Before I studied psychology, I used to think that people would laugh when funny things occurred. While I was right about that, I discovered there are lots of other psychological factors that make people laugh other than the funny part of a joke. When someone laughs at a joke, there will usually bemore than one reason that makes him laugh—and the more reasons there are, the more powerful the joke will be.

    I was attending a stand-up comedy show in Egypt, and when the man started to make fun of pedestrians crossing streets, everyone laughed their hearts out. The main reason those people strongly laughed was that almost allof them felt angry towards pedestrians who crossed streets carelessly. The joke wasn't only funny, it also made the audience feel that they were right about being angry at those pedestrians. That is, people were laughing both because ofthe funny joke and because of the happiness experienced as a result of the psychological support they got.

    The better a joke makes a person feel, and the more it includes other psychological factors, the more the person will like it. For example, if you envy one of your friends, and someone tells a joke that is funny and, at the same time, makes your friend seem stupid, then you will probably laugh atit louder than if you weren't jealous of him.

    In short, we don't laugh only when we hear something funny; we also laugh when we experience some kind of happiness that results from the other psychological factors involved in the joke. I strongly discourage making fun of anyone or belittling someone to make someone else laugh. All Iwant to explain is that if your joke supports a person's emotions, he will certainly like it a lot.

    A busy public square in the Chinese city of Nanjing is home to an unusual experiment.

    For almost two months, the country's first “honesty bookshop” has occupied（占据） a sidewalk on HanZhong Road in the city's Gulou District.

    With no cashier or other staff, the store relies on trust for payment.

    Making money isn't the company's main goal and they don't punish those who take books without paying.

    “If they can really finish the books, it doesn't matter if they took the books for free,” Zhu Yu, the marketing director of the company says.

    “In fact, we are really happy to witness so many people taking books from the honesty bookshop.” After browsing the four wooden bookshelves, customers must drop their money in a locked box.

    Prices are set at 30% of the usual cover price. Zhu hopes that his sidewalk store, which sells, on average, 60 books a day, will make more people interested in reading. Like elsewhere, e-books are affecting sales of traditional books, and traditional books and many independent booksellers are struggling.

    Zhu got permission from the city government to use the sidewalk and says he's determined to make it a long-term project.

    He says the store is open every day, except when it rains, and it's locked up each night.

    In September last year, the company laid out 1,000 books and reading lamps on the ground and encouraged people “to go on a date” with a book.

    “Independent bookshops represent the well-being of the city.” Zhu told CNN in 2013, “when a city is losing its bookshops, it's actually losing something in its soul.”

If the success of the Honesty Bookstore is any guide, Nanjing's soul is in pretty good shape.

    I used to think education was the most important thing in my life. Recently my attitude has begun to change, although I still hold that it is essential for everyone in the world today. As a top junior student in my college, I was asked to make a speech on how to learn English well. Standing in front of the audience and facing so many freshmen, I was trembling. I didn't remember any word that I had prepared. I ran out of the conference room without finishing my speech, leaving everyone puzzled. I cried that night in my room, feeling that I was a loser. Studying takes up so much of my time that I feel unable to really develop myself. I am just storing knowledge, yet I fail to communicate with others. I have received many awards in school, but they don't necessarily reflect anything about me. I don't know how to socialize. When I leave school I fear I will be of no use to society.

    I realize that everyone has his own way of living. I want to change my lifestyle. Of course I will keep studying. Yet I plan to look for a part-time job, which might turn out to be a good chance to get to know society. I still believe that working my hardest makes me happy. I will still stay on in college. But I will not allow it to shelter me from the real world.

    When Wu Jia, then aged 23, returned from Canada to work for her father's Hangzhou-based Zoland Animation (动画) in 2007, she found Chinese animation productions were just-so-so. Back then, Chinese animation shown at overseas events, received a poor response.

    But things soon changed following a boom in China's movie and television industries. By 2011, China developed into one of the world's largest animation producers, with animation and cartoon products reaching a record of 260,000 minutes.

