Debate Better: How to Avoid 'Ad Hominem' Arguments
"Attack the argument, not the person."
You may have seen this advice shared online — and you'll probably have also seen many people completely ignoring it.
It's known as the ad hominem fallacy, or an ad hominem attack — when criticism is directed against a person rather than at what they're saying.
Or, as Yvonne Raley put it in Scientific American: "an argument is rejected, or advanced, based on a personal characteristic of an individual rather than on reasons for or against the claim itself."
That's the fallacy — attacking the wrong thing, whether on purpose or not. Ad hominem is a Latin term that literally means "to the person."
Online, ad hominem attacks are often simply abusive — calling people stupid, or criticizing their spelling — and they can turn a debate into a tennis match of personal insults.
In politics, they're often used as a way to discredit a rival.
For example, let's say a country's minister for health is known to be a smoker, or is always seen eating junk food. Critics may say that this makes the person unqualified to be in charge of the department for health.
But as long as the politician's personal life doesn't influence their professional decisions, we could describe these criticisms as ad hominem attacks — and they can actually make us lose sight of the decisions a politician has made.
But according to philosopher Douglas Walton, on some occasions — for example, if a politician has been caught lying, or in situations that suggest they may not be good moral judges — attacking the person might be fair, especially if they're telling people to vote for them because they can be trusted to be honest or moral.
So where do we draw the line? In Scientific American, Raley suggested asking ourselves how relevant a politician's character is to their ability to perform in office — or how relevant a person's past is to their knowledge of an issue.
But if you're just calling someone stupid because they disagree, that's probably not appropriate.
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How Forest Bathing Helps Our Health
When life gets stressful, one of the best things you can do is go outside into nature. In Japan, a lot of people like to take part in shinrin-yoku or forest-bathing.
Forest bathing means spending time in a natural environment to relax, giving yourself a moment of calm and quiet among the trees. Some people may meditate or do breathing exercises, and others just enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the forest.
Shinrin-yoku was named by Forestry Agency boss Tomohide Akiyama back in 1982, and has since become a part of Japanese culture. And while most people can already agree that spending time in nature is good for you, there is increasing scientific evidence for this.
Qing Li from the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo explained to The Japan Times that while most people already know that spending time in a beautiful forest can reduce stress, there wasn't evidence for the health benefits.
So in a study published in 2007, he took a group of 12 male "healthy but tired" office workers from Tokyo aged 37 to 55 on a three-day forest bathing trip to Nagano. Blood tests when they got back showed that their "natural killer cells" — white blood cells that protect the body from disease — were higher than before.
And in a different study, forest bathing was introduced to people living in cities — who generally are more likely to be affected by stress — and the results showed that they had lower levels of stress and lower blood pressure.
If you live far from a forest, don't worry — research has also found that even spending time in a park in a city can provide the same benefits.
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Dining Etiquette: Why It Feels Wrong to Eat First
In most cultures around the world, it's seen as polite to wait until everyone has received their food before you start eating. But we often have one rule for ourselves, and another for other people.
For example, if we're at a restaurant and our friend's food comes first, we'll often say, "Go ahead, eat!" But if our own food arrives early, we'll probably feel we should wait.
A new study explains why we hold ourselves to stricter standards than others.
Researchers from the UK and the Netherlands did six experiments with almost 2,000 people, mostly in the US. In each test, people imagined a meal with a friend. Sometimes they got their food first, other times their friend did.
When they had to imagine themselves getting food first, most people said they should wait before eating. But when they imagined their friend getting food first, they said it was OK for the friend to eat right away.
The researchers said this happens because of something called a "self-other difference." We feel our own emotions, such as guilt or awkwardness, very strongly, but we can't fully grasp what others are feeling.
When we are the ones eating first, we feel guilt or worry, and we think we might look rude or selfish. But when someone else is in the same situation, we assume they are fine, even if they are not.
Even when people were asked to think about how their friend might feel, the results didn't change much. Nor did they change when people were told they had permission to eat first.
This shows the problem isn't just about rules or social expectations — it comes from the way the human mind works. We see our own discomfort clearly, but we don't fully notice it in others.
