It was time for Macy to move. She booked a few house viewings and after looking at three places, she fell in love with one house. But that night a feeling of doubt and uncertainty entered her head.【小题1】Will the others be cheaper?

We’ve all found ourselves in such situations, whether we’re considering job offers or buying a new car. It’s a problem that involves mathematics and psychology. And it’s got a name: the optimal (最优的) stopping problem.【小题2】It’s asking how long we spend sampling options to give the optimal chances of a successful final decision .

Mathematicians have given us an answer: 37%. The basic idea is that, if we need to make a decision from 100 different options, we should sample and give up the first 37.【小题3】It’s a period during which we identify what works and what does not. From the rejected 37%, we choose the best and keep that information in our heads moving forward.

Mathematics offers us the best answer to the “optimal stopping problem”. But there’s just one big issue: Humans are not rational probability-calculating machines. In fact, the opposite is usually true.【小题4】In the psychological and economics field, there is an “explore/ exploit trade-off”. This asks whether we should go with a guaranteed “win” (exploit) or risk going somewhere else for an unknown outcome(explore). The degree to which someone will explore or exploit depends on various factors.【小题5】Of course, different people are more explorative or exploitative at different times. Teenagers and traders tend to explore more. Adults and managers exploit more.

Most people have had songs stuck in their heads at some point. The scientific name for this is involuntary musical imagery (INMI), which simply means that the people do not choose to keep the songs in their heads. Experts have nicknamed this condition “earworm,” even though it is not an actual worm, and it does not take place in the ear. Rather, it takes place in the memory centers of the brain. It occurs when a catchy tune “sticks” in a person’s mind. What makes a song stick depends on the individual. Some people get stuck on their favorite songs, while others end up fixated (念念不忘的) on songs they find annoying.

Nobody knows exactly why, a particular song gets caught in a person’s brain. It can be brought on after recently hearing a song, or it can be started by a memory. Although earworm can happen to anyone at any time, certain people are more likely than others to suffer from it. Most commonly, musicians experience it, but people who simply listen to music more frequently than others are also more prone to (倾向于) earworm.

No evidence has proven one effective cure, but anything that disturbs the brain can help. The best way to shift the brain is to occupy it with a new activity. For example, actively chewing gum might switch the brain’s focus from the repeating song to the moving jaw. Engaging in a task that requires concentration can remove the annoying earworm as well. However, if the task requires too much effort, it can actually make the earworm last, because the mind tends to wander to escape the difficulty of the job at hand.

While earworm can be very annoying, there is no evidence that suggests it is actually harmful. In fact, some experts are studying earworm to see what they can learn about memory centers. After all, these songs repeat automatically with no effort. What if science could apply this information to learning? What if everyone could learn new things without having to try so hard? If scientists can figure out how to tap into this type of memory, learning might look different in the future.

The advertising industry started with the fundamental purpose of promoting and selling goods to people who might need them. Advertising agencies would create a basic type of advertisement known as a commercial advertisement. Such advertisements have gone through a process of change over the years along with social, economic and technological developments.

Classic advertisements used to give information about finding certain products. It was likely to be the name of a company, part of which might include the name of the place from which the product originated. For example, it could be “Shanghai Sewing Machines”, or “Tsing Tao Beer Corporation”. From the name you would know what the company sells, where they are located, and the name of the product.

Advertising agencies used to create this kind of advertising and it could be very effective. But then they realized that it might not be suitable for a marketplace where products and services are in direct competition with each other. Particularly now, in modern times, advertisements need to attract and hold the attention of the public. For this reason, it’s now normal to see advertisements that consist of pictures or words from experts to show people how good the product is. Others try to create advertisements that people simply enjoy looking at. As present-day advertisers often have large budgets, huge amounts of money are spent on applying modern design techniques to make these advertisements as visually attractive as possible. However, even this is often not enough to be noticed in a modern city. 

Because of the boost in advertising, people are used to seeing a high standard of visual design. Modern advertisements need something else to separate them from their competitors. To stand out in a world of competitive advertising, they must combine the highest standard of design with creative ways to make people believe that they “must have the product”. For example, some advertisements may suggest that buying a car can make you free. That is, they use the concept of freedom to sell the car. Other common ideas include happiness, wealth and success. In fact, in the world of advertisements, such content is as old as advertising itself.

For many of today’s advertisers, repeating old ideas is not a successful approach. Ideas that would work in the past genuinely are not as effective now. They realize that it does not matter how attractive the idea linked with the product is—most people know and anticipate that the main purpose of the advertisement is to make customers buy the product. Instead, these advertisers look for other ways to make people notice their products. The top advertisers of today believe that using humour as well as new and unusual ideas to surprise people is important. Their aim is to create something that has never been seen before and that people find interesting. By doing this, they hope to make people forget that someone is trying to sell them something!

However, not all advertising is about selling products and services for a profit. Some advertisements nowadays aim to make a contribution to society and welfare. For example, there are public advertisements, which encourage citizens to participate in improving their neighbourhood, protecting the environment, and helping other people. Over the last decade, the government has sponsored advertisements to educate the public on fighting AIDS, saving water, helping the poor, giving up smoking, etc. These advertisements have helped to increase public knowledge about topics that used to be ignored by most people, and this has made our society a better place for everyone.