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Category Archives: Psychology
What’s at Issue in the Abortion Debate
Abortion isn’t exactly a “third rail” of American politics, since people yell about it all the time. But it is a third rail of rational discussion. Many people have dogmatic beliefs about it and they react with blind rage to … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Abortion, Alabama, Autonomy, Dogmatism, Fetus, Georgia, Heartbeat law, Heresy, Infanticide, Pro-choice, Pro-life, Rational debate, Right to life, State religion
2 Comments
Follow Courage and Good Sense
I’m an optimistic kind of guy. I can usually find the “half full” in any glass, no matter how empty it is. But even I get discouraged sometimes. Most often, it’s because of human irrationality. The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow … Continue reading
Three Ways to Live
There are three basic ways to deal with any situation: Method 1: Complain about it and be unhappy. Method 2: Accept it and be happy. Method 3: Try to change it, and then apply Method 1 or 2 to the … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Psychology
Tagged Acceptance, Complaining, Happiness, Life, Making decisions, Practical wisdom, Self-confidence, Serenity, Solving problems, Stoicism, Wisdom
3 Comments
Thinking Sideways
There are three kinds of people I like most in the world. First, the ones who tell me how incredibly good-looking I am. Even though I worked on Capitol Hill, I still haven’t met anyone who’s able to lie that … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Creativity, Dimensions of morality, Incomensurable, Incommensurability, Jonathan Haidt, Modes of thinking, Moral dimensions, Moral foundations, Moral intuitions, Moral Psychology, Multiple intelligences, Mysticism, Pragmatism, The Righteous Mind, Thinking, Tolerance, Viewpoints
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My Two Transgender Encounters
I’ve known a couple of people who these days would be called “transgender,” though I’m not sure if they themselves would embrace the term. Using the grammatical term ”gender” as not-quite-a-synonym for “sex” creates an anti-concept that confuses any discussion in … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology, Society
Tagged Anti-concept, Eccentricities, Feminism, Gender, Political correctness, Sophistry, Transgender, Transsexual, Women’s sports
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Note to Self
What advice would you, as an adult, give to your 10-year-old self? Yes, a lot of people have written about that. The latest is psychologist Damon Ashworth, whose blog I read. Dr. Ashworth’s advice to himself is good, but rather general. … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Life, Psychology
Tagged Advice, Child psychology, Childhood, Growing up, Human Relations, Kindness, Life experience, Note to Self, Respect, Wisdom
4 Comments
Don’t Mistake Hate for Logic
We’ve probably all made the error of mistaking hate for logic. Of course, we didn’t realize it at the time. But that’s what we were doing. Yesterday’s blog post got me thinking about the problem. On my “Top 10” list … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Human Relations, Life, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology
Tagged Affirming the consequent, Belisarius, Bias, Byzantine Empire, Empress Theodora, Hate, Hatred, History, Justinian, Logic, Logical fallacies, Loyalty, Modus Ponens, Ostrogorsky, Rationality, Reason, Social Conflict, Syllogism
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