1 . A significant proportion of the American populace within the working-age demographic are encountering challenges in meeting the financial demands associated with health care, as per a recent comprehensive evaluation.

This study, which is the inaugural edition of the Health Care Affordability Survey conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, reveals that a substantial 51 percent of adults falling within the age bracket of 19 to 64 years have expressed that affording health care for themselves and their family is either exceedingly challenging or moderately difficult. This observation encompasses 43 percent of individuals who are beneficiaries of health insurance provided by their employers and an even higher 57 percent who have secured health insurance through a marketplace or have opted for an individual plan.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that nearly one-half of the working-age adults who are under the Medicare program and 45 percent of those who are recipients of Medicaid also admit to facing hardships in covering their health care expenses. It is particularly striking that a majority, specifically 65 percent, of working-age adults have indicated that the escalation in the cost of various goods and services over the past year has had a detrimental impact on their capacity or that of their family to manage health care expenses.

The aforementioned survey, which is based on a sample that is representative of the nation and comprises nearly 7,900 individuals who are 19 years of age or older, was carried out from the mid-point of April through the month of July in the current year. This survey follows on the heels of another analysis conducted by the research entity known as KFF, which demonstrated an upward trend in the costs associated with health insurance for employer-sponsored plans as well as an increase in the contributions made by workers towards these plans in the year 2023.

The newly disseminated analysis has further unearthed that 38 percent of the individuals who participated in the survey identified cost as the primary factor that led them or a family member to either forgo or postpone the receipt of necessary health care services or the procurement of prescribed medication within the last 12 months. This includes 29 percent of those who are under the protection of employer-based coverage, 37 percent who are insured through individual and marketplace health plans, 42 percent who are covered by Medicare, and 39 percent who are recipients of Medicaid.

Furthermore, it is observed that more than six-tenths of the individuals who are devoid of any form of health insurance have reported that they or a family member have had to delay or forgo medical care due to financial constraints. Among all those who have reported such instances of skipping or delaying care, a considerable 57 percent have stated that a health issue has consequently deteriorated.

4 . Upon the release of the publication “The Mountain People” by the American ethnologist Colin Turnbull in the year 1972, he characterized the subjects of his study — a Ugandan tribe known as the Ik — as “a populace devoid of affection.” Turnbull, after a period of two years spent in observation, concluded that the Ik exemplified the primal tendencies of mankind: deceit, larceny, and a callous indifference to the suffering of others. However, when Athena Aktipis and her associates from the Human Generosity Project delved more profoundly into the matter, they discovered a society that engaged in the communal sharing of all resources. “Turnbull’s observations coincided with a calamitous famine in Uganda. What he witnessed was merely a reflection of the dire circumstances that arise when individuals are gripped by hunger,” Aktipis remarks. Yet, her research team uncovered that, despite the oppressive conditions they faced, the Ik held in high esteem the act of mutual assistance whenever it was within their means to do so.

Aktipis posits that the phenomenon of selflessness is more pervasive and advantageous than the field of evolutionary social science has historically acknowledged. “The prevailing assumption was that individuals are inherently inclined to act solely in their own interests or those of their kin,” she states. By examining the distinctive and unselfish behaviors that have enabled nine communities across the globe to persist, the scholars from the Project aim to demonstrate that humanity is indeed capable of extensive collaboration.

The Maasai populace in Kenya offers a principal illustration of the Project’s findings. They depend on reciprocal friendships to secure necessities such as sustenance or hydration during times of scarcity, with no expectation of reciprocation. Similarly, in the distant locale of New Mexico, while individuals frequently render aid in the transportation of livestock and receive support in kind, they will also provide assistance gratuitously in instances of adversity, such as personal injury or the bereavement of a cherished one.

Aktipis is convinced that the theoretical models she has refined through the study of these communities can be broadly applied to any interdependent systems. Her overarching ambition is to devise social-welfare frameworks that offer sustenance to all members of society. Take, for instance, the market-driven insurance models prevalent in the United States: They are priced according to individual risk factors, including health profiles and geographic location, which results in millions of Americans being priced out of coverage. In contrast, a system founded on the principles of communal support and pooled financial resources would distribute the burden equitably during collective trials, such as natural catastrophes and pandemics.

5 . Power often boosts an employee’s creativity because being powerful liberates the individual from restrictions. However, new research shows that employees who are not in positions of power can become more creative when given time to “warm up” to a task by engaging in the creative task more than once.

“This is important because when people with more power are able to express their creative ideas more than those with less power, which leads to a rich-get-richer dynamic that strengthens these power imbalances.” said Brian Lucas, assistant professor in the Cornell University. “Understanding ways to boost the creativity of lower power workers can help them find the right way to deal with this low-power disadvantage,” Lucas said.

Lucas and his colleagues conducted three studies to reach their conclusion. In the first study, they divided the creative idea generation session into two rounds consisting of a one-minute “warm up” followed by a second round in which the participants could take as long as they wanted. Participants’ sense of power was manipulated (操纵) through role assignments, where they were either given a leadership role with control over resources or an employee role without control over resources. The study found that high-power individuals were more creative than low-power individuals in the warm-up round. There was no difference, though, in creativity in the second round.

In the second study, the researchers gave them a different creative task and increased the number of rounds from two sessions to five, taking as long as they like to complete the task. Consistent with the first study, the study found that high-power individuals were more creative than low-power individuals in the first round. But the creativity of low-power individuals caught up to the creativity of the high-power individuals after the first round. Results of the third study demonstrated that a different creativity task can also warm-up low-power people for an unrelated creativity task.

“Given the high value of creative ideas for organizations, it is important to develop approaches that empower all employees to tap their creative potential,” Lucas said. “The low power warm-up effect suggests a simple intervention that does just this and overcomes power imbalance in the workplace: when pursuing creative work, let employees warm up first.”

8 . How to pick the best place for a much-needed refreshment? If you’re like most people, a simple clue is likely to vary your choice. You will look for the busiest restaurant with the most diners because its popularity is bound to reflect on the quality of food and service.     1    

Early diners with no meaningful clues as to which restaurant to choose may have picked their evening eatery at random, for example selecting the place with the nicest name or the smiliest waiter. The following passers-by may have misinterpreted their restaurant choice as a well-informed decision and blindly followed their example.     2     Ever-increasing numbers of customers were attracted to the restaurant in question, which could have led to a bad dinner choice in an overcrowded restaurant.

Voluntarily copying other people’s thoughts or choices or simply going with the crowd is often referred to as “herd behaviour.”   It is a frequent occurrence amongst humans as well as many other animals, a common example being sheep.     3    

In an earlier article, I discussed the so-called “wisdom of crowds”, which suggests that average judgements of large groups of people often outperform individual choices. Furthermore, following the crowd appears to offer protection and comfort.     4     Finally, following the herd reduces the effort needed to make a personal or unique decision.

    5     Contrary to the so-called “wisdom of crowds”, herd behaviours typically rely on so-called “information cascades (瀑布)”, where people take on others’ beliefs or copy their choices without critically appraising the underlying reasons. This frequently leads to the imitation of unreasonable or simply stupid behaviours.