kyra

Post about finance, pop culture, govt, whatever I find interesting.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Texas

[Spencer Pratt @spencerpratt]

My house burned down. I lost everything. I can’t rebuild. As a 42 year old man with 2 kids, I’ve had to move into my parents’ house, and I’m getting attacked for that? This is journalism? This is why no decent people ever get into politics. This is why you only have goblins running everything. God help you if you try to make things right for your community…if you lose your entire town, “journalists” mock you for not making your kids sleep in the toxic dirt on your burned out lot. Who raised you, dude?

[Jeb Bush @JebBush]

Maybe the best political ad of the year.

[shy fawkes @butterbooter]

when God puts me in strange and terrifying situations, I see myself as a cat going to the vet. it’s good for me somehow, I say, or else someone who loves me wouldn’t have taken me there

[Colin Camerer @CFCamerer]

I have often wondered what “self-actualization” looks like.

this is it.

And keep in mind how amazing sports photographers are. The look on Alysia Liu’s face.…

https://t.co/19mgjH3Gj8

[cdrsalamander @cdrsalamander]

There is a reason why scientists will state that the deeper they study their field, the more they see God.

[wyatt dunkin @WyattDuncan]

imagine being such a loser that you’re asking to go to pedophile island at 6am on Christmas morning

[Path of Men @PathOfMen_]

you can literally wake up one day and be like “actually, fuck everything about my past and the self-sabotaging identity i had” and decide to live an entirely new life and be someone who always fucking wins. it doesn’t take a feeling or breakthrough moment or epiphany. only a decision.

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Most people see this and think “dogs are good for you.”

The actual mechanism is more interesting.

Three minutes of petting your dog triggers oxytocin release in both you and the animal. Your cortisol drops. Your heart rate decreases within an hour. This happens every single day you own a dog. Twice a day, three times a day.

The loop: physical touch → oxytocin release → HPA axis downregulation → lower cortisol → reduced neuroinflammation → preserved brain volume.

The study everyone’s referencing had only 95 participants, which is small. But it replicates. A longitudinal European study tracking adults 50+ over 18 years found pet ownership associated with slower decline in executive function and episodic memory. Baltimore Longitudinal Study data showed the same pattern across multiple cognitive tests.

Why dogs specifically? Cats showed similar effects. Fish and birds didn’t. The difference is tactile interaction frequency. Dogs demand contact. They interrupt your doom scrolling. They force you outside. Dog owners in the research showed higher physical activity levels, lower BMI, and lower incidence of hypertension.

The brain age gap in this chart isn’t about dogs being magical. It’s about dogs being a delivery mechanism for consistent nervous system regulation that most people fail to achieve on their own.

Human connection does the same thing. Most people just don’t have a human who wants to cuddle them twice a day and force them on walks.

[kyra @kyrawillans]

@ryanweather My genuine reaction to this information.

[Shining Science @ShiningScience]

🚨 Research shows repeated complaining physically rewires your brain to prioritize stress and negativity.

The way we speak about our daily challenges does more than just vent frustration; it physically alters the architecture of the brain.

When we engage in chronic complaining, we repeatedly activate neural networks responsible for detecting threats and processing stress.

Through the biological process of neuroplasticity, these circuits become stronger and more efficient every time they are used. Essentially, the brain learns to become more adept at finding things to be unhappy about, turning a temporary mood into a permanent biological predisposition toward negativity and fear-based thinking.

As these negative pathways become the brain's default setting, individuals often experience a measurable increase in baseline stress levels and emotional volatility. This heightened sensitivity means that even minor inconveniences can trigger an intense stress response because the brain has been conditioned to interpret the world through a lens of threat. Findings discussed by the Stanford University School of Medicine emphasize that while this mechanism is powerful, understanding the science of affective neuroscience is the first step in consciously redirecting those pathways toward more resilient emotional patterns.

Source: Stanford University School of Medicine. (2023). Neural Plasticity and the Impact of Negative Thought Patterns on Emotional Regulation. Stanford Medicine News.

[DAN KOE @thedankoe]

https://t.co/7l7Jef99QZ

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

i ain’t reading all that
im happy for u tho
or sorry that happened

[Anthony Joshua @anthonyjoshua]

Netflix and chill.

[kyra @kyrawillans]

@stoolpresidente Rare Portnoy W

[Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11]

Good men must die, but death can't kill their names.