"Pretending the science is emotionless and apathetic is counterproductive to the very things that drove us to do the science in the first place. Although we should attempt to be aware of, and distance, our emotions from the objective, data-based analysis of our research, admitting and demonstrating our passions (and why we feel so passionate) is critical in distilling science into the general population. Science should be done rationally and objectively but driven by emotional characteristics such as wonder, curiosity, and fascination."
Human knowledge has progressed exponentially since the dawn of modern science. It is no longer reasonable to accept claims without sufficient objective evidence. The harm from religion, alternatives to medicine, conservatism, and all other false beliefs will be exposed on this blog by reporting the findings of science. This blog will also reinforce what should be the basics of education: History, Civics, Financial Literacy, Media Literacy, and Critical/Science Based Thinking.
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
The Need For Appealing To Emotions When Communicating Science
"Pretending the science is emotionless and apathetic is counterproductive to the very things that drove us to do the science in the first place. Although we should attempt to be aware of, and distance, our emotions from the objective, data-based analysis of our research, admitting and demonstrating our passions (and why we feel so passionate) is critical in distilling science into the general population. Science should be done rationally and objectively but driven by emotional characteristics such as wonder, curiosity, and fascination."
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Neoliberalism, Bullying, And Inequality
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Homelessness And Policing
"To better understand the potential challenges of the law enforcement response to homelessness, the RAND Corporation and the Police Executive Research Forum, on behalf of the National Institute of Justice, convened a workshop of practitioners and researchers to discuss current law enforcement responses to homelessness and identify the highest-priority needs to support and improve existing efforts. During this meeting, four major themes were identified. First, there is a common set of factors underlying homelessness that law enforcement can address. Second, homelessness and overall health and wellness are deeply intertwined issues that should be treated together. Third, effective responses require the collaboration of stakeholders across governments, the private sector, and the community. Finally, acquiring and sharing data is necessary to understand the nature and scope of homelessness in each jurisdiction and to measure the effect of any implemented strategies. All four of these themes are vital to understanding the current challenges confronting the implementation of innovative police responses to homelessness."
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Donald J Trump: The Dullest Knive In The Drawer (BUT - - -)
"Well, it turns out there’s another form of intelligence, called 'emotional intelligence.'
"Emotional intelligence is a concept developed by two psychologists, John Mayer of the University of New Hampshire and Yale’s Peter Salovey, and popularized by Dan Goleman in his 1996 book of the same name.
"Mayer and Salovey define emotional intelligence as the ability to do two things: 'understand and manage our own emotions,' and 'recognize and influence the emotions of others.'
"True, Trump hasn’t displayed much capacity for the first. He’s thin-skinned, narcissistic, and vindictive. As dozens of Republican foreign policy experts have put it: 'He is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood. He does not encourage conflicting views. He lacks self-control and acts impetuously. He cannot tolerate criticism.'
"Okay, but what about Mayer and Salovey’s second aspect of emotional intelligence — influencing the emotions of others?
"This is where Trump’s brain outperforms the brains of ordinary mortals. He knows how to manipulate people. He has an uncanny ability to discover their emotional vulnerabilities — their fears, anxieties, prejudices, and darkest desires — and use them for his own purposes.
"To put it another way, Trump is an extraordinarily talented conman."
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Cults: A Hard Nut To Crack
Sunday, January 28, 2024
Humor And Laughter: Scientists Are Still Trying To Understand It
"Many, it turns out. As psychologist Christian Jarrett noted in a 2013 article featuring that riddle as its title, scientists still struggle to explain exactly what makes people laugh. Indeed, the concept of humor is itself elusive. Although everyone understands intuitively what humor is, and dictionaries may define it simply as “the quality of being amusing,” it is difficult to define in a way that encompasses all its aspects. It may evoke the merest smile or explosive laughter; it can be conveyed by words, images or actions and through photos, films, skits or plays; and it can take a wide range of forms, from innocent jokes to biting sarcasm and from physical gags and slapstick to a cerebral double entendre.
