NXT

 IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT New developments in science explain why we behave the way we do. Whether it’s a disease, or infidelity in a relationship, or inability to concentrate, neuroscientists and psychologists and sex columnists are suggesting that it might not be your fault. “…the act of helping another person triggers activity in the caudate nucleus and anterior cingulate cortex regions of the brain, the parts involved in pleasure and reward. That is, serving others may produce the same sort of pleasure as gratifying a personal desire” (NYT). “…impulsive people tend to have more junk in the trunk than more conscientious folks—by a lot. Study participants who scored in the top 10 percent on impulsivity weighed an average of 22 lbs more than those in the bottom 10 percent” (The Atlantic). “[Dan] Savage has for 20 years been saying monogamy is harder than we admit and articulating a sexual ethic that he thinks honors the reality, rather than the romantic ideal, of marriage” (NYT). IMPLICATION What’s going to happen when nobody has to take responsibility for their actions?

GIRLS ON TOP For the first time ever, the majority of the American workforce is female, and younger women are outpacing men in education and salary. However, women who are mothers struggle to balance work and home life. 51.4% of managerial and professional positions are occupied by women, as well as 14% of senior executive positions. 23% of women out-earn their husbands. 32% of men “regularly care” for a child (an increase from 19% in 1993) (BusinessWeek). Men accounted for 5.4 million, or 71%, of the 7.5 million jobs that disappeared from the U.S. economy from December 2007 through June 2009. (Pew). Working mothers in particular are ambivalent about whether full-time work is the best thing for them or their children; they feel the tug of family much more acutely than do working fathers. As a result, most working mothers find themselves in a situation that they say is less than ideal (Pew).  IMPLICATIONS How will businesses change to accommodate all of these women running the show?

Being healthy is about more than your waist size. Mental, social, spiritual, and emotional health are just as important, and they all affect each other. Missing a credit card payment could actually kill you. “[Dr. Ader] demonstrated scientifically that stress worsens illness — sometimes even triggering it — and that reducing stress is essential to health care” (NYT). “[Placebos] can’t affect the underlying disease mechanisms in conditions like hypertension or arrhythmias, he considers. But they can influence subjective symptoms like pain and depression, hot flashes, and insomnia” (The Atlantic). “[A] new study found a clear correlation between suicide rates and the business cycle among young and middle-age adults. That correlation vanished when researchers looked only at children and the elderly” (NYT). IMPLICATIONS Being happy might be the responsible thing to do.

YOUR JUDGMENT SUCKS People evaluate their behavior all the time. But when it comes to health, their conclusions are based more on a feeling than an objective measurement of calories. Does the walk to get coffee really cancel out the doughnut? “Most people underestimate calories in large meals, even if they’re not overweight” (WebMD). “…as Americans become more and more obese, they simply adjust their perception of what a healthy size should be” (The Atlantic). As judgment fails, tracking is on the rise: “AT&T also sells…a physiological monitor that straps around the chest to record heart rate and other data.” (Forbes). IMPLICATIONS If your judgment is terrible, who should you listen to?

EVERYONE CARES IF YOU EAT LIKE SH!T The people around you have a vested interest in your health: employers and insurers are offering incentives for healthy behaviors and penalties for unhealthy habits; and the people you spend time with have more to do with your health than you think. “More and more employers are demanding that workers who smoke, are overweight or have high cholesterol shoulder a greater share of their health care costs…” (NYT). A form of auto insurance that requires electronic verification of miles driven, in return for a discount, is gaining popularity, despite privacy concerns (NYT). “The heavier our close friends and family, the heavier we are likely to be…Having an obese neighbor did not make a person more likely to be obese, but having a friend or relative who was—even if that person lived hundreds of miles away—did” (Scientific American). IMPLICATION Expect your nearest and dearest to start ripping cookies out of your hands.

YOU OWN NOTHING How would you feel if someone deleted your Facebook account, forever? A lot of things you probably care about are in the hands of other people. Access is more important than ownership. This isn’t new, which is why your parents have rented videos from the video shop since forever. But now more of your things, your information, and your ideas are not really your own, and you don’t care.  We rent/share everything: movies (Netflix), games (GameFly), dresses (Rent the Runway), cars (Zipcar, Carshare), rides, bikes, electricity, artwork, textbooks, space for working (OpenDesks), skills, gardens, parking spots, CSAs (Collaborative Consumption). Google owns your life: “If you ever used Google while logged in to your account to search for a person, a symptom, a medical side effect, a political idea; if you ever gossiped using one of Google’s services, all of this is on Google’s servers… You can never undo it or unclick it. It stays there forever” (CNN). Ideas are for everyone: “Dr. Nielsen and other advocates for ‘open science’ say science can accomplish much more, much faster, in an environment of friction-free collaboration over the Internet. And despite a host of obstacles, including the skepticism of many established scientists, their ideas are gaining traction” (NYT). IMPLICATION The days of saving pennies for a new car may be over, but now you have to share everything with everyone else.

