Cognitive Engineering

Men who change their surname when they get married are still unusual. Why is it important to some?

What's wrong with off-pitch referees? Do they make the game less beautiful? Do off-pitch refs make better or worse decisions? What effects does devolving decision-making have? Image: KeithJJ via Pixabay

Why do we get so worked up about our territory? Where does the sense of what is ours come from? What is ownership anyway? Image: irenne56 via Pixnio

Are older drivers less safe than younger drivers? Does just having a licence indicate you are more able to drive? What is the point of certification? Image: ArtsyBee via Pixabay

What does tastiness tell us about fruit choice? Could we engineer the perfect fruit? Or are we just comparing apples and oranges? Image: Malte Sörensen via Flickr

In a world were everything is available on demand, will we miss out on the pleasure of nostalgia? What Is Nostalgia Good For? Quite a Bit, Research Shows http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/science/what-is-nostalgia-good-for-quite-a-bit-research-shows.html?pagewanted=all Why the Past Always Seems Happier Than the Present https://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-markman-phd/past-less-intense-than-present_b...

What are the giveaways that tell you you're in another country? What is national identity? Image: Jorge Royan via Wikipedia

What does the gun control debate tell us about ideology? Do peoples believes cluster into similar groups? If I tell you I'm pro-life, what can you predict about me? Evolution Explains Why Politics Is So Tribal - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evolution-explains-why-politics-tribal/ Image: Randall Goya via Flickr

The culture of condiments: Why don't we find wasabi in fish and chip shops? What do they tell you about national culture? Why salt and pepper and not cumin and nutmeg? Why is ketchup the king of the sauces? What determines the optimal condiment arrangement? We’ve got a load of sauces and chutneys for christmas, so link it to this? Image: Wonderlane via Flickr

Why do some animals like music, even though they don't make it? Why do we like music? Does it have a purpose? https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/watch-seal-pups-being-soothed-954976 Image: Howcheng via Wikipedia

What does it mean? Is it a big step or a small one? How could we know? Is Artificial Intelligence becoming a massive anticlimax? Is it inevitable that AI will be better than us? Image: geraldford via Flickr

What is the most universal science? What will be true where ever you go? Philosophical reductionism: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-reduction Image: ESO/M. Kornmesser via Wikipedia

Are animals sentient? How do we measure sentience? What is sentience anyway? Image: http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Cow-Livestock-Nature-Head-Animal-Cow-Head-1715829

Are we better off than we were 10 years ago? What is all the free stuff worth to us? https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/sep/29/six-million-low-income-families-worse-off-than-10-years-ago https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction/ Image Clapspremiere via Wikipedia

In game purchases. Why do we hate them? Is the a moral repulsion to buying an advantage justified? Gamer backlash against EA: https://gizmodo.com/congratulations-to-ea-games-for-posting-the-most-hated-1820391000 Relational models theory: http://www.rmt.ucla.edu/ ‘Premium mediocre’ - firms trying to hide their business model: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-m...

Are we as unproductive as we feel with modern technology? Image: Jeremy Keith via Wikipedia

How do you guarantee provenance? Why are evidence trails difficult? Image: Lyntha Scott Eiler via Wikimedia Commons

Is TV getting more violent? Are we being desensitize to horror and violence? Does something need to be done?

How dangerous is it to swim with crocodiles? To do so would you be the idiot of the century? Is the notoriety worth it? Image: Magnus Manske via Wikipedia

Why do we ask questions when we don't really care about the answer? What information can you glean from polite questions? Wouldn't it be better if we just asked direct questions? Image: Minnie E. Kenney Paull via Wikipedia

Why is it so hard to choose presents? Image: JD Hancock via Flickr

What makes a princess? Does looking the part make a difference? What does it mean to be the genuine article? Image: Kevin Casper

How do you not look like a tourist? What stops street sellers badgering locals? What is the role of information in haggling? Image: Wanderlane via Flickr

What to parking meters tell us about user interfaces. Why is it so hard to use an unfamiliar keyboard? Why is the numpad on your keyboard the opposite way up than the one on your phone? image: ehendel via pixabay

How do you know when you need a hair cut? How do you monitor gradual change so you know when to act? Photo: Tom Diggers via flickr