What Is 'Now' and Why It’s Elusive

What if you followed people for 80 years—tracking their health, happiness, and relationships over a lifetime? That’s exactly what one of the longest-running studies ever has done, and what it reveals about how to live a good life may not be what you expect. https://www.adultdevelopmentstudy.org/

We all think we know what “now” means—until we try to define it. The present moment feels obvious, yet science struggles to explain it. Your brain doesn’t have a clear way to register “now,” and your experience of time can stretch, compress, and shift depending on what you’re doing and how you feel. Jo Marchant, science writer and author of In Search of Now: The Science of the Present Moment (https://amzn.to/4tKBvbs), explores how we experience time, why it feels different from moment to moment, and how we can become more aware participants in the way we perceive our lives unfolding.

Most people have encountered someone who drains their energy, creates conflict, or leaves them feeling worse after every interaction. These “poisonous” individuals often display traits like manipulation, lack of empathy, or extreme self-centeredness. The real challenge isn’t just recognizing them—it’s knowing how to deal with them without letting them take a toll on your well-being. Dr. Leanne ten Brinke, psychologist at the University of British Columbia and author of Poisonous People: How to Resist Them and Improve Your Life (https://amzn.to/4dT7e5w), explains how to identify these patterns, why they’re so impactful, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Getting too little sleep can do more than make you tired—it can change what your body craves. Interestingly, it has something in common with another behavior that also increases hunger in a very specific way—and not for the healthiest foods. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763921/

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