Where are the boundaries in forming our parts? We are each a collection of trillions of cells in a society of millions and billions of other people, yet—barring abnormalities–we feel like whole units with single identities. It’s not hard to poke holes in this identity illusion, but many of us keep searching for the essential …
Chocolate has a psychology. Nougat does not, even though both confections are popular, with long histories. According to legend, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés did not enjoy his first cup of chocolate, offered to him by the Aztec ruler Montezuma. It was bitter; but, with the addition of sugar became a fad that swept Spain …
The psychological differences between a frog’s vision and ours should not be overlooked. The frog’s vision is passive and its responses are automatic. The bug-shaped templates in its eyes, called receptive fields, will “capture” a bug that flies by and the frog will enjoy a meal. Frogs can’t pay attention. Stimuli are never ambiguous. A …
The assignment for today is to write something that is not true about human nature. While it’s not impossible, the assignment may take a moment’s thought. Whatever human nature is, it’s full of contradictions, varying with one’s heredity and with the situations we face. The term is irreplaceable, but it’s slippery and treacherous. It’s worth …
We certainly did not evolve to become bankers and dress designers. As far as anyone can tell, the pressures we had to defend against were infections, predators, murder (ancient and common), and starvation, with suicide and childbirth somewhat lower in incidence. Accidental deaths by falling and drowning must have been noticeable, particularly for children. The …
Old beliefs and modern science sometimes conflict in predicting human behavior.