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Category Archives: Human Relations
Four Deadly Errors
Four deadly errors creep into most debates about social policy. They are the moralistic fallacy, the realistic fallacy, the rationalistic fallacy, and the existentialist fallacy: My new book Why Sane People Believe Crazy Things Second Edition helps you spot fallacies … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Society
Tagged arguments, errors, Fallacies, Logic
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In Defense of Ugly People
I want to say a word in defense of ugly people. I don’t mean people who are morally or spiritually ugly, but people who just had bad luck in their appearance. Yesterday in an online discussion, an ugly woman posted … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology
Tagged beauty, fairness, Genetics, Kindness, ugliness
4 Comments
We Are All Pythagoreans Now
“We are all Keynesians now.”— U.S. President Richard M. Nixon, 1971 If you took geometry in school, then you probably know the Pythagorean theorem: “in a right triangle, the square of the longest side equals the sum of the squares … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Psychology, Science
Tagged Courage, Justice, Morality, Positive attitude, Wisdom
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Publication Day for Why Sane People Believe Crazy Things!
Today is publication day for the second edition of my book Why Sane People Believe Crazy Things: How Belief Can Help or Hurt Social Peace! The new edition adds a chapter about the foundations of morality, as well as various … Continue reading
Two Views of Human Rights
Human rights are important: on that, everyone agrees. But that’s about the only point of agreement. A big problem is that people don’t think about what human rights are or where they come from. Rights are a claim that we … Continue reading
Healthy Societies Are Efficient
Efficiency isn’t everything, but healthy societies and people need it. If you want the deep explanation of why that’s true, read about Charles Darwin’s observations of birds (finches) on the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America. Each island … Continue reading
Is Racism a Useful Concept?
I recently participated in an academic discussion about whether or not “racism” is a useful concept. Amazingly, the discussion was cordial and rational except for the moderator and one participant who was a graduate student in some version of victims’ … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Psychology
Tagged Kendi, Lysenko, Race relations, Racism, Self-reliance
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Good Advice from George Washington
Until quite recently, U.S. President George Washington was considered the ideal American: honest, brave, wise, and patriotic. None of that has changed. Washington offered some good advice about how to have a healthy society and a just government: “We must … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Political Science
Tagged Community, Evolution, George Washington, In-Group, Kin Selection, Out-Group, Social Conflict, Social trust
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Don’t “Other” Other People
Most people aren’t familiar with the idea of “othering,” but they are familiar with what it is. They’ve seen it. They’ve done it to other people, and they’ve had it done to them. To “other” a group of people is … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Political Science, Psychology, Science
Tagged Evolution, Group bias, In-Group, Kin Selection, Othering, Out-Group, Partisanship, Social Conflict
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Minding Our Own Business
I’m pretty sure that the Dalai Lama quote is fake, but it’s still true. “Not my effing problem” can be a path not only to inner peace, but also to social peace. Think for a moment about what it means … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Political Science
Tagged Arrogance, Humility, Liberty, Life, Respect, Respect for others, Social Conflict, Wisdom
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The Thousand-Year View 