    However, that figure has witnessed a fall in recent years. The latest statistics show that China made only 244 animated productions totaling 83,600 minutes in 2017. But Wu says: “Chinese animators are changing from quantity to quality and Chinese animators are now producing more quality works” at the 14th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

    Wu, now the chairman of Zoland Animation, is among those who are part of China's rapidly growing animation industry. She says the company has so far displayed more than 8,000 hours of animated content to 93 countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, South Korea and Russia.

    Magic Eye, one of Zoland's most popular animated works, which was sold to just Singapore in 2006, is now reaching the screens of nearly 80 countries and regions worldwide. The 500-episode animated series about an alien boy's adventures on Earth also has a sequel (续集) series Magic Eye is Back, which has 104 episodes. Thanks to Magic Eye's popularity, the sequel quickly arouses interest in overseas markets and is being displayed in 38 countries and regions.

    Speaking about how to succeed abroad, Wu says: “First, the works should be good. And, you need an experienced team who knows international markets.”

    In the online world, it's very difficult to talk to Chinese people without using emojis. However, did you know that people in different age groups have totally different preferences for choosing their emojis? The result is based on a report released by Tencent's WeChat, China's most popular messaging app, on its official weibo account on Wednesday.

    Specifically, for users who were born in the 2000s, their favorite WeChat emoji would probably be the widely used "facepalm", rumored to be based on the famous Hong Kong movie star Stephen Chow. They also may be a night owl without much sleep, while iced beverages and desserts are their cup of tea.

    For China's post-90s WeChat users, they are likely to get out of bed later in the morning compared with other groups, and the emoji "face with tears of joy" may rule their online social life. Also, their reading materials have shifted from entertainment and gossip three years ago to the current relationship and lifestyle pieces.

    For those born in the 1980s, their tastes have remained the same, as they are still fond of reading news on national affairs. And "smiling widely" is their emoji of the year.

    WeChat users born in the 1970s are called the optimistic group, who like to use the emoji "laughing quietly" and go through their moments frequently every day. Their bed time usually takes place around 11:30 pm.

    Users over 55 are the early-bird group with rich entertainment activities in WeChat platforms, such as looking through moments, reading and shopping. They like to cheer up other age groups, so their favorite emoji is "giving a thumbs-up".

    The report also indicates that WeChat boasts more than 1.08 billion active users with 45 billion messages being sent and 410 million calls getting through the app each day in 2018. In addition to covering users' socializing, WeChat has gradually come into our daily lives. Compared to the year before, people used WeChat 4.7 times more to purchase public transport tickets, and 2.9 times more to pay for medical expenses. Also, the app was used 1.5 times more over the previous year to pay for meals, with Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen ranked as the top three cities in dining purchases through WeChat.

    Millions of Americans sit behind a computer screen, chained to their desk all day because the vast majority of stable, high-paying professions(职业) are "office jobs". However, having a successful career does not require you to sit behind a desk and plug away at a computer all day.

    In fact, there are a large number of non-desk jobs in a variety of industries that are growing and offering workers a direct path to the middle class, according to a new analysis of labor market information from CareerBuilder. While most of the highest-paying non-desk jobs are medical professions that require a doctoral or professional degree, there are 170 non-desk professions that pay $15 per hour or more, do not require a bachelor's degree(学士学位) for a typical entry-level position, and have seen at least 6 percent job growth over the last four years.

    "The US workforce has gradually changed to office-based work because of the rise of the professional service economy and productivity gains associated with information technology," Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources Officer at CareerBuilder, said in a statement. "But some of the healthiest areas of job growth year after year are in middle-skill professions that don't require workers to sit in front of computer monitors and phones for 40 hours a weel."

    Here are the top-paying jobs that don't require you to work at a desk in various kinds — none of which require a four-year college degree — and their hourly salary(工资) and growth rate since 2010: professional assistants(助理) : $26.57, 14 percent; elevator repairers: $37.81, 6 percent; mechanical engineering technicians: $25.19, 10 percent; and electromechanical(电动机械的) technicians: $24.68, 8 percent.

    While they tend to pay less than traditional office jobs, non-desk professions provide a variety of benefits. Haefner points to a 2014 CareerBuilder survey that discovered workers who don't work at a desk all day are less likely to complain about their work environment and less likely to report being overweight.