Thanksgiving Relief for Research Chimpanzees: "Free" At Last
As I was writing a paper this morning I received an email asking why tears of joy frequently accompany messages of hope, and just as I was responding to this note I saw a brief essay in the New York...
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What We Can Learn From Our Elders: 4 Steps for the Holidays
The holidays are upon us once again. For some of us, this is a chance to reunite with loved ones we don’t see often enough. For others, it’s a dreaded visit that we could have done without. If you are...
View ArticleSlaughtering Sentience: There's No Reason to Eat Turkeys
Why kill turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving?Many of you have heard this question over and over again, "Why kill turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving?" They say repetition is boring conversation but I feel...
View ArticleThanksgiving: Snails and Feeling Grateful
“It doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full. Be thankful that you have a glass and grateful that there's something in it.” - Unknown It wasn’t till I ate my first Thanksgiving meal...
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Using Just 10% of Your Brain?
An earlier post debunked the myth that we use only 10% of our brain. According to this tale, 90% of our brain stands idly by, waiting to be recruited for spare capacity. The fantastic logic behind this...
View ArticleMore on the Chronotherapy / Cognitive Therapy Interface
New York Times writer Benedict Carey reports preliminary data showing that the combination of antidepressant meds and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) greatly exceeds either one in...
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People Love to Read About Sex, Penises, Breasts, and Porn
This is my 250th post since becoming a Psychology Today blogger five years ago. My first post was published on November 23, 2008. Since, I have published 249 articles totaling 164,000+ words that have...
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Gratitude: 4 Steps and 3 Months to a Year Long Practice
After writing about the convergence of Thanksgiving Day and the first day of the Hanukkah yesterday I pointed out that this is a good time to see these days as the start of a lifelong journey, one that...
View ArticleAn Ode to Awe
An Ode to Awe[Dedicated to my good friend and Mentor, Maurice Friedman, on the Occasion of the Rollo May Award, Saybrook Graduate School, 16 Jan. 2008] I believe in awe.The awesomeness of life, of...
View ArticleThe Paradox of Procreation
While working on our book, we developed a hunch that some couples that were taking longer than expected to get pregnant had more of a scheduling problem than a medical problem. Work was usually the...
View ArticleI Love You. Here’s a $25 Olive Garden Gift Card.
In all likelihood, you will either give or receive a gift card this holiday season. Some of you may even give and receive the same gift card; I’ve often found that giving a $25 iTunes gift card is the...
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Tween Boys: The Truth About Backyard Bullying
We have all heard the expression “boys will be boys.” It is hard to know exactly what this means. Quite often when referring to horseplay and backyard tussles among boys, we are asked to conclude that...
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Liberal Bias and (Lack of) Research on Jews?
A commenter on my previous blog entry (Liberal Bias III) asked, "Why is there so little research on the accuracy of stereotypes of Jews?" There is, after all, plenty of research on stereotypes of many...
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Betrayal of the Tongue
Obesity is complex but certain factors are simple. Obese people prefer calorie-dense foods because they taste better. That’s how we become obese. That raises an interesting question. Why do the least...
View ArticleWhen fans turn fanatical
I couldn’t shake the nervousness as I traveled to a 2009 World Cup qualifier between France and Romania at Stade de France just outside of Paris. Having never been to a soccer (sorry, football) match...
View ArticleValue Science in a Nutshell: Part I
Introduction:Is there a scientific way to work with values? Do we need two systems of science? We’ve always had natural science and technology, but never a science of values and morals…even though...
View ArticleThe Role of Physical Attraction in Your Relationship
The concept of attraction has been defined in many ways by many different experts in the field of relationships. Some look to biology to explain why we are attracted. Others believe we unconsciously...
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Finding a Phone Booth
As a nation, fear stalks us each day---making a wrong turn in a bad neighborhood or simply talking to people we don't know. We lock our cars and homes, own guns, and use alarms. We enact laws,...
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Can Neuroscience Improve the Selection and Hiring Process?
An interview with Dr Paul Zak on how neuroscience can potentially be applied to the recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes in order to help companies hold their own in the "war for talent" as...
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