So when you tell a friend, "Go ahead, eat!" just remember — you might not feel as comfortable if the roles are reversed!
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A Consistent Sleep Schedule Could Save Your Heart
We often hear that getting seven to nine hours of sleep is good for your health.
But a new study has found that going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day could be just as important as how long you sleep.
The study looked at sleep patterns in more than 72,000 adults over eight years. It found that people who went to bed and woke up at different times each day had a 26% higher risk of serious heart problems like heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.
This was true even when they got the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep.
Even after considering other health factors like age, exercise, smoking, alcohol use and diet, the link between irregular sleep and heart problems stayed strong.
Researchers used a score called the Sleep Regularity Index (SRI) to measure sleep consistency. The SRI ranges from 0 (very irregular sleep) to 100 (very regular sleep).
Participants were put into three groups: regular sleepers, with an SRI above 87.3; moderately irregular sleepers, with an SRI between 71.6 and 87.3; and irregular sleepers, with an SRI below 71.6.
People with higher SRI scores had a much lower risk of heart disease. Even a moderate score of 77.1 was linked to a 15% drop in heart risk.
Changing your sleeping and waking times can confuse your body's internal clock. And this may affect how your body handles things like blood sugar, stress, and even how your heart works.
This is why keeping a consistent sleep schedule matters. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends, experts say.
Getting enough sleep is important, but keeping your sleep schedule consistent could make a big difference for your heart!
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Too Much Sitting May Make Your Brain Smaller
Are you sitting comfortably? Well, don't get too comfortable — it could be bad for your brain.
A new study suggests that spending too much time sitting could make your brain smaller and affect your mental abilities. And this is true even if you try to make up for time spent sitting with regular exercise.
Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, studied 404 adults over a seven-year period. Participants were all aged 71 or older, and none of them suffered from dementia at the beginning of the study.
For 10 days, the study participants wore devices on their wrists to measure how much time they spent sitting and how much time they were active. Participants also had their mental abilities tested and their brains scanned.
These measurements, tests and scans were all done at the beginning of the study and repeated at several points during the following seven years.
The researchers found that more time spent sitting was associated with a decreased ability to remember things, and less brain thickness in areas of the brain that are usually affected by Alzheimer's disease.
Over time, participants who spent more time sitting also got worse at naming things and took longer to process information. They also had less volume in the hippocampus, part of the brain that helps make memories.
These effects were also worse for participants who had a gene that is associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease.
However, most of the participants were getting at least 150 minutes of exercise each week, as recommended by health experts. This suggests that exercising won't stop the negative effects of too much sitting.
The researchers suggest that health care workers who are looking after older people not only consider how much exercise they get, but also try to reduce the amount of time they spend sitting.
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AI Puts Women's Jobs at Higher Risk, Says UN Study
New artificial intelligence (AI) tools are changing the way we live, work and study. And while many people are excited for these changes, there are concerns about what the new technology could mean for some jobs.
And according to research from the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO), it's the jobs traditionally done by women that are most at risk.
Working with Poland’s National Research Institute, the ILO has prepared a report entitled Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure.
The report looked at nearly 2,900 work tasks, examining how likely they were to be automated with generative AI — that is, AI that can create things like text, audio and images. The report then grouped these tasks into specific jobs to estimate how "exposed" different types of work will be to AI.
And it was found that a quarter of jobs around the world will potentially be "exposed" to generative AI. This increases to 34% of jobs in high-income countries.
It was also found that 9.6% of traditionally female jobs in high-income countries are likely to be affected by AI, compared with 3.5% of those more traditionally done by men. This is because AI is increasingly being used to do the kind of administrative work done by people in clerical and secretarial jobs, who are more likely to be women.
Other jobs more likely to be affected by AI are those in media, software and finance, as they too have a high proportion of tasks that can be automated and are highly digital.
However, the ILO says there are few jobs that can be entirely automated. Even though many tasks can be made more efficient with generative AI, they generally still need a human involved.
The report asks governments, companies and workers to collaborate to develop strategies to improve productivity and job quality, particularly in sectors that are more exposed to AI.
The ILO's Janine Berg said the report "helps countries across the world assess potential exposure and prepare their labor markets for a fairer digital future."
