Why Is It Harder to Think in the Summer Heat?
Look, it’s just hard to do work in the summer. On the other side of that window is bright and sunny, you always have a friend or two that post photos from the beach on Instagram, and if the air conditioner isn’t blowing right at you, all you can think of is where your next ice is. the cold drink comes from.
It turns out summer brain fog can be real. The market survey reports on a document from the National Bureau of Economic Research that found test results are lower at high temperatures, but only in schools without air conditioning. These tend to be the same schools with more students from poor families and minorities, so air conditioning may not be the only factor. However, if the findings of this study are correct, the lack of air conditioning puts children from disadvantaged backgrounds at an even more disadvantageous position.
Meanwhile, a University of Houston study published in Scientific American found that people seem to have a harder time making decisions in hot weather. Convenience stores sell fewer lottery tickets from a large number of scratch-offs, while still selling many Pick-six lottery tickets. The same researchers also conducted studies asking people to choose a fictitious mobile phone plan; when it was hot, more people chose the one that looked good on the surface, but ended up costing more. In colder temperatures, people were more willing to do the math to find the best option.
Overall, it seems that heat is the most difficult task , including those in which you have to make many decisions or have many data points in your head at the same time. So, if you need to think seriously this summer, schedule the toughest things to do in the morning or evening when it’s chilly, or consider turning on the air conditioner.