Psychotherapy Via Internet as Good as If Not Better Than Face-To-Face Consultations

Does psychotherapy via the Internet work? For the first time, clinical researchers from the University of Zurich have studied whether online psychotherapy and conventional face-to-face therapy are equally effective in experiments. Based on earlier studies, the Zurich team assumed that the two forms of therapy were on a par. Not only was their theory confirmed, the results for online therapy even exceeded their expectations.

ScienceDaily

Watch: Google Whiz Visualizes the Beach Boys’ Heavenly Harmonies

Paul McCartney says it brings him to tears. Tom Petty compares it to Beethoven. Bob Dylan, summing up the superhuman talents that allowed Brian Wilson to make Pet Sounds, probably said it best: “Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to The Smithsonian.”

…. Thankfully, Google designer Alexander Chen has given us a new way of appreciating Wilson’s genius. He’s visualized it.

Wired

Why You Shouldn’t Trust Internet Comments

The “wisdom of crowds” has become a mantra of the Internet age. Need to choose a new vacuum cleaner? Check out the reviews on Amazon. Is that restaurant any good? See what Yelp has to say. But a new study suggests that such online scores don’t always reveal the best choice. A massive controlled experiment of Web users finds that such ratings are highly susceptible to irrational “herd behavior”—and that the herd can be manipulated.

ScienceMag