Category Archives: psychology

the peculiar American psyche

Failure and Fantasy, by Lee Harris. . . . tragically, the Arab world seems to be united in wishing to choose the same balm that the Germans chose after the Great War, the indispensable fantasy of those who refuse to face up … Continue reading

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the doors of deception

Jacob Sullum discusses the ‘gateway effect’, concluding: A few years ago in the Drug Policy Analysis Bulletin, the social psychologist Robert MacCoun laid out seven – count ’em, seven – different versions of the gateway theory. “Given our current state … Continue reading

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two more dimensions

Assuming full eye transplant (or artificial replacement) becomes possible: What happens when a colorblind man receives a normal eye? Has science-fiction addressed this question?

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absolute or relative?

It’s a good bet that the twenty or thirty of you who read this are brighter than average. (At least it’s always safe to say that, eh?) Suppose that a magic pill makes everyone 3±1 times smarter. What would it … Continue reading

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back to the drawing board

Buddhists say that happiness comes through detachment from desire. Don’t believe it.

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the work environment

Thursday I learned that radio soap-opera exists, and sounds just like the tv kind, except that the latter has silences. I also learned that learning an arbitrary sequence of tasks by rote, in a room where a radio is playing … Continue reading

Posted in arts, me!me!me!, psychology | Leave a comment

how about groucho glasses?

Mark Steyn: In a celebrity culture, it’s useful to be able to put a face to what would otherwise be a shadowy menace. The Chinese get away with a ton of stuff just because they eschew the Colonel Gaddafi pillbox … Continue reading

Posted in politics, psychology | 2 Comments