What We Don't Know About Ebola

11/1/14. Dr. Jerome Groopman weighs in.


http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dont-know-ebola

Adolescence: What's the Matter with Kids Today?

10/27/14. Review of Laurence Steinberg's book on adolescence - "The Age of Opportunity."


http://online.wsj.com/articles/what-sends-teens-toward-triumph-or-tribulation-1413992026?KEYWORDS=adolescence

When He Won't Admit He's Wrong

10/25/14. Wisdom from psychologist Dan Ariely.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/when-he-wont-admit-hes-wrong-1414181479?KEYWORDS=dan+ariely

Barack Obama - the bewildered bystander?

10/24/14. Charles Krauthammer reminds us that President Obama keeps getting angry at government failures --- but forgets he heads the government.




http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barack-obama-bewildered-bystander/2014/10/23/335bd0e2-5aeb-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html

Go gently into the night...

10/24/14. Paul McHugh reviews Atul Gawande's, "Being Mortal."




http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-review-being-mortal-by-atul-gawande-1413501104

What If Age Is Nothing But A Mind Set?

10/22/14. "You're only as old as you look --- and you are really old when you don't look."


                                           --- Groucho Marx


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/magazine/what-if-age-is-nothing-but-a-mind-set.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141022&nlid=21288644&tntemail0=y&_r=1

What the Ebola Experts Miss

10/21/14. Beware of experts --- they are like a high powered rifle with a bad aim.


http://online.wsj.com/articles/bret-stephens-what-the-ebola-experts-miss-1413847021

Camp Fire Stories May Have Sparked Early Societal Learning

10/21/14. 




http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2014/09/30/campfire-stories-may-have-sparked-early-societal-learning/

Why Doctors Need Stories

10/20/14. How do you know if a computer may possess human intelligence?  If you ask the computer a question and the computer says, "Let me tell you a story."


http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/why-doctors-need-stories/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

Does Time Have a Future?

10/20/14. The Grand Illusion.


http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/time/grand-illusion#

Why Short Men Make Better Husbands

10/15/14. The truth revealed.


http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29464446

On Identifying Liars

10/11/14. Paul Ekman's work critically examined.


http://chronicle.com/article/The-Liars-Tell/149261/

On the Prevalence of Mental Disorders in the United States

10/10/14.


http://beta.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH-DR-N2MentalDis-2014-1/Web/NSDUH-DR-N2MentalDis-2014.htm

Why Are Zombies So Popular?

10/10/14. Understanding the walking dead.


http://www.city-journal.org/2014/24_4_urb-the-walking-dead.html

Why I Hope to Die at 75?

10/8/14. A physician and a key architect of Obama Care tells his views on life and death.


http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/

The Psychology of Torture

10/9/14. Are Stanley Milgram's experiments valid today?


http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/why-do-we-keep-repeating-the-milgram-experiments/

A Brief History of Mental Illness in the West

10/8/2014. If mental illness is a myth, it is a myth with a genetic component.


http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/asylums-to-antidepressants/5765544

On the Black Family

10/6/14. Interview with Jason Riley - writer for the Wall Street Journal.




http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2014/10/06/jason_riley_the_realclearreligion_interview.html

Discovering Our Inner GPS

10/06/14. Nobel Prize in Medicine.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/10/06/us-nobel-medicine-idINKCN0HV0Q620141006

Psychology Behind Free Samples

10/1/14. There is such a thing as a free lunch.


http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/the-psychology-behind-costcos-free-samples/380969/

Is It Possible to Control Cancer Without Killing It?

9/18.14. Dr. Jerome Groopman reviews the medical progress.


http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/15/transformation-3

Your Brain on Metaphors

9/6/14.  Elvis understood metaphors:

She touched my hand, what a chill I got.
Her lips are like a volcano that's hot.
I'm proud to say that she's my buttercup.
I'm in love; I'm all shook up.

http://chronicle.com/article/Your-Brain-on-Metaphors/148495/

Walking and Thinking

9/6/14. Give me the simple life.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/walking-helps-us-think?src=mp

Joan Rivers: The Entertainer RIP

9/6/14. Peggy Noonan on JR.


http://blogs.wsj.com/peggynoonan/2014/09/05/joan-rivers-the-entertainer/

Notes on Whats So Damn Funny

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/notes-on-whats-so-damn-funny/

On the History of Dentistry

9/4/14. Be glad your dentist appointment is not 150 years ago.


http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/white-knuckle-adventures-in-early-dentistry/

Why Some Doctors Are Sick of Their Profession

8/31/14 Find a doctor gets harder to do.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-s-ailing-medical-system-a-doctors-perspective-1409325361

Bret Stephens: The Meltdown

8/29/14.  Much to ponder.


