Clik here to view.
Experiencing Art: It's a Whole-Brain Issue, Stupid!
We love art. We put it on our walls, we admire it at museums and on others' walls, and if we're inspired, we may even create it. Philosophers, historians, critics, and scientists have bandied about the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Photo Albums in Therapy
Once in a while, a little show-and-tell provides a helpful change of pace in therapy.For example: Jane enters the room toting a huge, dusty photo album. Our time working together has been filled with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Bright Side of Vanity
In a recent article in TheWashington Post, novelist Lionel Shriver argues that what really motivates most people to lose weight or quit smoking, despite what they may say, is not health but vanity—the...
View ArticleThe Empty Promiser
"Mom, can you drive me over to Jenny's house today? She's having some friends over and wanted me to come." Anna couldn't wait until she was old enough to get her driver's license so she wouldn't have...
View ArticleI See Fat People
All people are created equal—that is, unless they’re fat. Although overweight and obesity affect two-thirds of Americans, the public is as troubled by obese people as young Haley Joel Osment was when...
View ArticleDo We Really Like Kids?
Last week a Pakistani television host gave away babies on live TV.He normally gives away prizes such as motorcycles and cell phones to audience members in between his usual broadcast fare of celebrity...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stunning Results From California
I’m going to summarize in a single paragraph a debate that has been raging in health policy for the past two decades.On one side is what I call the health policy orthodoxy. On my side is a small group...
View ArticleDTC and Me?
A recent study published in Genetics in Medicine found that predictions of disease risk from different direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies vary, sometimes dramatically. The research team...
View ArticleClik here to view.
All In the Family: Caring For A Parent With Alzheimer's
I step from baggage claim at the Dallas airport into primeval heat and stand waiting for a rental car shuttle in the dark with two strangers. It’s ten minutes to midnight on a Thursday night. I know...
View ArticleRising Dues, Static Income, and Diminished Free Time
In 1831, French aristocrat Alexi De Tocqueville observed a paradox about the United States less than sixty years after independence: citizens verbally espouse individualism as a philosophy yet they...
View ArticleA Question That Can Change Your Life
For years I’ve exercised every day — doing weights, cardio, yoga — but despite my continuous effort, I haven’t seen much change.Until a few months ago.Recently, my body has changed. My muscles are...
View ArticlePoor Sleep in Pregnancy Can Lead to Complications at Birth
Pregnancy can pose serious challenges to sleeping well. Poor quality and not enough sleep are common during pregnancy, when many women experience fragmented sleep and symptoms of insomnia. Even women...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Writers—and Everyone Else—Need Silence
In researching a book on silence I found there were two types of silence that are vitally important to us, both as writers and as social animals.One I thought of as absolute.This can be the worst kind...
View ArticleMishaps in Dating: A Few Examples
As in any other kind of human interaction, all kinds of things can go wrong during the dating process. Someone met for the first time can turn out to be any sort of person: an imposter, philanderer,...
View ArticleArt and Genetic Happiness
Once you are struck by the question of whether what you are doing matters, and unless the answer is an immediate and unequivocal yes, you will be stuck with and haunted by that question.So many of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Avoid the Afternoon Munchies
Last time I shared why we get the afternoon munchies. This week we’re going to discuss how to avoid them.But let’s get back to our problem, first. It’s 3:00 pm and you’re starving. You can have a piece...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Four Big Predictions for the Future of Education
It’s a hot button in the news. America’s educational system is broken, both at the K-12 level as well as higher education. The future of education looks bleak. But, how we do to fix it?As I keep my ear...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What You Don't Know (You Don't Know)
StumpedWe didn’t know what was causing his death.When we walked on to the medicine wards of the San Diego VA many years ago, most of us interns were pretty ignorant. Yet we believed someone else knew...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Not Smart Enough to Be Rich?
Just in case you haven’t heard this before, I’ve got some information for you that you might find a bit troubling. In their 2006 book titled IQ and Global Inequality, intelligence experts Richard Lynn...
View Article