{"id":3307,"date":"2014-01-01T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2014-01-01T17:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geraldguild.com\/blog\/?p=3307"},"modified":"2014-01-05T12:25:05","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T17:25:05","slug":"2013-a-year-in-review-how-do-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geraldguild.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/01\/2013-a-year-in-review-how-do-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"2013 \u2013 A Year in Review: How Do You Think?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I did not make a substantial number of posts in 2013, the traffic to my site remained relatively vigorous.\u00a0 Throughout 2013 my blog had 24,007 hits from 21,042 unique visitors, accounting for nearly 30,000 page views.\u00a0 I had visitors from every state in the US and 158 nations around the world.\u00a0 Visitors from the United States accounted for the vast majority of those hits, but the UK, Canada, Australia, India, China, and Germany also brought in large contingents.<\/p>\n

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Of my posts published in 2013, none made it to this year\u2019s top ten list: five were from 2010,\u00a0 four were published in 2011, and one was from 2012.\u00a0 This year the top ranked article (The Moral Instinct)<\/a> was a 2010 review of a very popular 2008 New York Time\u2019s<\/a> article by Steven Pinker.\u00a0\u00a0 This perennially popular piece ranked 5th last year, 4th in 2011 and 3rd in 2010. \u00a0 Its bounce to the top this year is more of a testament to Pinker and the popularity of his piece that explores the universality of morals.\u00a0 In that piece I wrote:<\/p>\n

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Pinker delves into the neurological factors associated with morality and the evolutionary evidence and arguments for an instinctual morality. He reviews several important studies that provide evidence for these hypotheses. But, he argues that morality is more than an inheritance \u2013 it is larger than that. It is contextually driven. He notes: \u201cAt the very least, the science tells us that even when our adversaries\u2019 agenda is most baffling, they may not be amoral psychopaths but in the throes of a moral mind-set that appears to them to be every bit as mandatory and universal as ours does to us. Of course, some adversaries really are psychopaths, and others are so poisoned by a punitive moralization that they are beyond the pale of reason.<\/em> \u201d He further contends \u201cBut in any conflict in which a meeting of the minds is not completely hopeless, a recognition that the other guy is acting from moral rather than venal reasons can be a first patch of common ground.
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This article may have also remained popular because of its relevance with regard to the state of affairs in today’s political arena and the application of Jonathon Haidt\u2019s increasingly popular work on the Moral Foundations Theory<\/a>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The 2013 number two ranked piece Nonmoral Nature: It is what it is,<\/a> is a review of one of Stephen Jay Gould\u2019s most famous articles<\/a> where he argued that there is no evidence of morality in nature, that in fact “nature as it plays out evolution\u2019s dance, is entirely devoid of anything pertaining to morality or evil. We anthropomorphize<\/a> when we apply these concepts. Even to suggest that nature is cruel is anthropomorphizing. Any true and deep look at the struggle for life that constantly dances in our midst can scarcely lead to any other conclusion but that nature is brutal, harsh, and nonmoral<\/em>” (Gould).\u00a0 Historically this has been a controversial topic and remains so in certain circles today.\u00a0 This piece has remained popular over the years – ranking 4th last year and 2nd in 2011 and 2010.<\/p>\n

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\"Brain<\/a>
Brain MRI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brainwaves and Other Brain Measures <\/a>\u2013 the 3rd ranking post this year ranked 2nd last year and 1st in 2011. This very popular piece takes a pragmatic, comparative, and colorful look at the various ways of measuring brain activity.\u00a0 My 2012 article Happiness as Measured by GDP: Really?<\/a>\u00a0 is finally getting some attention.\u00a0 Although it ranked 10th last year, it has climbed into the number four slot this year.\u00a0 I contend that this is perhaps one of the most important articles I have written.<\/p>\n

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\"Proud<\/a>
Proud as a Peacock By Mark Melnick<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My critical article on the widely used Implicit Associations Test<\/a> ranked 5th this year, 6th in 2012, and 4th in 2011. Last year’s number one piece on Conspicuous Consumption and the Peacock\u2019s Tail<\/a>\u00a0 is one of my favorite pieces.\u00a0 It addresses our inherent drive to advance one\u2019s social standing while actually going nowhere on the hedonic treadmill.\u00a0 It delves into the environmental costs of buying into the illusion of consumer materialism and its biological origins (the signaling instinct much like that of the Peacock’s tail).<\/p>\n

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I am excited to report that Poverty is a Neurotoxin<\/a> is also finally gaining some traction.\u00a0 Published in 2011 it has never achieved a top ranking; although, in my humble opinion, it is no less important.\u00a0 Rounding out the top ten of 2013, my Hedgehog versus the Fox<\/a> mindset piece ranked 8th this year, 9th last year, and 10th in 2011.\u00a0One of my all time favorite posts from 2010,\u00a0 What Plato, Descartes, and Kant Got Wrong: Reason Does not Rule<\/a> made it back to the top ten list this year coming in 9th.\u00a0 It was 7th in 2011 and 8th in 2010.\u00a0 My 2011 post Where Does Prejudice Come From?<\/a> ranked 10th this year, 7th last year, and 5th in 2011.<\/p>\n

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So here is the Top Ten list for 2013.<\/p>\n

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  1. Moral Instinct<\/a>\u00a0 (2010) 4182 page views since published – All time ranking #5<\/li>\n
  2. Non Moral Nature: It is what it is<\/a> (2010) 4616 page views since published – All time ranking #3<\/li>\n
  3. Brainwaves and Other Brain Measures<\/a> (2011) 7941 page views since published – All time ranking #1<\/li>\n
  4. Happiness as Measured by GDP: Really?<\/a> (2012) 1719 page views since published – All time ranking #8<\/li>\n
  5. IAT: Questions of Reliability and Validity<\/a>\u00a0 (2010) 2572 page views since published – All time ranking #6<\/li>\n
  6. Conspicuous Consumption & the Peacock\u2019s Tail<\/a> (2011) 7677 page views since published – All time ranking #2<\/li>\n
  7. Poverty is a Neurotoxin<\/a> (2011) 960 page views since published – All time ranking #18<\/li>\n
  8. Are you a Hedgehog or a Fox?<\/a>\u00a0 (2010) 1702 page views since published – All time ranking #9<\/li>\n
  9. What Plato, Descartes, and Kant Got Wrong: Reason Does not Rule<\/a> (2010) 1381 page views since published – All time ranking #12<\/li>\n
  10. Where Does Prejudice Come From?<\/a>\u00a0 (2011) 1625 page views since published – All time ranking #10<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    Rounding out the top ten All Time Most Popular Pieces<\/em> are:<\/p>\n

    \"wicked-poster\"<\/a><\/p>\n