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-meltdown/

NYT Letters: Treating Depression to Prevent Suicide

8/26/14. Effective treatment is available.




http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/25/opinion/treating-depression-to-prevent-suicide.html?src=recg&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Recommended&pgtype=article

The Relationship Between Poverty and Criminal Behavior: To Have and To Have Not

8/26/14. Character matters?




http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21613303-disturbing-study-link-between-incomes-and-criminal-behaviour-have-and

New Ways to Predict Which Marriage Will Succeed

8/23/14. Robert Sapolsky summarizes a recent study published in "Science" with some surprising results.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-ways-to-predict-which-marriages-will-succeed-1408636006?KEYWORDS=robert+sapolsky

Sowell food: Random Thoughts

8/19/20. Thomas Sowell thinking outside the box ---- not even close to the box.


http://spectator.org/articles/60269/random-thoughts

Kay Jamison: To Know Suicide

8/18/14. The horror of suicide.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/opinion/depression-can-be-treated-but-it-takes-competence.html?mabReward=RI%3A18&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine

About a Boy with Aspergers

8/18/14. We need to know so much more about mental illness.


http://aeon.co/magazine/being-human/my-aspergers-son-confronts-the-haters/?utm_source=Aeon+newsletter&utm_campaign=a81c8527ee-Daily_Newsletter_18_August_20148_18_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-a81c8527ee-68622997

The National Institute of Mental Health and Robin Williams

8/14/14. Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of NIMH, on Robin Williams and mental illness.


http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2014/robin-williams.shtml

Manic-Depression and Robin Williams

8/13/14. Nassir Ghaemi, psychiatrist and expert on mood disorders, talks about Robin Williams and manic-depressive illness.

Of note, antidepressants often make this disorder worse.

Many people with this diagnosis are not taking gold standard medication for effective treatment:  lithium --- a medication proven to reduce suicides.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mood-swings/201408/not-depression-manic-depression-and-robin-williams

Joseph Epstein: A Master Essayist Releases a New Collection

8/13/14. My favorite essay writer ---- read, enjoy, and learn.


http://www.vqronline.org/criticism/2014/08/master-essayist-releases-new-collection

Getting Men to Couples Therapy

8/13/14. Tell him we are going to the hardware store.




http://online.wsj.com/articles/counselors-say-men-are-more-willing-to-try-couples-therapy-when-it-focuses-on-results-1407795913

Closing In On A Theory of Consciousness?

7/30/14. The hard problem.


http://www.livescience.com/47096-theories-seek-to-explain-consciousness.html

We Live Our Lives in Stories

7/30/14. Once upon a time...


http://edge.org/conversation/the-way-we-live-our-lives-in-stories

The False ADHD Controversy

7/29/14.

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/12/should_we_stop_treating_adhd.html

The Unhappiest Cities in America

7/28/14. I wanna be happy, but I can't be happy...


http://news.ubc.ca/2014/07/21/unhappy-cities/

Why Does Sleeping In Make You More Tired?

7/28/14. Wake me up when you find out.


http://www.wired.com/2014/07/whats-up-with-that-why-does-sleeping-in-just-make-me-more-tired/

My Father, Fiddler, and the Left

7/27/14. If I were a rich man...

http://www.city-journal.org/2014/24_3_urb-joseph-stein.html

Do Women Like Nice Men?

7/26/14. Advice to some women:  Marry your second husband first.


http://www.newsweek.com/study-finds-men-nice-women-not-other-way-around-261269

TED: Summer Reading List

7/25/14.


http://blog.ted.com/2014/06/12/your-summer-reading-list-2014/

Is 7 Hours of Sleep Better Than 8?

7/23/14. The sleep experts weigh in.

My friend Benny used to say, "Sometimes I get so tired I sleep right through my nap."

http://online.wsj.com/articles/sleep-experts-close-in-on-the-optimal-nights-sleep-1405984970?mod=trending_now_1

How to Help the Mentally Ill?

7/22/14. No easy answers. Many wrong answers applied too often.


