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A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another animal (especially by another animal of the same species).[1] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of another animal, as though the observer were itself acting. These neurons have been directly observed in primates, and are believed to exist in humans and other species including birds.

Over the past several years, however, social psychologists have discovered that creativity is not only a characteristic of the individual, but may also change depending on the situation and context. The question, of course, is what those situations are: what makes us more creative at times and less creative at others?

"A white Boston cop (not the one who arrested Henry Gates, but one who clearly sympathizes with him) was pretty unhappy with some of the coverage of the story in the Boston Globe and fired off an email to the columnist. That email contains repeated uses of the term "jungle monkey," demands to know how Henry Gates can be a "famous expert on race" when he's done nothing "for me and my family" (including nothing to "help limit and reduce my income tax," in case you were wondering where his political alliances lie, heh), and suggests the reporter "serve a day with the infantry and get swarmed by black gnats while manning your sector."

One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they're on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more.