Month: July 2020

Activism, Animals, Eco, Politics, Psychology, RightsLeave a comment

Don’t blame cats for destroying wildlife – shaky logic is leading to moral panic

Fernando Kaskais

Authors William S. LynnResearch Scientist, Clark University Arian WallachLecturer, Centre for Compassionate Conservation, University of Technology Sydney Francisco J. Santiago-ÁvilaPostdoctoral Researcher, University of Wisconsin-Madison Disclosure statement Arian Wallach receives funding from the Australian Research Council for research on cats, and from Alley Cat Allies for a workshop on cats in 2017. Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila and William S. Lynn do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. A number of conservationists claim cats are a zombie apocalypse for … Continue reading Don’t blame cats for destroying wildlife – shaky logic is leading to moral panic

Brain, Hypocrisy, Living, PsychologyLeave a comment

‘Success Addicts’ Choose Being Special Over Being Happy

Fernando Kaskais

The pursuit of achievement distracts from the deeply ordinary activities and relationships that make life meaningful. by ARTHUR C. BROOKS Imagine reading a story titled “The Relentless Pursuit of Booze.” You would likely expect a depressing story about a person in a downward alcoholic spiral. Now imagine instead reading a story titled “The Relentless Pursuit of Success.” That would be an inspiring story, wouldn’t it? Maybe—but maybe not. It might well be the story of someone whose never-ending quest for more and more success leaves them perpetually unsatisfied and incapable of happiness. Physical dependency keeps alcoholics committed to their vice, … Continue reading ‘Success Addicts’ Choose Being Special Over Being Happy

Brain, Curiositys, Health, PsychologyLeave a comment

What 8 Super Common Stress Dreams Are Trying To Tell You

Fernando Kaskais

The mystery of why you dream your teeth are falling out, revealed. By JR Thorpe Everybody’s had those dreams where you’re endlessly packing a bag that overflows, or you’re late for a crucial exam, or your passport disappears in the middle of an imaginary airport. Stress dreams are your brain’s vague way of telling you you’re stressed in your waking life. Sometimes, decoding a stress dream can help you understand what’s going on. “All of our dreams are just mash-ups of our previous experiences, whether good or bad,” Bill Fish, certified sleep science coach and head of the National Sleep Foundation, tells Bustle. “Our brains never shut … Continue reading What 8 Super Common Stress Dreams Are Trying To Tell You

Literature, Living, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Nick Cave on Living with Loss and the Central Paradox of Grief as a Portal to Aliveness

Fernando Kaskais

“The paradoxical effect of losing a loved one is that their sudden absence can become a feverish comment on that which remains… a luminous super-presence.” BY MARIA POPOVA Perched near the untimely end of a life strewn with losses, contemplating what remains when a loved one vanishes into “the drift called the infinite,” Emily Dickinson wrote: Each that we lose takes part of us;A crescent still abides,Which like the moon, some turbid night,Is summoned by the tides. I too have waded through the tide pool with its lapping waves of grief. It is impossible to get through a life — through half … Continue reading Nick Cave on Living with Loss and the Central Paradox of Grief as a Portal to Aliveness

Brain, Globalization, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

PROJECTION AND THE INNER-OUTER CONUNDRUM

Fernando Kaskais

by Patrick Herbert, Contributor Waking Times One of the most fascinating social observations I have made is the way in which humans project their inner world onto those who they do not yet know. After all, what is within is expressed in the without. It is a reasonable assumption to make that there would be no other way with which we would begin the process of learning about another individual than to begin with a template that is most familiar to us: ourself. At that moment in time, we have an assortment of likes and dislikes that we know well. Social … Continue reading PROJECTION AND THE INNER-OUTER CONUNDRUM

Hypocrisy, Literature, Media&Culture, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

The inward gaze

Fernando Kaskais

In Hermann Hesse’s novels, as in his life, self-discovery walked a tightrope between deep insights and profound solipsism M M Owen is a British nonfiction author and chief technical writer at Studio Mistfit. He obtained his PhD at the University of British Columbia.Listen here Edited by Pam Weintraub In 1963, Timothy Leary, the high priest of LSD, anointed a German author, Hermann Hesse, the ‘poet of the interior journey’. Hesse had died a year earlier, at the age of 85. But the novels he left behind, Leary declared in The Psychedelic Review, were a ‘priceless manual’ for navigating the acid trip. Literature is full … Continue reading The inward gaze

Curiositys, Freak Religion, Freak U.S.A, Psychology, Racism1 Comment

Picturing God as a White Man Is Linked to Racial Stereotypes about Leaders

Fernando Kaskais

Pervasive racial images associated with the Almighty shape who people see as worthy of being in charge By Daisy Grewal  Nationwide protests against racial injustice have shone a spotlight on U.S. corporations’ lack of diversity.Despite decades of initiatives to increase the number of Black executives, only 1 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black. While there are many reasons for this disparity—including systemic racism and discrimination and a lack of economic opportunity—psychologists have recently uncovered a startling potential factor: the tendency to view God as white. Christianity, the dominant religion in the U.S., conceptualizes the deity as the ultimate leader. And the … Continue reading Picturing God as a White Man Is Linked to Racial Stereotypes about Leaders

Curiositys, Health, Living, PsychologyLeave a comment

Why It’s Good to Be Old, Even in a Pandemic

Fernando Kaskais

That aging can make us better than ever may be the biggest dirty little secret of all time. By Bob Brody Eight out of every 10 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic reported in the United States have happened to adults 65and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.So you could be forgiven for concluding this is a lousy time to be over 65. But at age 68, much to my surprise, I find it to be decidedly wonderful. How, you ask, could this possibly be true? Old means you’re history. Old means you’re falling apart. Old means your days … Continue reading Why It’s Good to Be Old, Even in a Pandemic

Brain, Curiositys, Health, Living, PsychologyLeave a comment

The Real Reason Why Happiness Is Fleeting

Fernando Kaskais

Evolutionary psychology research explains why we aren’t always happy. by Rob Henderson Why aren’t we always happy? When I was 17, I was in basic military training. I remember thinking, I’m going to be so happy when this is over, imagining the fulfillment from being a full-fledged member of the U.S. Air Force.  When I was 24, I was applying to colleges. I didn’t think I’d get into any of them. I applied only for what I now know are called “reach” schools. I thought if I won that lottery, I’d be happy. Most of us are familiar with this feeling: Thinking that once you … Continue reading The Real Reason Why Happiness Is Fleeting

Literature, Media&Culture, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Who Do You Confess Your Sins To?

Fernando Kaskais

by OLIVIA PARKES Olivia Parkes is an artist and writer based in Berlin and Iowa City, where she is currently a candidate for an MFA in Fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Catherine Lacey’s novel “Pew” centers around a silent mysterious newcomer Set in a small town in an abstracted American South, Catherine Lacey’s Pewtraces a week in the lifeof its eponymous narrator, shortly after they are discovered sleeping on a church bench by the congregation and promptly nicknamed—like a dog—after the place they were found. Pew is difficult to classify: androgynous and ethnically ambiguous, itinerant and without memory of either … Continue reading Who Do You Confess Your Sins To?