In the 1960's, we celebrated deinstitutionalization ("the myth of mental illness"), created the homeless population, protected patients' rights to be severely mentally ill,  made sure nobody forced them to take their medications, and watched while the mentally ill wrecked their lives and left their families heartbroken.



http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon0721jp.html

Book Review of "A Literary Education and Others Essays" by Joseph Epstein

7/22/14.  What did the mother whale say to the baby whale?  "Be careful when you swim to the top. That's when the people start shooting at you."


Joseph Epstein is at the top of his game as a writer. This review confirms it.




http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/essayist-old-school#

Problems with the Popular Meyers-Briggs Personality Test

7/21/14. Sensible, coherent, and wrong.




http://www.vox.com/2014/7/15/5881947/myers-briggs-personality-test-meaningless

One of a Kind

7/21/14. What if your child had a condition new to science?  Science writer Seth Mnookin shines a bright light of this almost unbearable dilemma.


http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/21/one-of-a-kind-2?currentPage=all

Love People Not Pleasure

7/20/14. Learn to want what you have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/arthur-c-brooks-love-people-not-pleasure.html?ref=todayspaper

Does Personal Responsibility Play a Role in Obesity?

7/19/14. Is there room for both understanding and personal responsibility?

http://www.city-journal.org/2014/24_2_obesity.html

The Mystery of Laughter

7/16/14. What's so funny?


http://chronicle.com/article/Whats-So-Funny-/147575/

The Trouble with Brain Science

7/12/14. With a million-billion connections between neurons, the brain is wider than the sky. Will we ever figure out how the brain works, and how the brain produces the mind?


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/12/opinion/the-trouble-with-brain-science.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0

Voice and Attraction

7/11/14. It is not just what you say but how you say it.


http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/2014/07/10/voices-carry-signals-of-your-sexual-intent-and-reproductive-value/

Dealing with Your Partner's Infidelity

7/10/14. Six do's and don'ts in dealing with a partner's affair.




http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-and-sex-in-the-digital-age/201407/dealing-your-partners-infidelity-6-dos-and-donts

Why Teenages Act Crazy

7/9/14. What's the matter with kids today?


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinion/sunday/why-teenagers-act-crazy.html?_r=0

The Abyss Between Two Heinous Episodes

7/8/14. Parents, children and war.


http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/ruth-wisse-the-abyss-between-two-heinous-episodes-1404683221-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwODEwNDgyWj

A Different Path to Fighting Addiction

7/7/14. Must the fight to stop addiction lead to abstinence?


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/nyregion/a-different-path-to-fighting-addiction.html?_r=0

Is Madness the Essence of Creativity?

7/6/14. Nancy Andreasen, a psychiatrist and professor of English Literature, sheds light on the question.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/06/secrets-of-the-creative-brain/372299/

Horace Silver RIP

6/19/14. Songs for My Father et al, et al., et al..................


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/arts/music/horace-silver-85-master-of-earthy-jazz-is-dead.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&_r=0

Cracking the Brain's Codes

6/18/14. Wider than the sky.


http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/528131/cracking-the-brains-codes/

10 Scientific Ideas That Scientists Wish You Would Stop Misusing

6/16/14. A half-truth is a whole lie.


http://io9.com/10-scientific-ideas-that-scientists-wish-you-would-stop-1591309822

Masters of Love

6/14/14. What makes for lasting relationships?


http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/happily-ever-after/372573/

Writing in the 21rst Century

6/10/14. Interview with Steven Pinker


http://edge.org/conversation/writing-in-the-21st-century

Joseph Epstein: "Death Takes No Holiday"

6/6/14. Epstein muses on the subject of death ----- the only answer:  When you are alive, live.


http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/death-takes-no-holiday/

Interview with Adam Phillips

6/4/14. Child psychotherapist and author.


http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6286/the-art-of-nonfiction-no-7-adam-phillips

Book Review: "How About Never. Is Never Good for You?" by Bob Mankoff

JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF WRONG

Notes of a Psychology Watcher

Book Review:

Mankoff, Bob.  How About Never. Is Never Good for You? My Life in Cartoons. New York:  Henry Holt and Company, L.L.C. 2014.

Steven J. Ceresnie, Ph.D.

Michigan Psychological Association Newsletter, Spring, 2014.

dr.ceresnie@sjcpsych.com

Haec enim ridentur vel sola vel

maxime quae notant et designant

turpitudinem aliquam non turpiter.

