The Brains Of Conservatives

It is clear to most reasonable people that there is something different about how Republicans process information. Click on the following links to get several insights into their psychological makeup:

https://www.desmog.com/2011/11/07/republican-brain-science-why-they-don-t-believe-science-or-many-other-inconvenient-truths/

https://slate.com/technology/2017/11/why-conservatives-are-more-susceptible-to-believing-in-lies.html

https://www.sapiens.org/culture/conservatives-war-on-science/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-reason-some-republicans-mistrust-science-their-leaders-tell-them-to/

https://theconversation.com/many-conservatives-have-a-difficult-relationship-with-science-we-wanted-to-find-out-why-165499

Oh, since the Evangelical Christians put their Bible above anything else, especially science, they may be the sub-group most resistant to change.

https://www.nae.org/evangelicals-anti-science/

A Skeptical Look At Havana Syndrome

"In her book Sleeping Beauties, neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to investigate fascinating stories of mass psychogenic illness where social and cultural factors result in symptoms that give voiceless people a way to be heard."

Could the collection of strange symptoms experienced by the US diplomates that began a few years ago in Cuba be a culture-bound psychosomatic syndrome? In fact, the latest evidence reported by the CIA shows no link to nefarious activity from a foreign country (link). Click on the link below for an enlightening view of the complaints:

Havana syndrome was a mass psychogenic illness?

Also this:

Fentanyl Myth

Motivated Reasoning

"Human beings are not always—in fact, probably not often—the objective, rational creatures we like to think we are. In the past few decades, psychologists have demonstrated the many ways people deceive themselves in the process of reasoning. Cognitive faculties are a distinguishing feature of humanity—lifting humankind out of caves and enabling language, arts, and sciences. Nevertheless, they are also rooted in and subject to influence, or bias, by emotions and instincts.

"One of the most significant ways information processing and decision-making becomes warped is through motivated reasoning, when biased reasoning leads to a particular conclusion or decision, a process that often occurs outside of conscious awareness."

Click on the link below for more and how to control it:

Motivated Reasoning (Confirmation Bias)

A Psychological Tool For Success?

"It’s much easier to make decisions that offer immediate satisfaction, rather than decisions that offer satisfaction decades from now.

"Why is that?

"After years of studying what separates high performers from everyone else, I’ve found that one reason is that many people feel emotionally disconnected from the person they will become in 20 to 40 years. They think of their future self as another person — a stranger or, at best, a distant relative.

"This might explain why a lot of people don’t save enough for retirement, make poor ethical decisions, or indulge in unhealthy behaviors, even though they are aware of the long-term consequences.

"So how do you create a bond with your future self so that you’re more likely to do things that will boost your chances of achieving happiness, health, and financial success later on in life?"

Click on the link below for the answer:

The power of "seeing" your future self

Science Denial Is Not New

Science denial has been ubiquitous since the dawn of modern science several hundred years ago. One would think that NOW, with what we know about science, history, and psychology, that society would wake up to the value of scientific findings. But, sadly, we know how that goes.

Click on the link below for a 300-year history of the problem:

From Onesimus to Fauci, scoffing at the experts has sent many a bonehead to the boneyard

Click here for more on science denial.

What Is Your View Of Intelligence?

"What does it mean when someone calls you smart or intelligent? According to developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, it could mean one of eight things. In this video interview, Dr. Gardner addresses his eight classifications for intelligence: writing, linguistic, mathematics, music, spatial, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal."

Click on the link below for a broad and enlightened opinion regarding intelligence:

8 Intelligences: Are You a Jack of All Trades or a Master of One?

The Role Of Sports In Youth

When I was growing up and active in athletics, the world of sports was quite a bit different than it is today. For example, the Olympics was truly an amateur event, and even so-called elite sports colleges had strict rules regarding receiving payments outside of scholarships. With the exponential growth of media coverage of not only professional sports events, but elite college and even high school events, athletes at all levels are under tremendous pressure to perform in the face of physical and mental disability, and, in many cases, financial stress. One only has to look at how some misguided people are reacting to Simone Biles' withdrawal from this year's Olympic events to understand how out of proportion to what is really important in life elite sports have become. While this link is looking at the psychology of the Olympic athlete, it puts big-time sports in general in perspective. 

Click on the link below for a podcast expose of the problems within today's culture of the "student-athlete:"

The Myth of the Student-Athlete

Education: It Has Untruths

Among the many definitions of education is the process of gaining knowledge, which can be defined as justified, true belief. Unfortunately, many processes of education have not adjusted to the information gained through science. Click on the link below for a focus on 3 untruths found commonly in education:

3 great untruths to stop telling our kids - and ourselves

Christianity And Authority: The Harm

There is much pseudoscience in religious circles regarding raising children. Here are two links exposing it to real scientific research (link) (link). Click on the link below for an enlightening video on the problem:

"PragerU made a video about parenting, and it won’t surprise you to learn that it’s garbage. Titled, 'How to Get Kids to Listen', it does literally nothing more than what the name suggests - tell parents to call for and expect obedience from their children. Of course those of you in Christian backgrounds will probably find his authoritarian mentality and approach familiar. In this video, I share my thoughts about his advice and how it relates to my history as a former evangelical parent/teacher/school administrator. While John Rosemond doesn’t address this in explicitly Christian terms, his parenting advice and underlying assumptions about obedience are deeply rooted in conservative evangelicalism, so I hope you find this helpful."

