. You might regret it. One fact is clear: as humans, we ignore what people say but place how they act, how they talk, how they move their body, as telling points in whether we are going to trust or not.
Good communication skills are not enough for trust. Non-verbal cues, along with gestures that stimulate trust, are more important than speaking well and speaking clearly.
Trusting is not as simple as that.
The decision to trust people is an intuitive process. It is honed over the years due to experience gained by interacting with several persons, and relating each interaction. Some research done at the University of Warwick also makes it clear that how people look can influence whether we trust them or not. It was found that we tend to ignore a person’s past history or reputation, whether good or bad, if their look rubs us off the right way, and can trust them with our money.
The incentive to trust is also inscribed in our genes. The love hormone, oxytocin, can affect our behavior when triggered and make us either show positive emotions like trust, empathy and generosity, or make us exhibit negative emotions like jealousy and gloating. Oxytocin bolsters pro-social behavior and can increase negative sentiments when our association with a person is negative.
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A new research, by using a robot Nexi, suggests that the decision to trust others with our money and relationships is carried out by complex interacting mechanisms involving sight, hormones and nonverbal cues, or what one of the researchers, David DeSteno has termed “a dance” or interplay between strangers. According to him, "…there's no one golden-cue. Context and coordination of movements is what matters." The mechanisms are complex and interesting. It can help us explain why we can suddenly decide to trust someone because he talks glibly and the next moment, on a seconds’ notice, we decide not to trust him because he placed his hands into his pockets while talking glibly. It could help explain to you why you had to undergo a body scan at the airport while the passenger next to you was allowed to walk freely without questions asked!
To receive, give trust signals.
So, when next you thought you were discriminated against when a situation requires trust, ask yourself whether you made it happen so? Your behavior must have been a mimic of someone who turned out to be untrustworthy in the past. No wonder, the company and the role models we imitate can make or mar our fortunes. Also, the way your dress, your clothing, and how your face looks to other people, can make them trust or count you out as untrustworthy. Your reputation might rank low in the trust ratings if you do not make the effort to look your best for that occasion.
As Dr. Chris Olivola from the University of Warwick’s Warwick Business School observed, “…the temptation to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.” So, as trustworthiness is an important trait for social and economic interactions, you could end up losing that job interview, or that much sought for contract, if you do not do your best to look well for the occasion.
Look like you can be trusted. Act like you can be trusted. In addition, do not allow your emotions to rule your head when confronted with negative emotions.
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The holidays are here. Your idea of vacation involves good rest, getting refreshed and coming back with memories that will linger forever. The U.S Virgin Islands have lots of things to offer you that can suit any wallet.
Here are some reasons why the U.S Virgin Islands should be on your calendar as vacation time gets closer. As Rihanna once said, you should get a good taste of the Caribbean and see the fun side.
Abundant marine resources
The U.S Virgin Island may be a small Island made of three Islands, St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John, but the coastlines boast of a rich variety of marine life like lionfishes, seahorses, stingrays and so much more. Iguanas are grown here, tortoises thrive here and cat-sized hutias are suitable for hunting and farming due to the absence of dense woodlands. Compared to the bigger Islands, they have better wind flow, fewer mosquitoes, sufficient water and a good view to the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.
The list of beaches and bays one can find at the U.S Virgin Islands is extensive – Bolongo bay, Coki beach, Brewer’s Bay, Hull bay, Lindquist beach etc. They offer plentiful supply of white sand, watersports, excellent snorkeling and diving opportunities. The Coral World Ocean Park, a marine life park, can be found on Coki beach. These beaches and bays offer beach chairs to tourists and visitors for rent. There are numerous restaurants where you can sit and enjoy the tranquility and calmness of the Sea.
Pets are always welcome without restrictions
There are no quarantine requirements for bringing pets like cats and dogs to the Island, or even taking them out. There are Animal shelter centers on the Island where you can adopt pets. Every traveler though should take precautions and make enquiries before traveling. Where you intend traveling by air, contact your carrier for details about pet travel and pets as part of your luggage.
All-inclusive resorts and spas that in addition to providing lodging, give you the opportunity to avail yourself of a wide range of other amenities such as unlimited food, beverages,
Sugar Bay Resort and Spa, St. Thomas.Boasting of numerous online reviews, lots of cabanas on the Caribbean, golf outlets, a spa, restaurants and nightclubs, including facilities for health and fitness. The rooms open onto Smith Bay, are equipped with supervised childcare facilities, with cable and satellite TV channels, are wired to the Internet. Company Website. For flight schedules, try travel sites like hipmunk.com.
sports activities, and daily and nightly entertainment. Golf, diving and spa services would usually cost extra, as does top-shelf liquor at some resorts. To name a few, there is Gallows Point Resort at Cruz Bay, Crystal Cove Beach Resort on Sapphire Bay, St. Thomas, Sapphire Beach Resort, East End and Sugar Bay Resort & Spa, St. Thomas.