An indecency decently put is the

Thing we laugh at hardest.

          --- Cicero

          Imagine two guys looking up at a big sign that says STOP AND THINK. One fellow says to the other:  “Sorta makes you STOP AND THINK.”  The reaction of these two fellows is exactly what the cartoons in The New Yorker Magazine make you do – cartoons that are better described as life drawings requiring you to think about life’s predicaments and ambiguities, facing the dangers and excitements of being alive.

.         Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor for The New Yorker (TNY), has written a memoir about his life in cartoons. The topics of TNY cartoons draw on humor from sex, love, death, parenting, marriage, family, cruelty, fear, jealousy, envy, hate, identity, character, conscience, desire, mourning and more --- the same topics that psychologists are up to their ears in.

          Mankoff left psychology graduate school to seek his fortune in drawing cartoons. He started selling cartoons in 1977, and started working for TNY in 1980. He says he knows all about rejection, being booted out of psychology graduate school, and submitting thousands of cartoons to TNY before getting his first cartoon published.

He became the cartoon editor in 1997, about 20 years after selling his first cartoon. As editor of the magazine, he evaluates more than 500 cartoons every week, selecting about 10 - 15 for each magazine issue

          Mankoff is most famous for creating the cartoon bank, and for the following best-selling cartoon:

An executive is at his desk, on the phone, and looking at his calendar says, “No, Thursday’s out. How about never?” Is never good for you?”

His title of his memoir is taken from what might be the most popular cartoon in the history of TNY. Mankoff remembers how he got the idea for this cartoon. He was trying to get on the phone with a friend who he wanted to see. That friend kept saying, “Can we meet this time? Could we do it that time?” And finally Mankoff says to his so-called friend, “How about never? Is never good for you?”

          Mankoff traces this snotty retort back to his Queens and Bronx New York Jewish background. The Chapter 1 title is:  “I’m Not Arguing, I’m Jewish.” During childhood, whenever he complained to  his mother he was bored, she told him to bang his head against the wall, Mankoff quips. She taught him boredom was a luxury.

          He describes his never-boring cartoon editor job as evaluating humor, a much different process from enjoying humor. He gives an example of a cartoon with 10 possible captions --- and this is the format of the cartoon caption contest that runs every week in TNY. The readers submit captions to a cartoon on the page, and the winners of the caption contest are printed. His editing job consists of picking cartoons with the best captions.

          To evaluate cartoons, Mankoff reports that he is faced with the paradox of choice, which automatically brings the interference of the judgment process, short-circuiting the laugh response. So instead of laughing at the cartoon, he has to judge it.

          In analyzing humor, Mankoff comments about what comics call “the magic of three.” He says you need a sequence for surprise to make a narrative funny.

Here is an example of a cartoon with the element of triplets in humor --- a one, two, and then boom.

A woman is saying, “I started my vegetarianism for moral reasons, then for health concerns, and now it’s just to annoy people.”

The cartoons in TNY, show the very widespread humor taking place in New York, the circus of the world. Humor makes fun of what’s in the public mind.

          Here are two examples of cartoons about same-sex marriage:

A couple is looking at TV, and the guy is saying, “Gays and lesbians are getting married. Haven’t they suffered enough?”

A couple is in bed, and the guy is saying to the woman, “What’s your opinion of some-sex marriage?”

          Mankoff appreciates humor that is benign, not speaking truth to power, but humor directed back at the people who are reading the magazine.

          He describes a theory of humor he calls, “Just the Right Amount of Wrong.” He says this view emphasizes that humor is different in different contexts. He says that the mother’s milk of humor is anything that’s embarrassing, guilt- or anxiety-filled. Mankoff has learned that humor comes in almost endless varieties:  humor based on reality, observational humor, silliness, and playful incongruity or absurdity.

          An example of an absurd cartoon is:

It’s a cowboy at a desk. The person sitting in front of him is a cow, and he’s reading his resume. And the cowboy is saying, “Very impressive. I’d like to find 5,000 more like you.”

          One cartoon, apparently not for everybody’s taste, shows a rodent in a cage, and then another picture of a rodent who hung himself. The caption is: “Discouraging data on the antidepressant.” Mankoff tells about readers who send in letters saying they don’t like cartoons where animals suffer. Mankoff’s response:  “We use anesthetic ink.” A wise-guy he is.

