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Normism: The Philosophy of Norm Macdonald, a short book I wrote about the late great comedian, is available on Amazon.
Category Archives: Psychology
The Neuroscience of Despair
In “The Neuroscience of Despair“, Michael Begun applies philosophical anti-scientism (i.e., the reductionism inherent in neurobiological ‘total explanations’ of conscious phenomena, that is, the materialist philosophical position known as scientism) to the issue of clinical depression: “Together with the popular … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Scientism
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The Trip Treatment
The New Yorker has an in-depth look at medical research into psilocybin’s therapeutic affects. Rod Dreher has a thoughtful essay on the subject. The New Yorker piece includes this video of one cancer survivor’s experiences:
Posted in Existentialism, Psychology
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Night Owls
In the journal Personality and Individual Differences is a 2009 study titled “Why night owls are more intelligent“. ABSTRACT: The origin of values and preferences is an unresolved theoretical problem in social and behavioral sciences. The Savanna–IQ Interaction Hypothesis suggests … Continue reading
Posted in Evolution, Psychology
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The Plight of the Individual in Modern Society
Most people confuse “self-knowledge” with knowledge of their conscious ego-personalities. Anyone who has any ego-consciousness at all takes it for granted that he knows himself. But the ego knows only its own contents, not the unconscious and its contents. People … Continue reading
Posted in Existentialism, Psychology
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Emotions
A new study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin finds that liberals are more emotion-driven than conservatives.
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Sociology
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Liberals Are More Emotion-Driven Than Conservatives
From EurekaAlert: Emotions are powerful motivators of human behavior and attitudes. Emotions also play an important role in guiding policy support in conflict and other political contexts. Researchers at Tel Aviv University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya have studied … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Sociology
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‘The Nation’ on Evolutionary Psychology
In The Nation (of all Rousseaun places) is a good article on the appeal and potential flaws (namely, tautology) of evolutionary psychology as an explanatory schema.
Posted in Evolution, HBD, Psychology
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Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness
The Atlantic has an article on “Meaning Is Healthier Than Happiness” (from 2013): People who are happy but have little-to-no sense of meaning in their lives have the same gene expression patterns as people who are enduring chronic adversity.
Posted in Culture, Psychology
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Discrimination as Ingroup Favoritism (Not Outgroup Hostility)
How did this brief article, by Eliana Dockterman, get past the Time editors? (“Sometimes Discrimination Is More About Favoritism Than Hostility, Research Says“): Most cases of recent prejudice stem from preference for the ingroup, not hate for the outgroup. Discrimination … Continue reading
Posted in HBD, Psychology
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Development of Children’s ‘Prelife’ Reasoning
Here’s the abstract of a Boston University study led by postdoctoral fellow Natalie Emmons and published in the January 16, 2014 online edition of Child Development: By examining children’s ideas about “prelife,” the time before conception, researchers found results which … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Religion, Sociology
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