My Son Is Sexually Attracted To Me
Dear Dr. G.,My 25 yr old son told me via email that he is sexually attracted to me and has been for about 10 years. We talked briefly but he was incredibly embarrassed and regretted sending the email....
View ArticleThe Emotional Lives of Animals and Children and Animal Minds
The amount of interest in the nature of nonhuman animal (animal) minds and what's in them seems to grow daily. In keeping with this burgeoning interest, today was a very good day for writing about two...
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What Makes a Great Public Speaker?
In November, 2012, I spoke at TEDxUtrecht. I am not going to belabor the anxiety and exhiliration felt, the camraderie among such a diverse group of thinkers (or how because its Amsterdam, the after...
View ArticleForever Young - Through Humor and Surgery
Like most of my friends of a certain age, I’ve been riveted by the details that keep trickling out about Joan Rivers’ unexpected death from complications during an esophageal procedure. Like me, we...
View ArticleWhy the Ferguson Apology Matters
In the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown, rage at the continuing killing of African American males by law enforcement (and by self-appointed-vigilante-turned-media-star George Zimmerman) is...
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Loss, Empty Space, and Community
It's been about two months since I posted a piece of my writing on this blog. I was deeply immersed in supporting my sister Inbal on her final journey, which ended with her death on September 6,...
View ArticleWhy Are Women More Religious Than Men?
Some of my favorite atheists are women: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Greta Christina, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Nella Larsen, and above all, my wife. And some of my least favorite theists are men: Rick Santorum, the...
View ArticleLooking for a Refuge
Talking with a few friends the other day regarding the ‘state of the world’ in general, and human behavior in particular, I happened to say how important it is to have ‘a refuge’…. at which point all...
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Monday Morning Dementia: Part Four
Previously, I outlined the distressing experience of being scolded by an Imperious Trio of doctor, nurse, and social worker in the Emergency Room when I arrived to fetch my wandering mother. Their...
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Men, sex and time perspectives
Caio! Phil Zimbardo here. I’d like to share some information we’ve gathered about how men’s time perspectives affect their views on sex and loving relationships with partners. Here goes:Whether male or...
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War Is An Irrelationship
To conclude: I have so far been speaking only of wars between nations; what are known as international conflicts. But I am well aware that the aggressive instinct operates under other forms and in...
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Where's Your Motivation?
To lose weight or change the way you eat, you need to get and stay motivated. You have eating habits that are strongly ingrained: You’re accustomed to eating a certain amount ad certain types of foods...
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The Psychology of Terrorists (Pt. 3): The Messiah Syndrome
As stated in my previous post, I view Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, like his predecessor Osama bin Laden, as a religious fundamentalist cult leader with a major messiah complex. But what exactly is a "messiah...
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Canadian Cannibal on Trial
It was an extraordinary story back in May 2012. Strange packages surfaced in several places in Montreal, Canada, that contained body parts. A note attached to a severed foot warned that the killer...
View ArticleYou Don't Look Sick and Other Lies
"You don't look sick.""Stop talking so negatively about yourself.""He tried to kill himself. He's weak."These are some comments I've heard tossed around about depression. I have anxiety, but I've also...
View ArticleEvolution: The Super-Duper Big Stuff
There is nothing inherent in the process of evolution by natural selection that necessarily leads up to a buildup of complexity over time. Indeed, along some branches of the tree of life, there’s...
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Bad Mood Be Gone with 30 Seconds of Temporal Tapping
Feeling down, grumpy, agitated, anxious, sad or lonely? There may be a brief, free, and easy technique that you can use right now, without even having to fix a relationship or any other problem, to...
View ArticleIs addiction a "biopsychosocial" phenomenon?
Nobody likes people who say "I'm right and you're not." We've all learned to be diplomatic, so nobody's feelings get hurt. Even when we're completely certain we're right, we realize it's good manners...
View ArticleIs Fat the New F-Word?
I recently received a concerned call from a colleague: “Some people were offended by your most recent email,” she delicately told me, referring to an email that I had posted to a listserv that I...
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The Three Laws of Transhumanism and Artificial Intelligence
I recently gave a speech at the Artificial Intelligence and The Singularity Conference in Oakland, California. There was a great lineup of speakers, including AI experts Peter Voss and Monica...
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