          Some people are hypersensitive to humor, and some people have little or no humor. I make it a rule never to use humor with people I don’t like ---- it is hard to keep my unconscious slips from showing.

          Mankoff notes there have been many cartoons in TNY about the Grim Reaper because humor is an important way we cope with death, anxiety, suffering and illness.

          An example of Grim Reaper humor:

The Grim Reaper is taking away her husband, and the wife is at the apartment door, and she is saying, “Relax, Harry. Change is good.”

          Cartoons about marriage are another staple of TNY cartoons. Mankoff mentions he is happily married to his third wife. He says humor is indispensable in our attempts to understand our partners and for our partners to understand us.

          He cites a cartoon on marriage:

A man is talking to a woman in the living room and he says, “Believe me, Janet, I consider you an important part of our marriage.

           Mankoff focuses on the links between creativity and humor. He mentions Arthur Koestler’s book, “The Act of Creation,” (1) in which he connects humor, science and art.

Life without a sense of humor is life without any sense of proportion or perspective.

Where laughter stops, so does common sense.

 

As William James noted, “Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”

 

Reference

 

Koestler, Arthur. “The Act of Creation.”  New York:  Macmillan, 1964.

Can Mental Health Clinicians Prevent Violence?

5/30/14. Six experts reply:


http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/05/29/can-therapists-prevent-violence

A New Entry in the Annals of Academic Cravenness

5/28/14.  Joseph Epstein:


..."Trigger warnings logically follow from the recent history of American academic life. This is a history in which demographic diversity has triumphed over intellectual standards and the display of virtue over the search for truth."...




http://m.us.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304479704579580393435059548-lMyQjAxMTA0MDIwODEyNDgyWj?mobile=y

A Clash of Religions

5/28/14. A silent debate.




One Pope, in the Dark Ages, decreed that all Jews had to leave Rome. The Jews did not want to leave, and so the Pope challenged them to a disputation to prove that they could remain. No one, however, wanted the responsibility... until the synagogue janitor, Moishe, volunteered.
As there was nobody else who wanted to go, Moishe was given the task. But because he knew only Hebrew, a silent debate was agreed. The day of the debate came, and they went to St. Peter's Square to sort out the decision. First the Pope waved his hand around his head. Moishe pointed firmly at the ground.



The Pope, in some surprise, held up three fingers. In response, Moishe gave him the middle finger.
The crowd started to complain, but the Pope thoughtfully waved them to be quiet. He took out a bottle of wine and a wafer, holding them up. Moishe took out an apple, and held it up.
The Pope, to the people’s surprise, said, "I concede. This man is too good. The Jews can stay."



Later, the Pope was asked what the debate had meant. He explained, "First, I showed him the Heavens, to show that God is everywhere. He pointed at the ground to signify that God is right here with us. I showed him three fingers, for the Trinity. He reminded me that there is One God common to both our religions. I showed him wine and a wafer, for God's forgiveness. With an apple, he showed me original sin. The man was a master of silent debate."



In the Jewish corner, Moishe had the same question put to him, and answered, "It was all nonsense, really. First, he told me that this whole town would be free of Jews. I told him, Go to Hell! We’re staying right here! Then, he told me we had three days to get out. I told him just what I thought of that proposal." An older woman asked, "But what about the part at the end?" "That?" said Moishe with a shrug, "Well, I saw him take out his lunch, so I took out mine."

Gerald M. Edelman RIP

5/23/14.


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/science/gerald-m-edelman-nobel-laureate-and-neural-darwinist-dies-at-84.html?hpw&rref=obituaries&_r=0

Pun-Off World Championship

5/23/14. To pun or not to pun?


http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/05/20/without-compunction/

Healthy Aging: 5 Keys to a Long, Healthy Life

5/21/14. When you are alive ---- live.


http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2014/06/healthy-aging-into-your-80s-and-beyond/index.htm?loginMethod=auto

Book Review on the Life of Duke Ellington

5/20/14. Take the A Train.


http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/take-e-train_792843.html?nopager=1

Is Divorce Bad for Children?

