I don’t know if you caught it the other night when you were watching the news while skimming your email, checking your twitter and RSS feeds, and updating your Facebook status, but there was an interesting story about multitasking. Silly me, who actually watches the news anymore? Anyways, much of the recent buzz on this …
Read more “Multitasking: The Illusion of Efficacy”
Why do you sometimes choose that scrumptious chocolate desert even when you are full? Why is it that you are sometimes drawn in by the lure of the couch and TV when you should be exercising or at least reading a good book? And why do you lose your patience when you are hungry or …
Read more “Willpower: What is it really?”
Last week in my article entitled Political Divide, I introduced Jonathon Haidt’s work and the theoretical framework that attempts to explain the current pervasive and seemingly intractable political acrimony within the United States. Haidt and his colleagues offer the Moral Foundations Theory, the implications of which, suggest that this divide is a result of …
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The state of affairs in the United States when it comes to politics seems intractable. I used to believe that a person’s political position could be easily placed on a traditional left – right continuum. However, if you watch the political pundits on TV, this no longer seems possible. Apparently there are two distinct mindsets …
The Implicit Associations Test (IAT) is a very popular method for measuring implicit (implied though not plainly expressed) biases. Greenwald, one of the primary test developers, suggests that “It has been self-administered online by millions, many of whom have been surprised—sometimes unpleasantly—by evidence of their own unconscious attitudes and stereotypes regarding race, age, gender, ethnicity, …
Read more “The IAT: Questions of Reliability and Validity”
My wife and I recently spent some time in New York City and one of our traditions is to take in a Broadway show. This time we stepped a bit off-Broadway to see the bawdy but Tony Award Winning Avenue Q. On the surface, this show seems silly, but it actually addresses some important issues. …
Read more “I’m Not Prejudiced – Are You?: The Illusion of an Open Mind”
Over the last two weeks I’ve dealt with the issue of vaccines as they pertain to Autism. I first dealt with the back story and then addressed why such an illusion of cause has persisted despite the efforts of the scientific and medical communities. Although I have made reference to some of the data, I …
Read more “The Data: Vaccines and Autism”
There are many well intentioned folks out there who believe that childhood vaccinations cause Autism. Last week I covered the origins of this belief system as well as its subsequent debunking in Vaccines and Autism. Despite the conclusive data that clearly establishes no causal link between vaccines and Autism, the belief lives on. Why is …
Read more “The Illusion of Cause – Vaccines and Autism”
It is hard to imagine anything more precious than one’s newborn child. Part of the joy of raising a child is the corresponding hope one has for the future. Don’t we all wish for our children a life less fraught with the angst and struggles we ourselves endured? One of the less pleasant aspects of …
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I find myself in an untenable situation. I have plenty to write about but I am finding that the choices I am making right now, in the splendor of summer, give me limited time and energy to write. I’ve decided to take a short hiatus. Over the last seven months my writing has been …
Read more “Looking Forward – Looking Back”