What the science of human nature can teach us
After the boom and bust, the mania and the meltdown, the Composure Class rose once again. Its members didn’t make their money through hedge-fund wizardry or by some big financial score. Theirs was a statelier ascent. They got good grades in school, established solid social connections, joined fine companies, medical practices, and law firms. Wealth settled down upon them gradually, like a gentle snow. You can see a paragon of the Composure Class having an al-fresco lunch at some bistro in Aspen or Jackson Hole. A few times a year, members of this class head to a mountain resort, carrying only a Council on Foreign Relations tote bag (when you have your own plane, you don’t need luggage that actually closes). Occasionally, you meet a young, rising member of this class at the gelato store, as he hovers indecisively over the cloudberry and ginger-pomegranate selections, and you notice that his superhuman equilibrium is marred by an anxiety. Help comes from the strangest places. Ms.
Dreams: Expert Q&A
On November 30, 2009, Robert Stickgold graciously answered dozens of wide-ranging questions about dreams and sleep. Q: Is there any truth to dreams being a window to our "unconscious"? Perhaps the question should be: What level of consciousness is expressed in our dreams? Do they "represent" anything of our feelings, moods, attitudes? Q: Are Freud's teachings on dreaming still valid amongst new scientific findings? Robert Stickgold: Answering these two together, I'd say that Freud was probably 50 percent right and 100 percent wrong! Having said that, dreams can act as a window to our unconscious. Having said that, I think that dreaming also is looking for new ways to connect these associative networks, and it isn't a problem for the brain if some or even most of these explorations end up being useless or blatantly wrong. Q: It has been suggested that dreams are therapeutic—therapeutic in that dreams help solve emotional conflicts. Stickgold: There are two versions of this question.
Explain yourself: George Lakoff, cognitive linguist | Explainer.Net
As part of our research on explanatory journalism, we’re interviewing experts in fields outside journalism about their approaches to explaining complex systems to non-specialtists. Our first expert is cognitive linguist George Lakoff, who did groundbreaking research on the embodiment of thought and language and the way people think using metaphors. For Lakoff, language is not a neutral system of communication, because it is always based on frames, conceptual metaphors, narratives, and emotions. Lakoff came up with a widely influential framework for understanding American politics, contrasting the “strict father” morality of conservatives with the “nurturant parent” morality of liberals. What good explanatory journalism needs to do, Lakoff suggests, is decode the moral frameworks within the language of politics and policy. Journalists Have an Outdated Conception of ‘Reason’ Portrait of René Descartes by Frans Hals “Most thought is unconscious. People Don’t Decide Using ‘Just the Facts’
The Unselfish Gene
The Idea in Brief Executives, like most other people, have long believed that human beings are interested only in advancing their material interests. However, recent research in evolutionary biology, psychology, sociology, political science, and experimental economics suggests that people behave far less selfishly than most assume. Evolutionary biologists and psychologists have even found neural and, possibly, genetic evidence of a human predisposition to cooperate. These findings suggest that instead of using controls or carrots and sticks to motivate people, companies should use systems that rely on engagement and a sense of common purpose. Several levers can help executives build cooperative systems: encouraging communication, ensuring authentic framing, fostering empathy and solidarity, guaranteeing fairness and morality, using rewards and punishments that appeal to intrinsic motivations, relying on reputation and reciprocity, and ensuring flexibility.
Daniel Kahneman Answers Your Questions
Two weeks ago, we solicited your questions for Princeton psychology professor and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, whose new book is called Thinking, Fast and Slow. You responded by asking 45 questions. Kahneman has answered 22 of them in one of the more in-depth and wide-ranging Q&A’s we’ve run recently. It’s a great read. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A. Q. A.
The Robot's Rebellion: Finding Meaning in the Age of Darwin, Stanovich
PrefaceAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. Staring into the Darwinian AbyssWhy Jerry Falwell Is RightThe Replicators and the VehiclesWhat Kind of Robot Is a Person?Whose Goals Are Served by Our Behavior? Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. NotesReferencesAuthor IndexSubject Index
The Willpower Trick | Wired Science
January is the month of broken resolutions. The gyms are packed for a week, Jenny Craig is full of new recruits and houses are cleaned for the first time in ages. We pledge to finally become the person we want to be: svelte, neat and punctual. Alas, it doesn’t take long before the stairmasters are once again sitting empty and those same dirty T-shirts are piling up at the back of the closet. We start binging on pizza and beer — sorry, Jenny — and forget about that pledge to become a kinder, gentler person. The reason our resolutions end in such dismal fashion returns us to the single most important fact about human willpower — it’s incredibly feeble. Here’s where the results get weird. This helps explain why, after a long day at the office, we’re more likely to indulge in a pint of Häagen-Dazs. The problem is only compounded by studies showing that the very act of dieting can make it even harder to resist temptation. Is there a way out of this willpower trap?
Not just horsing around … psychologists put their faith in equine therapies | Society | The Observer
In a Sussex field, a large bay horse is galloping around, tail held high. This magnificent creature is one of a new army of animals that is helping therapists to treat everything from addiction to autism to post-traumatic stress disorder. Reports last week showed that dogs, already known to be invaluable helpmates for blind, deaf, diabetic and epileptic owners, were also being trained to help dementia patients. Now the psychological benefits of working with horses are being recognised by growing numbers of therapists who work with autistic children, young people with behavioural problems, adults with depression or celebrities with addictions. "The horse is the perfect mirror, they are very emotional beings; we're only starting to realise how intelligent they are," said therapy counsellor Gabrielle Gardner, of Shine For Life, watching the horse dance around his pen at a farm in Blackstone, a village a few miles north of Brighton. He said the trick was offering "mobility with dignity".
