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Category Archives: Human Relations
What’s Your Choice?
Some people might get mad at me for saying this, but I’m against kicking puppies. I’m also against being mean to children and old people. I like democracy but I agree with Winston Churchill that “it’s the worst form of … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology, Society
Tagged Belief, Choice, Decline of violence, Evolutionary Psychology, Existential choice, Foundations of morality, Genetic influences on belief, Group beliefs, Moral Choice, Morality, Retributive justice, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature
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Compare and Contrast
“Compare and contrast.” It’s a staple of essay questions on college final exams. But be careful about applying it to life. Many people make themselves unhappy by comparing themselves to others who seem better off. They think that the other … Continue reading
What You Can Do About the World
The world can be a scary place. It is now. As one website commenter remarked: “We wake up, have breakfast, send the kids to school, walk the dog, go to work, come home and everything seems just fine, and then … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Fake news, Hateful rhetoric, Humility, Hysteria, Inflammatory rhetoric, Intellectual humility, Internet, Live and let live, News Media, Peaceful cooperation, Peaceful disagreement, Propaganda, Rational Argument, Social discord, Social Media
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What We Are and What We Do
Would you like to join the Chess Club? It’s for people who like chess, like to talk about it, and like to play it. It’s a human group. You can be a member if you satisfy at least one of … Continue reading
Turn Strangers into Friends
How can strangers quickly become friends? Or at least avoid being enemies? On my way back from vacation, I passed through Miami International Airport. It’s an enormous place, so I spent a half hour walking from one terminal to another. … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged America, Group identity, Group membership, Group solidarity, In-Group, Leadership, Out-Group, Outreach, Social groups
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Christakis’s Blueprint for Sanity
I’ve started reading Yale sociologist Nicholas Christakis’s book Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society. Christakis is something of a hero not only of free speech, but of sanity itself. His wife Erika, also on the faculty, was denounced … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Blueprint, Christakis, Mob hysteria, Nicholas Christakis, Protesters, Psychology, Yale
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When Smart People Get Stupid Ideas
If you want to hear stupid ideas, talk to a stupid person. But if you want to hear incredibly, mind-bogglingly stupid ideas, talk to a smart person. It’s not a new insight. Political pundit William F. Buckley once said that … Continue reading