Prager "U", Christianity and Authoritarian Parenting

Understand People Before Trying To Change Them

We scientifically and humanistically oriented folks can see clearly the faulty thinking of magical thinkers. However, history shows that it is very difficult to change the thinking process of those with whom we disagree. Click on the link below for an interesting essay on a way to group US voters into 4 categories based on political history. While I and others may differ on the groupings, I think it covers pretty much the full political thought of the country.

How America Fractured into Four Parts

UFOs: What We Really Know

The subject of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) has been a thing for as long as humans have looked at the sky. With recent reports of such leading to efforts by a US Senate Committee to declassify a report on such, I thought it would be a good time for me to post a science-based look at the phenomenon. Click on the links below for clarity:

How Beliefs in Extraterrestrials and Intelligent Design Are Similar

UFO studies and the possibility of alien origin

The scientific hunt for life isn't about UFOs

All Right, Let's Talk About The UFO Thing

1957 UFO in New Mexico (Bettmann Archive)

Meaning And Purpose

"I finally understand why religious people find so much meaning and purpose in religion and why they keep coming back for more even if there's nothing there."

Christians uniformly talk about the satisfying spiritual experience of delving deeply into their Bible for truth. Atheists usually are curious about reality and experience the same emotions when they focus deeply on the search for skill and/or knowledge. Click on the link below for one of the better explanations of this human phenomenon:

I Got Holy Ghosted!

The Serious Problem Of Psychopathy

Presently there is much discussion over the role of mental illness in violent crime. Unfortunately, there is more heat than light on the subject. Yes, many perpetrators of such do have emotional and psychological issues. However, there are many varieties of such, as there is with physical medical dysfunction. This post is focusing on what is arguably the most harmful of mental dysfunctions: psychopathy. Click on the link below for a clear picture of when it usually begins in such a person's life and how hard it is to treat. If you are a believer in counter-causal free will, this will at least give you pause.

When Your Child Is a Psychopath

Admitting You Are Wrong Is Healthy

"Rethinking your opinions—and changing your views when your facts are proved wrong or someone makes a better argument—can make your life better. It can make you more successful, less anxious, and happier."

Click on the link below for an article that gives reasons and methods to overcome normal human resistance to admitting you are wrong.

How to Get Better at Admitting You Are Wrong

Chiropractic And Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, and is typically experienced as psychological stress when they participate in an action that goes against one or more of them. The research article below shows the internal conflict that many chiropractic students experience when reality conflicts with their indoctrination into pseudoscience. Please note that chiropractic for spinal pain is treated in a positive light in the article when such is either a placebo or is effective treatment that can be provided by legitimate medical professionals called physical therapists without the risks inherent with quackery.

Chiropractic student research

The Status Of Psychology

"Psychology is more popular than ever, but it has been criticized for scandals involving fraud, failed replications, and assisting torture. Many people believe psychology is in crisis. Some even question whether it can legitimately be called a science. Before he became Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger expressed concern that psychology posed a threat to religion, was responsible for empty monasteries and had superseded theology. Tomasz Witkowski’s new book Shaping Psychology: Perspectives on Legacy, Controversy and the Future of the Field provides an intriguing look at the current state of psychology, its problems and possible solutions, and hopes for the future."

Click on the link below for the book review.

Meet the Psychologists

The Demographic Most Likely To Use Alternatives To Medicine

"Younger women who are middle-class or above are more likely than any other group to use alternative medicine. But why?"

Click on the link below for an in-depth look at why the above demographic is most likely to use bogus treatments against medical problems.

Desperation and the Quest for Control: The Dangers of Alternative Medicine

Hearing Voices Of The Dead

"Scientists have identified the traits that may make a person more likely to claim they hear the voices of the dead.

"According to new research, a predisposition to high levels of absorption in tasks, unusual auditory experiences in childhood, and a high susceptibility to auditory hallucinations all occur more strongly in self-described clairaudient mediums than the general population."

Click on the link below for the latest research on clairaudience, the power or faculty of hearing something not present to the ear but regarded as having objective reality.

I have no idea why Paul had "visions" of Jesus, do you?

Scientists Are Figuring Out Why Some People Can 'Hear' The Voices of The Dead

Conspiracy Theories Are Normal, But - - -

"Do you think the referee always has it in for your team? What about a sneaking suspicion that aliens have already visited Earth?

* 'Everyone believes at least one conspiracy theory,' says sociologist Asbjørn Dyrendal from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). (* Yes, "normal", but just another sign that the brain alone cannot be trusted as a tool to understand reality.)

'These examples activate the same mechanisms that come into play when our thoughts build on themselves and turn into more entrenched conspiracy beliefs.'

"In fact, the researchers of the new study - which looked at predictors of conspiracy theory belief - conclude that in small doses, such thinking is normal for all of us."

Click on the link below for a brief look at this common mental quirk that can easily get out of hand and become dangerous. Click on this link to see how little is really known about the psychology of conspiracy theories.

We All Believe in Conspiracies a Little, But Here's When It Gets Out of Control

The Science Behind Mob Thinking

"The Capitol siege last week came as a shock to many Americans who had no idea how intense election denialism, and to an extent, white supremacy, has been brewing in American society.

"Why it matters: Research shows that this type of mob thinking has become stronger and more frequent as more news and information has moved online. Experts also suggest President Trump played a key role in weaponizing human tendencies to distrust people who look or act differently."

Magical Thinking Kills