Make a Caribbean vacation part of your plans these holidays. Make that decision now. Note though that the cost of living is higher than average compared to cities at the U.S mainland and also high compared to the per capita income. You will never regret spending your vacations and holidays here.
Disclaimer: The information provided with this post is for guidelines and general information based on online research and discussion with informed persons. Featured products or services do not mean an endorsement but a guide to offerings that can suit your needs. When a link refers to some external website, and that site contains questionable content, I am not responsible. All the links have been checked before posting this piece.
How often do you read the labels on food you buy? It is a good thing to regularly do so. We tend to trust familiar brands, or end up buying food with too much calories or even rotten food. Talking about buying something that is bad for the health, rising obesity rates is a global problem. Expanding waistlines mean rising health-care costs for diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancers. What would you do when health-care costs are beyond your income? Not pretty much, except hope for government’s protection.
One of government’s role is to stem the tide of negative externalities such as rising obesity rates causing a problem for health-care delivery. Nola Ries, a University of Alberta researcher, has published several articles on how the government can help on controlling health-care costs due to rising obesity rates by taking action at all levels of the market: at the producers, the consumers, the government sector and educators.
Obesity is not the only guilty party.
As much as we all desire low cost healthcare, rising obesity rates is not the only cause of the problem. In an online article, a health care policy expert, David Hogberg, Ph.D, has argued that putting all Americans under Medicare, or Medicare for All, would not solve her problem of rising health care costs. Especially for Medicare recipients, Amy S. Kelly of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in another article, made it clear that the amount of spending for out-of-pocket health care expenses are rising and vary with the patient’s illness. Patients who require special arrangements, like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, account for a size-able difference in the spending patterns. According to Kelly, these out-of-pocket spending would surprise a lot of people if they had a look into available data.
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Whatever the size of the problem, proactive solutions have to start from somewhere. Ries defined her prescription as a multi-layered approach which would involve “…multiple levels -- directed at the food and beverage industry, at individuals, at those who educate and those who restrict -- must work together to be effective."
The Government will surely pick one from all these policy measures.
Policy measures that would involve the food and beverage industry include the possibility of zoning restrictions on new fast-food outlet locations. Maybe make junk food and high calorie food rarer in areas more prone to obesity so that it would be more expensive to reach out for one. She also advised on mandatory menu labeling. Menu labeling enables you as the consumer to make better food choices, is less coercive than taxation and outright bans, and furthermore, would help Americans understand the rationale for policy measures.
How about a junk food tax? This would increase the price of junk food, especially sugar sweetened beverages, and discourage consumption of these “sin” products by the younger and poorer sectors of the economy. This is not the first time a “sin tax” is being placed on consumables. Sin taxes exist on alcohol and tobacco in many parts of the world; is particularly much higher in France and Romania. The tax would also provide a revenue stream to help combat the problem in other levels. Professors Helen Jensen and John Beghin at the ISU do agree with her, but disagree on what stage of the production process the sin tax should be placed. A sin tax, they state, applied to sweetened goods on store shelves is not the most efficient, effective method of lowering caloric intake from sweet food and would be more disruptive to consumers than necessary. The goal is to reduce caloric consumption and the target, they believe, should be taxing the inputs rather than the finished products. These would allow food processors to reduce the amount of sweeteners they put into their products, will tend towards using more of the lesser-taxed artificial sweeteners and less of the higher-taxed sweeteners that are heavy in sugary products.
portions at margie’s diner. Credit: Flickr.com, Emdot.
Taxing sweet food at the store shelves would hurt the poor most, and maybe lose its impact, although the research does not make any claim about lowering obesity. The rising obesity rate has many factors and the amount of calories consumed is only one, the economists argue.
How about these? Would you be happy if the government gave you a $1 coupon every time you made a choice for healthy food as against junk? I really do not understand the economics of making that happen, but Ries believes it can also help combat rising health-care costs and declining fitness levels. She wants people to live happier, healthier and more active lifestyles. Fitness tax credits though are short term measures. "Instead of spending more money on educational initiatives to tell people what they already know -- like eat your greens and get some exercise -- I suggest it's better to focus on targeted programs that help people make and sustain behavior change."
The government would surely take action, but what steps it would follow is left to policy makers. While they are at it, I have to remind you once again: eat healthy, get much exercise, stay off too much sweets and furthermore, make someone in the planet happy by donating to causes. I wish you all a happy healthier working week.
Source: Legislated to Health?
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