Happiness: What Is It And How Is It Achieved?

"Dr. Robert Waldinger is director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has been investigating the human experience since 1938. Now he’s sharing his findings in a new book, "The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness," and he explains all to Walter Isaacson."

Click on the link below for this positive interview:

What's the key to Happiness?

The Attitude Of Cultural Superiority: A Harmful Result

"Today, we take a look at the long, global history of invading peoples stealing the children of native families to be acculturated into the population of the invading force. Reasons can range from a tactic of war and an intention to commit genocide, usually based on an ideology of racial superiority, to concerns over shifting national demographics, simple economic dispossession, or all of the above."

Click on the link below for the grim details of a universal cultural tendency that must be directly attacked by science-based thinkers: 

Stolen Children is Stolen History, Heritage, and Culture 

Lotteries Exposed

"The history of lotteries spans over four millennia. The modern version of them arose out of a need for a form of more state funding that wouldn’t raise taxes. Jackpots have reached record levels in the past few years. And 'Americans now spend more on lottery tickets every year than on cigarettes, coffee or smartphones,' writes historian and author Jonathan Cohen. Cohen is author of 'For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America,' a comprehensive history of America’s lottery obsession. In the book, he points out that lotteries are much less profitable for states than some proponents say, but on the other hand, they are extremely lucrative for private companies that manufacture tickets. Cohen joins WITHpod to discuss the evolution of lotteries, changes he thinks should be made to the way they are run, public misconceptions about the revenue generated by games and why he says state-run lotteries shouldn’t exist."

Click on the link below for more:

Has the Lottery Played Us?

A Science-Based Look At Diversity

One can't avoid the mantra of diversity being good if exposed in any significant way to progressive media. Let's take an objective look at this.

Cultural Diversity: We all come into existence within a particular culture that may or may not be harmful to others. As long as the individuals within the culture are not responsible for harm, there should not be a rejection of them. ACCEPTING INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS VALID

Racial Diversity: This should not be an issue at all, as race is not a scientific reality but a human construct. ACCEPTING THIS PERCEIVED DIVERSITY IS VALID

Religious and Political Diversity: One first has to ponder why there is diversity in such. Most folks are indoctrinated into a particular religion and political point of view as a child. Since most are never educated about critical thinking/skepticism, most folks just accept what they are taught by their family and culture. 

The reason why there is so much religious and political diversity is that most people do not use science-based thinking to understand reality. They rely on feelings, intuition, testimony, and media that may or may not be true. Compare this to science. Initially, there IS diversity. However, the various points of view (hypotheses) are analyzed through observation and/or experimentation. From this process, opinions shown not to be supported by sufficient evidence are discarded and a provisional consensus is usually formed. The stronger the evidence, the stronger the consensus. THE FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC METHODS ARE NOT DIVERSE. 

THE MORE DIVERSE OPINIONS ARE ON A TOPIC, THE GREATER CHANCES OF ERROR. Religious and conservative political views are not valid.

The Worsening Of Attention Span

"How long can you focus on a thought – or anything – without being interrupted by your flashing phone? With a powerful distraction inches away, many people find their ability to focus has dwindled to a matter of minutes, according to our next guest. New York Times bestselling author Johann Hari explores the importance of attention and how it has been “stolen” in his latest book. The author speaks with Hari Sreenivasan about what he has found."

Click on the link below for the details:

Are You Having Trouble Paying Attention?

Nationalism Is A Bastardization Of Patriotism

"Nationalism is dangerous. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic, but Americans often forget, or may not even be aware of, how quickly enthusiastic patriotism can devolve into nationalism. Patriotism and nationalism are often used interchangeably, but they are very different. Patriotism is love and pride for one’s nation, while nationalism is the idea of the superiority of one’s culture, government, people, and nation over others."

Click on the link below for a brief, succinct, and thorough article describing this disease that is ravaging the US:

Nationalism is Dangerous

For a scholarly article looking at the history of society's evolution and coherence, click here.

Human Population: What Is The "Goldilocks" Level?

"Should we worry about overpopulation or, as Elon Musk has argued, should we worry more about underpopulation? How many people could live on our planet and how close are we to reaching the "Limits to Growth"? In this video, we look at how much we know and what we can conclude from this."

There has been an honest discussion regarding the best level of humanity on our finite planet since the majority of human societies have become "developed". In my opinion, the answer is still elusive but we must attempt to get to the "Goldilocks" level and maintain it as soon as possible. Click on the link below for an interesting presentation on this important matter:

Is Elon Musk right in saying that we are too few people?