QUARTER LIFE CRISIS After a promising start, things aren’t working out so hot for Gen Y-ers, and they are freaking out. Dubbed the “quarterlife crisis,” symptoms include disillusionment, liberal-arts student loans and a penchant for third-world travel. While their parents (and Gen X) put their noses to the grindstone, Gen Y is picking up their heads to see if they can’t do something AMAZING. While they make their big plans, moving back in with Mom and Dad seems like the best option. “One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever” (NYT). “More than half (53%) of Gen Y employees (ages 21-32) say they are now living paycheck to paycheck — up from 50% in 2007 — versus 44% of their older associates. And nearly three in four (73%) are very concerned about having enough money to make ends meet, compared to 56% of Generation X employees and 62% of Baby Boomers, according to MetLife’s 7th annual Employee Benefits Trends Study” (Forbes). “The scientists found the children’s brains were not fully mature until at least 25…Synaptic pruning intensifies after rapid brain-cell proliferation during childhood and again in the period that encompasses adolescence and the 20s” (NYT). “A whopping 40% of students and 45% of young employees say they’d take a lower-paying job over a higher-paying one if it meant better social media access, more mobility, and more choice in which technological devices they used” (CBS News). “Among all 18- to 34-year-olds, only 30% consider their current job a career. This compares with 52% among workers ages 35 and older” (Pew). IMPLICATION Have you ever met a Gen Y plumber?

SECRETS ARE SEXY Secrets are currency, especially considering that people have no cash. In the digital age everything is available, all the time. Choosing who we share with, who gets to know, is power. “The digital era has given rise to a more intimate custom. It has become fashionable for young people to express their affection for each other by sharing their passwords to e-mail, Facebook and other accounts. Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes even create identical passwords, and let each other read their private e-mails and texts” (NYT). “[Speakeasies] can be found all over the United States, skulking in the shadows. Obtrusively furtive, they represent one of the strangest exercises in nostalgia ever to grip the public, an infatuation with the good old days of Prohibition… Make it illegal, and they will come. If the authorities will not oblige, make it feel illegal” (NYT). AmEx has launched a travel service that provides a series of surprises rather than an itinerary. “It creates sense of anticipation. (‘What will happen?’) And serendipity. (‘What could happen?’) And adventure. (‘This should be great!’) Most of all, it delivers a warm current of randomness. Our life is unpredictable” (Harvard Business Review). IMPLICATION Are straight-forward, simple, intuitive experiences—which have been the pursuit of good design for ages—over?

BESPOKE WELLNESS Being unique is taking new shape. As options to be healthy proliferate, people are looking for frameworks that work uniquely for them—supplements, group exercise, tracking, diets, etc. Discovering what works for YOUR body is easier (and scarier) than ever. The Mayo Clinic is pushing hard on the field of individualized medicine, a model that uses genetic or other information to tailor treatment of individual patients. While critics cite the discriminatory implications of genomics, proponents believe that the information will be useful for “cancer diagnosis and treatment, drug therapy, disease prevention, and many others” (GlobalNewsWire). “…[researchers] found most people willing to take a [DNA] test even if didn’t perfectly predict their risks for disease. About 70 percent of the respondents were willing to take even an imperfect test for genetic risks of Alzheimer’s, and more than three-quarters were willing to take such tests for arthritis, breast cancer and prostate cancer. Most people also said they’d be willing to spend money out of their own pocket for the test…” (NYT). “one’s precise skin-care needs are assessed (dryness? dullness? fine lines?) and a desired consistency is chosen (featherweight matte gel or rich golden cream?). With these measurements taken, a package is dispatched to Dior’s laboratory in Saint-Jean-de-Braye, where the formula is blended with a megadose of antioxidant-rich sap …The heavy gold (monogrammed) jar is then shipped to your front door” (Vogue). IMPLICATIONS If you know more about yourself AND there are more options, how do you know what’s right for you?