In ‘Evidence’, the English poet Wendy Cope offers a light-footed reply to a science researcher who claimed that, “a great deal of anecdotal evidence suggests that we respond positively to birdsong”: “Centuries of English verse/ Suggest the selfsame thing:/ A negative response is rare/ When birds are heard to sing./ What’s the use of poetry?/ You ask. Well, here’s a start:/ It’s anecdotal evidence/ About the human heart.” The 2012 poem could, one may argue, hold true for a new study by AARP, a non-profit support group for........

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