Caste Systems And Race

"Isabel Wilkerson is a journalist and author who in 1994 became the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. Preet spoke with Wilkerson in August 2020 about her bestselling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Wilkerson discussed the difference between caste and race, the ways that Nazi Germany drew inspiration from American racism, and the need for radical empathy as we deal with our own enduring caste system."

Click on the link below for a podcast taking an in-depth look at the USA's caste system:

America's Caste System

A Look At Progress

"Progress often feels like it only happens when no one is looking. Because it's one step forward two steps back, it's easy to get fixated on the backsteps and feel like no progress is happening at all. The irony is that by focusing on the backsteps, we stand to catalyze change."

I would disagree with the "one step forward two steps back" meme. The math works out to steady REgression. How about "two steps forward one step back?" Anyway, click on the link below for a "glass-half-full" way of looking at human progress:

The Backstep Paradox

The History Of Voter Suppression In The USA 101: All You Need To Know

"On this episode of Now & Then, “Voting Rights: The Big Picture,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman talk about the history of voter suppression with Carol Anderson, professor of African American Studies at Emory University and author of One Person No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy and The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. The trio discusses the concept of the “consent of the governed” during the founding period, the emergence of Jim Crow laws after the Civil War, and the evolution of voter suppression efforts in the modern era. How have politicians justified restrictive voting policies? How do these policies damage American democracy? And what strategies might protect the franchise today? "

Click Here for the podcast

Correlation Is Not Causation, But - - -

- - - please show me the value of religion here:

Least Religious Countries

Most Religious Countries

The Most & Least Stable Countries in the World

Top 10 Most Loved Countries in the World

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

History Of Hate Crime Legislation

"Hate crimes in the United States have reached their highest levels in more than a decade, prompting bipartisan support for legislation to combat them and increased resources for law enforcement. But the recent COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act has spurred resistance from an unexpected source: activist groups that represent the people these laws are meant to protect.

"This week on The Experiment, our correspondent, Tracie Hunte, investigates the 150-year history of legislating against racist violence in the U.S. and asks: Have we been policing hate all wrong?"

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast on the subject:

The Hate Crime Conundrum

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

Lessons From The Early History Of Humans

"'Civilized to Death' counters the idea that progress is inherently good, arguing that the 'progress' defining our age is analogous to an advancing disease."

Libertarians like to claim that unfettered capitalism and personal freedom are inherently good, and humanity needs to get back to its cultural roots of strong individualism (link). They criticize the collectivism of democratic socialism/regulated capitalism, let alone true communism/socialism. Click on the link below for a historical look at humanity at its beginning to get some insight regarding the good and bad of human society organizations:

Is Civilization Our Greatest Accomplishment or Worst Mistake?

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

Infrastructure: It Is More Than Things

"Researchers concerned with academic-achievement gaps have begun to study, with increasing interest and enthusiasm, a set of personal qualities—often referred to as noncognitive skills, or character strengths—that include resilience, conscientiousness, optimism, self-control, and grit. These capacities generally aren’t captured by our ubiquitous standardized tests, but they seem to make a big difference in the academic success of children, especially low-income children."

Presently in the USA, there is a political and economic discussion regarding investment for infrastructure. While the Democrats want to expand the definition of infrastructure to include lifting up those who are disadvantaged, the Republicans have a more narrowed view (surprise, surprise).

Click on the link below for an expansive look at a bed-rock problem that is poorly addressed in society presently:

How to Teach Students Resilience

Immigration's History In The USA

"Once you begin to notice examples of how the past is still present, they become difficult to ignore. Trump enacted the most stringent border closure of his administration by citing the threat of disease, even though COVID‑19 outbreaks were far worse inside the United States than just outside its borders (in fact, Americans were actively deporting the virus abroad). His persistent blaming of the Chinese for outbreaks in the U.S. helped incite violence against Asian Americans that continues today, mirroring similar attacks from centuries past.

"In moving toward the more inclusive system that some elected officials now say they want, the country would be not returning to traditional American values, but establishing new ones." 

Click on the link below for a humbling expose of the hypocritical history of immigration in the USA.

U.S. Immigration Policy Has Always Been Exclusionary

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

A Look At "Reconstruction"

"Today we take a look at the often-overlooked decade of Reconstruction in the wake of the Civil War. After hundreds of years of slavery, Reconstruction was a brief moment of relative democracy and equality before the white power structure reasserted itself and instated the policies that would be known as "Jim Crow Laws" which would last another 80 years."

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast regarding why we still have a racial divide in the USA.

Our Second Founding (Reconstruction)