Is it rational to vent to strangers?

Yes, if you're Adam Smith. For him the emotional intensity in pair conversations has an equilibrium in the middle, and also that it's harder for strangers to empathize with negative emotions ("...they'll go on eating their dinners"). Therefore it's one's goal to dissipate one's negative feelings, then venting to a stranger and reacting to their lack of reaction would be rational.


Ian Betteridge in shambles.

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Korean fashion

Half the time in Seoul, people would greet me in Korean, but the other half people would directly use English. It wasn't clear initially how the latter group could tell I wasn't Korean. Turns out what mattered was that in cold (~10F) weather I wore a hat. Why? Because no real Korean would mess up their hair for warmth.


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A weightlifting tip

Don't ask someone who skips leg day to spot you: because even when explicitly told otherwise, they inevitably assist with the lift too soon. As for why...

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