Thing One, Thing Two

I'd fantasized about filling out this HotSeat questionnaire in The Hook for years, but I was still stumped on a few questions. Like "what people find most annoying about you." The truth is maybe that I start far too many sentences with "I read about this study..."

Yesterday, I read in Newsweek about this study that suggests that people who can recognize fear in other people's faces are more likely to be empathetic. "Those better at recognizing fear—but not other expressions—later donated more money and time to help a (fictitious) college student who, they were told, had recently lost her parents in a car accident. In a second study, participants rated the attractiveness of strangers in photographs. Once again, those better at recognizing fear expressions were more considerate of others' feelings: they rated people as more attractive, but only when they were told that the individuals would learn their scores—and could therefore be hurt."

Interesting, no?
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In case I haven't repeated this in a hynotizing tone enough: I'm reading at New Dominion Bookshop tomorrow at nooooooon. Please come seeeeeee me.....