I have no idea what to do with this information about insults and anger from the New Scientist, and here it is:
If you really must offend someone, wait until they are lying down: people handle anger differently when they’re lying on their backs, compared with sitting upright.
University students who heard personal insults while seated exhibited brain activity linked to so-called “approach motivation” – the desire to approach and explore something. This potential urge disappeared when students took their insults lying down, despite their anger remaining.
“In the upright or leaning forward state one might be more likely to attack,” says Eddie Harmon-Jones, a cognitive scientist at Texas A&M University in College Station, who led the study. “Maybe in the reclining state you’re more likely to brood.”
(Thanks, Bookforum.)
Source:New Scientist
