Never allow negative people -- the naysayers, the Debbie Downers, the half-glass-empty crowd -- turn you into   them. We all have bad days, but that's no reason to want our bad vibes to rub off on those who seem happy and content. Misery may yearn for company, but we shouldn't feel compelled to be that company. If people find themselves in the whole, they need to work through their problems on their own. Instead of aiming their frustration at other people, they should turn to them for support. They should see them as a source of comfort rather than as an annoyance. In the end, the people whom these negative folks wish were just as unhappy as they are would probably do anything to turn their frown upside down. Needless to say, they'd be directing their ire at someone who, chances are, would be disposed to lend a hand in any way possible. But as we well know, people who are in a crappy mood don't always think rationally. They focus only on themselves, and ...

Many people claim to despise Facebook these days, as they say it serves as a constant reminder of things they either don't have or that aren't going as smoothly as they'd like. Those who are single and yearn to be in a relationship are forced to see a barrage of posts of their friends cuddling with their significant other. Those who are in a relationship and long to be married (but they can't for financial or other reasons) have to sit through endless wedding pictures. And then those who are married or in a relationship -- and have either chosen not to have kids or desire them but haven't had them for one reason or another -- often see their Wall saturated with baby pictures. Let's not forget those who boast of their shiny cars, vacations, or dining experiences seemingly every single day. This leaves many of these people feeling like losers -- ones who can't get anyone to "like"or comment favorably on their content because it revolves a...

Remember when Netflix was a little-known company trying to chip away at now-dedunct Blockbuster Video by streaming content on the Web? Those days are no more. Shares of Netflix surged 10% today after it reported a tremendous gain in subscribers in the fourth quarter of last year -- a whopping 8 million -- and a strong outlook for the first quarter of this year. As a result, its market value soared to $110 billion. It joins 58 other companies in the the S&P 500 worth at least $100 billion. The company is now worth more than several big Hollywood companies, many of which still supply Netflix with content. Though Netflix is nowhere near media giants like Disney (worth $166 billion), Comcast (just shy of $200 billion), and AT&T (nearly $230 billion), there's no question the company has grown immensely since its humble beginnings in the late 1990s. What's more, Wall Street is predicting even larger gains ahead. The highest price target for Netflix is now $303 a s...

To all my readers in the United States and around the world, I'd like to wish each and every one of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! Let me start off by saying that I'm grateful for the people for whom I passionately churn out content every day: you . This two-year-old blog -- nearly 1,100 posts and 212,000 views later -- wouldn't be what it is today without your support; I'll forever be indebted to everyone who takes the time to read, comment on, and/or share my posts. I look forward to writing more content in the coming days, months, and years that will continue to stimulate the substantive conversations my readers and I have on Google+, Facebook, and within the comments section of each individual post. It's obvious that many of you share my passion for so many of the topics I cover on this blog -- from psychology and human behavior to politics and history -- which is a real treat for someone like myself who has an insatiable appetite for learning. That sa...

One of my favorite memes on the internet includes a picture of Abraham Lincoln alongside this quote attributed to him: "Don't believe everything you read on the internet just because there's a picture with a quote next to it." - Abraham L incoln What's funny is that the internet wasn't invented until more than a hundred years after Lincoln's death, so there's no possible way the 16th president could have said the above. In other words, even a quote about the perils of reading too much into something you read on the internet can itself be misattributed and thus prove sketchy.  I've lost count of the times I've come across news of a dubious nature on Facebook. For example, every so often a Facebook friend posts an article about a celebrity death that later turns out to be a hoax. Just the other day, a media company I'm following on Facebook posted an article alleging President Obama said he'd refuse to allow Donald Trump be...

A pregnant mother enrolled in college courses wasn't going to let labor get in the way of taking a college exam. Tommitrise Collins went into labor on November 12, and her sister posted a photo on her Facebook page showing Tommitrise in a hospital bed with her laptop open in front of her. Apparently, her contractions were three minutes apart, but that did little to deter her from completing the test. The post has been shared more than 14,000 times. Shortly after finishing the exam, Tommitrise delivered a healthy baby girl, weighing 7 lbs, 10 oz. Without a doubt, this woman's dedication to her studies is commendable. But some people assert that pictures of people in labor have no place on Facebook. They feel such content is personal in nature and should be kept out of the public eye. I think some people go great lengths to keep people apprised of everything going on in their lives -- and sometimes they may step over the line a bit. What was Collins' sister motiva...

Over the past few years, I've noticed how moms have been using sites like Facebook as their own personal baby albums. Granted, it's their page, and they have every right to post whatever content strikes their fancy. The issue is that some women take to these platforms to post pictures and/or videos of their children on a daily basis. As a result, I find my Facebook Wall inundated with baby-related content, sometimes for days on end. I suppose that many of these women are stay-at -home moms whose lives revolve around their kids and thus they use social media as convenient outlets through they can connect with other moms. I don't mind the occasional baby picture or video, but these moms go a little overboard. I can only see so many photos of something or someone before I get bored. If I had a child and my wife were doing the same thing, I would advise her to tone it down a bit. Let's be honest: With exception to children of family members, most people don'...

These days, the popularity of television series is quite remarkable -- the likes of which we've never quite seen before. Whether it's friends, family, or co-workers, it seems everyone watches at least one TV series. Among the most popular ones are: The Walking Dead Game of Thrones Empire Breaking Bad True Detective Sherlock  Now, I've never been one to watch these kinds of shows, but when I first saw True Detective being advertised, it looked interesting -- and so I figured that watching one episode couldn't hurt. I became instantly hooked! It was only then I understood why so many people I know become so enthralled by these shows.  I started thinking about the reasons why these shows resonate so closely with us, the viewers.  Here are a couple of reasons that may explain their surge in popularity in recent years: They distract us from our daily lives : Considering that our lives seem to be getting busier and more stressful by the day, these shows ...