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The Health Benefits of Kindness
"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness," the American humorist Sam Levenson once wrote.
And research has found that kindness isn't just good for your lips — it may be good for your whole body!
A 2018 study found that men who helped others in their community had a lower risk of heart disease.
And a 2013 study of over 1,600 older Americans found that those who volunteered for at least 200 hours a year were 40% less likely to develop high blood pressure. These people were also more physically active, and had better mental health.
Meanwhile, another 2013 study, this one in Canada, looked at high school students who spent an hour a week volunteering with elementary school children.
After 10 weeks, the volunteers had lower levels of inflammation and cholesterol than students who weren't volunteering. They also had lower body mass indexes. And the students who got the most benefit from volunteering were the ones who showed the greatest increase in kindness and the greatest improvement in mental health.
So why does this happen?
Well, we're not actually sure. But we have some good guesses.
Speaking to NPR, Laura Kubzansky of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said that volunteering and acts of kindness may help reduce stress, which is known to have a number of negative health effects, including increased blood pressure. She said doing kind things may also "help to give you more perspective on what your own problems are."
Being more social is also linked to having fewer physical and mental health problems, especially as we get older. And even being kind to yourself has been found to be important for your mental and physical health.
So go say something nice to a friend, or hold the door open for that person behind you — it will be good for both of you!
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Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Early Death
Ultra-processed foods are often cheap, taste great and give us lots of energy. But these foods offer little nutrition, and are made mostly or entirely from things extracted from other foods — like oils, fats and sugars — or from chemicals made in a lab.
Eating ultra-processed foods has been linked to things like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
They're not just things like cookies, candy and cola, but also hot dogs, breakfast cereal and frozen pizza.
And they're everywhere, especially in richer countries.
An international team of researchers wanted to find out just how dangerous these foods are for us.
They looked at data from seven past studies, including data from almost 240,000 people from eight countries: Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.
The researchers found that, on average, people in Colombia got 15% of their energy from ultra-processed foods. But the percentage of energy people got from ultra-processed foods was higher in every other country, from 17% in Brazil to 44% in Canada, 53% in the UK and 55% in America.
It was also found that, for every 10% increase in the amount of energy people got from ultra-processed foods, there was a 3% higher chance of death from all causes.
In fact, the researchers estimated that, in America, 124,000 early deaths each year can be linked to eating ultra-processed foods.
The study's lead investigator, Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, also said that, in richer countries although consumption of ultra-processed foods has been high it hasn't really been increasing. However, it has been increasing in poorer countries. So while these foods are already linked to more deaths in richer countries, their effects on poorer countries will only get worse.
The study authors say their results show that consumption of ultra-processed foods is a global health issue, and that governments should be doing more to encourage people to eat fresh and minimally processed foods.
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Small Sleep Changes Can Affect Students' Brains
Schools should do more to encourage young people to get a good night's sleep, according to experts.
That's after a new study found that small differences in sleep habits among young people can have a big impact on cognitive performance.
Colin Espie, who does research into sleep habits at the University of Oxford, told The Guardian that high schools should teach pupils about healthy sleep as part of their studies.
A study published this May by researchers in China and the UK — but not including Espie — found that young people who go to sleep the earliest and sleep the longest tend to do better on cognitive tests.
The researchers looked at sleep data from more than 3,200 11- and 12-year-olds in the US. Their sleep had been monitored using special watches.
The research team put the young people into three different groups based on their sleep habits.
The first group went to sleep the latest and woke the earliest, getting an average of seven hours and 10 minutes of sleep.
Those in the second group slept for an average of seven hours and 21 minutes.
And those in the third group went to sleep earlier, and even had lower heart rates while they slept. These young people slept for an average of seven hours and 25 minutes.
The students took tests that looked at things like reading, problem solving and vocabulary, and those in the third group did the best. Those in the first group did the worst.
One of the study's authors, Barbara Sahakian from the University of Cambridge, said it was surprising that such small differences in average sleep time could have such a big impact.
However, the researchers added that all three groups were getting less than the recommended amount of sleep for people their age.
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Young and Old Turn to AI Chatbots for Companionship
In the 2013 movie (Her), a lonely man going through a difficult divorce finds himself falling in love with an artificial intelligence (AI) companion.
