1. At the Buzzer, It’s All Lin
The New York Times February 14, 2012
TORONTO — The clock was running down — on the game, on the Knicks and on a mystical streak that was teetering on the edge of disappointment. The seconds kept disappearing until Jeremy Lin stopped his dribble, pulled up and launched another miracle.
The 3-point shot swished with a half-second remaining Tuesday night, lifting the Knicks to a 90-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors and setting off pandemonium at Air Canada Centre, where fans momentarily adopted the N.B.A.’s newest star as their own. Some 20,000 Canadians had just witnessed a growing legend.
The shot completed a furious comeback from a 17-point deficit and extended the Knicks’ Lin-inspired winning streak to six, with no sign of abating.
“I’m just glad it went like this, so we could calm the ‘Linsanity’ down a little bit,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said.
There is little chance of that happening. Lin scored 27 points — his sixth straight game with at least 20 — and handed out 11 assists. He forced some shots, committed 8 turnovers and struggled to contain Jose Calderon (25 points).
Yet the game ended as so many have since Lin became the Knicks’ unlikely star: with giddy celebration.
“It’s pretty amazing what he’s doing, man,” said Amar’e Stoudemire, who rejoined the team after a weeklong sabbatical following his brother’s death. “I can’t really explain it.”
2. What’s New? Exuberance for Novelty Has Benefits
The New York Times February 13, 2012
Do you make decisions quickly based on incomplete information? Do you lose your temper quickly? Are you easily bored? Do you thrive in conditions that seem chaotic to others, or do you like everything well organized?
Those are the kinds of questions used to measure novelty-seeking, a personality trait long associated with trouble. As researchers analyzed its genetic roots and relations to the brain’s dopamine system, they linked this trait with problems like attention deficit disorder, compulsive spending and gambling, alcoholism, drug abuse and criminal behavior.
Now, though, after extensively tracking novelty-seekers, researchers are seeing the upside. In the right combination with other traits, it’s a crucial predictor of well-being.
“Novelty-seeking is one of the traits that keeps you healthy and happy and fosters personality growth as you age,” says C. Robert Cloninger, the psychiatrist who developed personality tests for measuring this trait. The problems with novelty-seeking showed up in his early research in the 1990s; the advantages have become apparent after he and his colleagues tested and tracked thousands of people in the United States, Israel and Finland.
“It can lead to antisocial behavior,” he says, “but if you combine this adventurousness and curiosity with persistence and a sense that it’s not all about you, then you get the kind of creativity that benefits society as a whole.”
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