Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7. “We have no hurry,” said Louhivuori. “Children learn better when they are ready. Why stress them out?”

“It was simply the idea that every child would have a very good public school. If we want to be competitive, we need to educate everybody. It all came out of a need to survive.”

Tense up for willpower

Cross arms for persistence

Lie down for insight

Smile for happiness

best naps were 10 minutes long

Gesture for persuasion

And gesture for understanding

hildren who were encouraged to gesture while learning, retained more of what they learnt.

Nap for performance

9. Mimic to empathise

Imitate to comprehend

Many of these studies support a theory about human life (and indeed all life) called 'embodied cognition'. The idea is that we don't just think with our minds, we also think with our bodies. Our mind isn't a brain in a jar, it is connected to a body which moves around in an environment.

… and there’s a good chance it will be used against you

People screw up, and give away more than they realise

And besides, why should we let businesses privatize our social discourse?

Call me uncool — but that’s a trend I’m happy to share with my friends. In person.

Phone up to buy a pizza, and the order-taker’s computer gives her access to your voting record, employment history, library loans — all “just wired into the system” for your convenience. She’ll suggest a tofu pizza as she knows about your 42-inch waist, she’ll add a delivery surcharge because a nearby robbery yesterday puts you in “an orange zone” — and she’ll be on her guard because you’ve checked out the library book Dealing With Depression. This is where the American Council for Civil Liberties sees consumerism going — watch its pizza video online — and it’s not to hard to believe