Is all of this self-monitoring through wearables making us paranoid?–The New York Times As wearable tech, like the Oura Ring, becomes more ubiquitous, some users say having so much data about their bodies is making them far more anxious. Collecting piles of data about our bodies seems to hold the promise of bringing about a happier, healthier life, but according to this article it often…
Study Suggests We Don’t Just Hear Music, but ‘Become It’ A 2025 study from McGill University shows our brain rhythms actually sync with sound to create emotion, movement and meaning–– shedding new light on the neuroscience of music and what makes music powerful. Our brain and body don’t just understand music, they physically resonate with it––and it shapes our sense of timing, musical pleasure and…
Smartphones, AI and Rising Unwellness By Thierry Malleret, economist Malleret discusses NYU Professor Arpit Gupta’s recent argument for “the smartphone (and social media) theory of everything.” Put simply, he posits that the widespread use of smartphones and social media (that began around 2011) are a major cause of unhappiness in individuals and larger problems across society. The fact that so many observable negative trends began…
New Global Flourishing Study: Indonesia & Mexico Rank Highest The headline-grabbing World Happiness Report is based on a single question put to people in 164 countries: how do you rate your life satisfaction on a scale of one to ten? Northern European nations––Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, etc.––always ranks highest for happiness. The new “Global Flourishing Study” gathers more multidimensional wellbeing data on 200,000-plus people in…
Wellness Tourism Provides Unique Benefits for Local Communities By Tonia Callender, GWI research fellow While political and economic uncertainty are influencing tourism flows, analysts predict a rise in global tourism visits this year.1 The seasonal influx of visitors provides jobs and revenues for businesses and communities, but the volume of visitors can also pose threats to the local environment and the quality of life for…
Touch, our most complex sense, is a landscape of cellular sensors–Quanta Every soft caress of wind, searing burn and seismic rumble is detected by our skin’s complex tangle of touch sensors. David Ginty, head of the neurobiology department at Harvard Medical School, has spent his career cataloging the neurons beneath everyday sensations. His work has given him a deeper appreciation of this sense we so…
