Stand by (and do nothing)

This entry in the psychology series will draw upon current events. You might have seen this horrible story, the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in Richmond, CA (the picture at right is approximately where the attack took place).  Here are harrowing details from the SF Chronicle about the incident:
“What ensued was 2 1/2 hours [...]

Cognitive Dissonance – Believe, do, then believe otherwise

We’d like to think that our private mental lives and outward behaviors correspond with and inform each other.
We hope that our attitudes predict and guide behavior. Pish, that would be too easy! Psychology, in her relatively short history, has sometimes confirmed our intuitions about human nature. But more often than not, psychological research will upend [...]

Gilbert – I understand ergo I believe

This entry will consider a paper by Daniel Gilbert entitled, “How Mental Systems Believe” (published in 1991 in American Psychologist, full text here).
Before we can really delve into psychological mechanisms and how they influence behavior, which we’ll learn about in later posts,  we first need to know how the mind processes information.
In our human experience, [...]

A Hero for Social Neuro

This past weekend I attended the 3rd annual meeting of the  Social and Affective Neuroscience Society. Everyone in attendance had the great privilege of hearing New York Times columnist David Brook give a keynote address. And lo and behold, today Brooks wrote an article recounting his experience at the conference. I am so glad that [...]

Psychology series (introduction)

I have determined that the time has come for me to discover (or re-discover) psychology studies and/or articles from the 20th century that have significantly impacted how we think about the mind and human behavior.

My intention with this is manifold: not only to describe and inform, but to challenge, question, and provoke. Psychology is one [...]

My first article in The Curator!

Click here for the full article. Here’s an excerpt:
In the U2 song Crumbs from Your Table, which laments the nagging tension between scarcity and abundance, Bono speaks of “dignity [that] passes by.” For millions who are caught in the horrors of debt bondage, forced labor, and sex trafficking, dignity does pass by, every day. With [...]

Democratic eating of meat

This article was eye-opening and challenging to my mind (and stomach). Here is an excerpt:
We ought to start by looking at the great food cultures of the world. The traditional cuisines of Asia and North Africa, not to mention France and Italy, are based on rice, wheat, spices and smatterings of all cuts of meat. [...]

Thanks, Dad

I do not (and might never) consider myself handy, certainly not as handy as my Dad. But tonight, I was genuinely surprised and I can only thank my Dad for what he has taught me over the years whenever I helped him around the house.
Tonight, my friend Liz and I assembled an awesome kitchen cart. [...]

Caffeine Log

8:25 AM – 1 large mug of coffee
1:30 PM – 15 oz. Starbucks mocha doubleshot (plus guarana and ginseng)
7:30 PM – several cups of diet coke

Someone once told me, “Man shall not live by caffeine alone…”

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