When that movie came out, AI wasn't developed enough to provide people with companionship. But today, over 100 million people around the world are using AI chatbot companions that can provide friendship, advice — and even romantic relationships.
Many people use AI companions because, just like in the movie Her, they feel lonely.
However, a 2023 study found that AI companions could be addictive, and some experts warn that they could be used to manipulate people or collect their personal data.
There are also concerns that young people using AI companions won't learn how to have relationships with real people — who, unlike chatbots, don't agree with you all the time.
However, it's not just young people who are using AI companions.
Alex Cardinell, CEO of the AI companionship app Nomi, told NBC News that his app has attracted users of all ages and genders — and a large percentage of them are older users.
"There's a big elder loneliness epidemic going on right now," Cardinell said.
And for some people, an AI companion can offer useful tips on managing relationships in the real world.
Travis Peacock, who has autism and ADHD, told The Guardian that he had trouble managing romantic and professional relationships until he trained ChatGPT to offer him advice on how to manage social interactions.
One year later, Peacock says he now has a network of friends, a healthy long-term romantic relationship, and has enjoyed "one of the most productive years of my life."
Others, though, may turn to AI companions out of disappointment with real relationships.
One user called Sakura told NBC News that although a lot of people think she uses AI because she is lonely, "It's like, no, no, you're going to an AI because people are jerks."
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Walking Faster May Reduce Heart Rhythm Problems
Walking at a faster pace could reduce the risk of developing heart rhythm problems, according to a new study.
Heart rhythm problems, known as arrhythmia, come in many forms: a heartbeat can be too slow, too fast or just irregular. Although some forms of arrhythmia can be harmless, others can increase the risk of having heart disease or a stroke.
The new research, published in the journal Heart, looked at data from over 420,000 people in the UK who had self-reported their own walking pace. Of those, almost 82,000 also provided carefully measured data on their time spent walking at different paces over a seven-day period.
The study defined three different walking paces: slow, average and brisk. A slow pace was defined as under 5 kilometers per hour; average was between 5 and 6 kilometers per hour; and brisk was over 6 kilometers per hour.
Nearly 7% of participants said they had a slow pace; almost 53% said they had an average pace; and just under 41% said they had a brisk pace.
Over a period of nearly 14 years, 36,574 participants — about 9% — developed some form of arrhythmia.
The researchers found that an average walking pace was associated with a 35% lower risk of developing arrhythmia, while a brisk pace was associated with a 43% lower risk.
The data from people who had carefully measured their walking pace also indicated that walking at an average pace for between five minutes and 15 minutes a day would be enough to reduce the risk of developing arrhythmia.
Jill Pell, one of the authors of the study, told CNN, "The great thing about walking is that it is accessible to everyone. You don't need to spend money going to a gym or buying equipment. You can just walk out of your front door and keep going."
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Technology May Slow Cognitive Decline in Older Adults
Many studies have been done on the possible negative effects of technology use among people of different ages.
One concern is what has been called "digital dementia" — the idea that using too much technology could, over time, cause memory problems and cognitive decline.
But a new study challenges that idea, finding that older people who use smartphones and other devices show lower rates of cognitive decline.
Researchers in the US looked at 57 published studies, which included data from over 411,000 adults. Each study looked at the use of digital technology, and included cognitive tests or diagnoses.
Technology use in the studies included things like smartphones, computers, social media, internet and email. The participants' average age was 68 at the beginning of the studies.
And the results showed that greater technology use among older adults was associated with a 42% lower risk of cognitive decline.
There could be different reasons for this, the researchers said — for example, using technology could help keep the brain active. Another reason could be that technology helps older adults stay connected with other people — and many studies have shown that loneliness affects cognition later in life.
However, some say more research is needed, because the studies didn't look at how each person was using technology or how long they used it for.
The researchers also noted that people in this age group started using technology later in life, when their brains were already fully formed, so it's not clear if the same effect would be seen among people who have used this technology for most of their lives.
Still, it's a good starting point for better understanding ways to stop or slow cognitive decline — especially in a world that has nearly 10 million new cases of dementia a year, according to the World Health Organization.
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