Saturday, December 23, 2023
The Prisoner's Dilemma: How Cooperation With Protecting One's Interest Is The Key To Survival
"The prisoner's dilemma models many real-world situations involving strategic behavior. In casual usage, the label "prisoner's dilemma" may be applied to any situation in which two entities could gain important benefits from cooperating or suffer from failing to do so, but find it difficult or expensive to coordinate their activities." (Wikipedia)
Monday, December 18, 2023
Psychological Science: A Key To Understanding And Combating Health Misinformation
- RECOMMENDATION 1 Avoid repeating misinformation without including a correction.
- RECOMMENDATION 2 Collaborate with social media companies to understand and reduce the spread of harmful misinformation.
- RECOMMENDATION 3 Use misinformation correction strategies with tools already proven to promote healthy behaviors
- RECOMMENDATION 4 Leverage trusted sources to counter misinformation and provide accurate health information.
- RECOMMENDATION 5 Debunk misinformation often and repeatedly using evidence-based methods.
- RECOMMENDATION 6 Prebunk misinformation to inoculate susceptible audiences by building skills and resilience from an early age.
- RECOMMENDATION 7 Demand data access and transparency from social media companies for scientific research on misinformation
- RECOMMENDATION 8 Fund basic and translational research into the psychology of health misinformation, including effective ways to counter it.
Click on the link below for the full 44-page American Psychological Association Consensus Statement:
Friday, December 15, 2023
Intellectualism Is A 4-Letter Word To Republicans
- Ignorance, or an aversion to reason, has allowed things like gun violence and racism to define American culture.
- Anti-intellectual societies fall prey to tribalism and simplistic explanations, are emotionally immature, and often seek violent solutions.
- Corporate interests encourage anti-intellectualism, conditioning Americans into conformity and passive acceptance of institutional dominance.
Saturday, November 11, 2023
Animal Studies In Psychology
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Antisemitism: It's Not Partisan But, - - -
Thursday, November 2, 2023
Want To Achieve Your Goals? Be Angry?
I have posted on the emotion of anger in the past and presented both the good and the bad regarding such. Click on the link below for another positive effect of this maligned emotion:
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Religious Apologists: Your Services Are Useless
All religious claims have been evaluated by branches of science with the strong probability that there is nothing new that will change the findings that religion is a construct of the human brain for comforting and controlling.
You instead need to adopt the state of the art regarding knowledge/information encased within the scientific disciplines of modern science. Since religion takes advantage of the weakness of the unassisted brain to understand reality, the understanding of the basic science of psychology is necessary to change the brains of you folks.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
The Issues With Diagnosing Psychological Problems
There are many behaviors that do not comport with societal approval and/or expectations. Unfortunately, even educated folks tend to assess such superficially and ignore the nuances and subtleties of understanding aberrant behavior that psychological professionals are skilled in diagnosing. Click on the link below for an interesting and informative podcast on the subject:
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Positive Masculinity: The Antidote To Toxic Masculinity
Thursday, August 24, 2023
A Deluded Brain CAN Be Changed!
This implies that despite the political leanings seen through our brains, how we vote—and thus the cause of our political affiliations—may not be set in stone, Schreiber says.
“'If we believe that we’re hardwired for our political views, then it’s really easy for me to discount in you in a conversation. ‘Oh, you’re just a conservative because you have a red brain,’ or ‘Oh, you’re a liberal because you have a blue brain,' Schreiber explains. 'But that’s just not the case. The brain changes. The brain is dynamic.'
Saturday, August 12, 2023
A Deep-Dive Into Trumpism/Conservatism
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
IQ: What Is It And How Important Is It
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Personality Tests: Are They Worthwhile?
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
A Look At "Only" Children
"'Onlies' don’t seem to be any worse off than kids with siblings. So why do stereotypes about them persist?" (Atlantic Magazine)