5/14/14. One mother's experience:


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2014/05/14/is_divorce_bad_for_children_332237.html


And the experts say:


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-divorce-bad-for-children/

The Closing of the Collegiate Mind

5/12/14. Young, restless, and close-minded.




http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303701304579550340222538088?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303701304579550340222538088.html




Kirsten Powers calls it like it is:




http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/14/liberal-thought-police-lagarde-hgtv-benham-free-speech-column/9098133/


Daniel Henninger:  Bonfire of the Humanities


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304547704579562101291725062?mod=djemMER_h&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304547704579562101291725062.html%3Fmod%3DdjemMER_h

How to Trick the Guilty and the Gullible into Revealing Themselves

5/10/14. The "Freakonomics" duo.


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303647204579546293797700508

Interview with Steven Pinker, Ph.D.

5/9/14. Author of "The Blank Slate," et al.


http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/05/what-could-be-more-interesting-than-how-the-mind-works/

Gary Becker RIP

5/5/14. A social science genius who applied economics to everyday life -- and won a Nobel prize.


http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/05/business/economy/gary-s-becker-83-nobel-winner-who-applied-economics-to-everyday-life-dies.html?_r=0&referrer

Book Review: "A Troublesome Inheritance" by Nicholas Wade

5/4/14. Charles Murray reviews this book documenting a scientific revolution - upending one of our reigning orthodoxies.

Murray:

"As the story (of genetics, race, ethnic groups) is untangled, it will also become obvious how inappropriate it is to talk in terms of the "inferiority" or "superiority" of groups.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579521482247869874?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303380004579521482247869874.html




An opposing view:


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/busting-myths-about-human-nature/201405/things-know-when-talking-about-race-and-genetics

On Joseph Epstein

5/2/14. A remarkable man.


http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/On-Joseph-Epstein-7888

What killed my sister?

5/1/14. Is there a connection between mental illness and creativity?


http://theamericanscholar.org/what-killed-my-sister/#.U2KhyGBOWie

the beauty of metaphor

5/1/14. His teeth were like stars - they come out at night.


http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/from-milton-to-mcewan-the-beauty-of-metaphor-1.1771023

Healthy Body/Healthy Mind: Patty Duke and Bipolar Disorder

4/27/14. Kadima sponsors actress Patty Duke giving a keynote address on living with bipolar disorder. Information here:

http://www.kadimacenter.org/healthybody.php

Dreams Are All About Sex

4/27/14. Freud's influence continues...

http://aeon.co/magazine/altered-states/was-freud-right-about-dreams-all-along/

The World's Resources Are Not Running Out

4/27/14. Matt Ridley.


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304279904579517862612287156?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304279904579517862612287156.html

7 Myths of Mass Murder

4/25/14. An experienced forensic psychologist talks about his research and practice.


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-forensic-files/201404/seven-myths-mass-murder

Global Warming

4/22/14. Some cooler heads prevail.


http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/bj-rn-lomborg-says-that-the-un-climate-panel-s-latest-report-tells-a-story-that-politicians-would-prefer-to-ignore

Improve Your Personality

4/22/14. We get nicer as we age.


http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304279904579515702293041712?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304279904579515702293041712.html

Obesity and Personal Responsibility

4/21/14. To Have or to Be.


http://www.city-journal.org/2014/24_2_obesity.html

Taking Religion Seriously

4/21/14. The beliefs of an atheist may be shaken by a knowledge of contemporary science.




http://www.american.com/archive/2014/april/taking-religion-seriously

The War on This Woman

4/17/14. Understand this!


http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/04/16/liberals-islam-misogyny-hirsi-ali-war-women-column/7782657/

The Doctor Won't See You Now

4/16/14. Supply and demand.




http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon0414jz.html

A Celebrity Hurting Children and Families

4/14/14. For some, the road to hell is paved with good intentions...and the need for fame and money.

http://time.com/60416/jenny-mccarthy-anti-vaccine-whitewash/

Patient Voices: ADHD

4/10/14.


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/21/health/healthguide/TE_ADHD_CLIPS.html?src=rechp&_r=0

Wall Street is Not a Death Trap

4/6/14. Psychiatrist Sally Satel sheds light on dark moods.


  http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-31/wall-street-is-not-a-death-trap

Common Misconceptions about Psychopaths

4/4/14. Empty.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-a-haycock/6-incredibly-common-misco_b_5082723.html?utm_hp_ref=science&ir=Science

What Makes Things Funny?

4/3/14. A minister, a rabbi, and a priest walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Is this a joke?"




http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2014/04/a-quest-to-understand-what-makes-things-funny.html