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It’s not hard to understand, but most of us don’t even want to try…
The dust has settled, the headlines have been forgotten and, three weeks later, the Melbourne Cup is just another public holiday. But, for a short instance, a large number of people raised an objection...
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What the hell is wrong with us?
Welcome to humanity: a species of short-sighted, venal, self-absorbed, stupid, profligate feeders. And that’s the good stuff. This is what evolution primed us for – based on a tiny population, nasty...
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Why we get angry at the wrong things…
There seems to be a lot of angry people out there. On the roads, on the airwaves, on social media – everyone is pissed off at the world around them. Everybody wants things to go their way – and rants...
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The Prisoner’s Dilemma and Compassion…
Imagine the following scenario: two prisoners are held in solitary confinement and have no way of communicating with one another. Each is told, individually, that there are three options: (1) if you...
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FYI: Emotional intelligence is not arse licking…
So, anyone who’s spent any time working for a large organisation will have come across the “latest management fad” – the supposed panacea that will make everything better. From Myers-Briggs* to...
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Why we dehumanise others to justify evil…
We’re all aware of the huge number of people currently seeking refuge in Europe in order to escape horrible conditions in countries like Syria. We’ve all seen the disturbing pictures of drowned little...
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Urinal chess – Nature or Nurture?
There’s an important phenomenon, well-known to my male readers, that is likely to be a complete mystery to any female ones: urinal etiquette. The rules around urinals are (to men) extremely clear, and...
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Using social media for good instead of evil…
If you’ve read my blogs, you’ll already be familiar with cognitive bias: the universal human tendency to make the same types of errors in our thinking in certain types of situations. Probably resulting...
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Optimistic pessimism…
Apologies for the gap in blogs – it’s been a big few months with an interstate move (including moving my practice) and an overseas trip. But things are settling down, and I hope to write more...
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I don’t remember: Why your memory isn’t nearly as good as you think it is…
Chances are, you probably think that your memory is either pretty good, or really bad. You also probably think that (despite your own experience), human memory is like what Hollywood would have you...
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Brexit was an inside hack…
I’m going to start this post with a personal admission: I’m so angry at what’s just happened in the UK. The loss of Britain’s membership to the EU, the potential damage to the EU itself, and the denial...
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Me, me, me: The growing danger of narcissism in politics and society…
Modern freedoms are remarkable; it’s unlikely that there’s ever been a time in which individuals in the first world have had so much latitude. We have access to more than ever before: information,...
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Why are we so angry?
Are you angry? Maybe you’ve noticed that more people seem to be angry, intolerant, frustrated, or stressed – on the road, at work, in the supermarket? Angry politicians, angry protesters, angry...
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We don’t need any more anger, we need action (and a lot more compassion)…
So, whilst this isn’t a political blog, you’ve probably figured out that I’m not a Trump fan. After the US election last week, like many, I was stunned, and weirded out, and frightened for the future,...
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Demystifying the unconscious…
It’s been a while, so I thought I’d try something a bit more challenging than usual, and less ranty! I’ve chosen a deliberately obtuse title today – so let’s start with some demystification of that…...
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The illusion of control and choice (#nofreewill)…
Following on from my last entry – I wanted to explore more on the topic of unconscious versus conscious choice, and our ability to make conscious choices versus our perception of that ability. Let’s...
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Compassion and the human operating system…
I’d like to speculate a bit today (OK, a lot) and, in the process, mash-up some ideas from evolutionary psychology, computer science, and modern psychological therapy. Bear with me, and let’s see what...
View ArticleThe Expert Fallacy (or why politicians are full of crap)…
Apologies for the very long hiatus on this blog – I’m hoping to get back into it more regularly, and have a good 10 topics waiting for me to write about. But for now… Out of the recent horror of...
View ArticleAre you a Philosophical Zombie?
How do you know that you exist? OK, I’m not going down the hackneyed “are you a brain in a box?” or “are we in a simulation?”. Better thinkers than myself have addressed these (actually serious)...
View ArticleThoughts for the New Year: Humans are often only one layer deep, and that...
Here’s something that’s disturbing about humans: when it comes to our most strongly held opinions, the more strongly they’re held, the less likely there’s anything of substance underneath. Especially...
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