Category: Evolutionary Psychology
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You’re not intuitive, you’re lazy
Another bit of dried grass just fractured a even-toed ungulate’s spine. I may have to punch the next person who tells me they’re “intuitive.” (Of course, if they’re really intuitive, they should be able to see it coming and avoid the blow… but I’m willing to bet there’s a contusion coming.) Why so anti-intuitive, Steven?…
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Does my cat have free will… or is that a hairball?
A famous Zen story goes like this: A monk asks the master, Joshu, “Does a dog have Buddha-nature?” Joshu answers, “Mu!” This story has become known as the Mu koan — a koan being one of those semi-meaningless statements that, by beating your answer-seeking mind against the unanswerable statement, may, eventually, after a lot of…
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Wrong about being right
Every now and then the “check oil” light on your car’s dashboard turns red… so you add a quart of 10w-40 and go on your merry way… or your grumpy way… or whatever way you were going. Some time later, the light lights, you toss in another quart (unless you’re driving in Europe, where you…
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We *are* in the Matrix
What follows is a book review for a book I haven’t read yet (I just ordered it). I’m reprinting this here not only to point to what seems like a great read, but because the review itself highlights some of my all-time favorite cognitive biases and thinking errors. While neither the book nor the review…
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Abraham Maslow did yoga?
I don’t know what it is about breakfast, but when I’m making eggs is when I get hit with a lot of interesting ideas. This morning’s was, “Abraham Maslow is upside-down! Stand his ideas on their heads and it’s more accurate.” Any questions? 😉 Okay, let me elaborate. Maslow is famous for his Hierarchy of…
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I’m positively negative
I was featured in a Toronto Star article about self-help and The Secret (www.thestar.com/article/193263) and since then have been getting quite the collection of emails in response. My favorites are, of course, the people who agree with me and think I’m smart and funny. I love when people agree with me. But in second place…
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The (hidden) Secret
After weeks of reading/hearing/watching the back-and-forth about “The Secret,” tonight I realized that what *most* interests me is NOT whether it’s real or not, but the *type* of discourse that has surrounded it. More specifically, it’s incredible to watch both supporters and detractors cling tenaciously to a belief (rather than examine the belief, or even…
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Humans, the greatest thing since… uh… well…
Don’t get me started on “Intelligent Design.” I’ll just say one thing and then leave it alone: If there were an “intelligent” designer for these things we call bodies, don’t you think he/she/it would have made it a bit easier to scratch the middle of your back? Or to find a woman’s g-spot? What was…
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How to Become a Millionaire Self-Help Guru (it’s easy!)
Now you can become a millionaire as Self-Help Guru! Just follow this simple six-step plan and in no time you’ll be living the life you thought you would have if you followed the advice of Self-Help Gurus! STEP 1 – Pick some ubiquitous aspect of being human, something that a large number of people experience…
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Last Meditator Standing… or Survivor, Tibet
No, I’m not proposing a new reality show where we put 10 meditators in a room, issue concentration challenges to them, and see who America votes for as the best meditator (though, now that I write it… nah, never mind). What I want to talk about today is the problem with monks and meditators. Not…
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Off off damn arms!
When’s the last time you were depressed about having 2 arms? Seriously, when is the last time you went to therapy complaining about the condition of having arms? Never? Okay, maybe it’s a bad example. How ’bout legs? Ever go to a workshop to resolve your “having legs” issue? Ever complain to your friends that…
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The day I stopped nodding my head
I hopped in a car to ride down the spiritual path at the age of 7. By 10 I was comparing notes with 63 year old physicians on the clinical application of hypnosis for anaesthesia and pain relief. And off it went from there… biofeedback, Vedanta, Shaivism, Tai Chi, Aikido, Taoism, Vipassana, Zen and Tibetan…