Category: Psychology

Couple of little filler stories today: one about how people have their best ideas just before they go to sleep. This has been written about extensively by Paul Martin in Counting Sheep. The second is about nepotism in the workplace – which it can be officially confirmed does still exist contrary to the modern belief that all human social relations are now completely fair.
> From The Guardian
> From The Guardian

I can’t believe in a massive industry like this, that this hasn’t already been done. It seems incredible that companies have simply been relying on ‘industry wisdom’. That is code for: this is that way we did it before and it worked OK so let’s just do the same again.

> From BBC News

This story has come around again that being single is worse for you than smoking – this time in The Independent. I pointed out this story a couple of weeks ago in my blog. It is highly likely that this is complete rubbish. In fact here is the last line from the BBC News article: “A long-term smoker is thought to have a one in two chance of dying prematurely. Whether the lifetime risk of being single even begins to approach this figure is highly dubious.” Quite.

> From The Independent

> From BBC News

And that’s precisely how he got where he is today. So what is the difference between being labelled a psychopath and a successful businessman? A psychopath is happy to use violence to achieve his aims. That is certainly one way of looking at what it takes to succeed in business. Of course this situation is not either/or, there is a continuum. Professor Hare’s study aims to dicover what personality traits are useful in business with more than an implication that some psychopathic tendencies are useful.

Some interesting differences between the way that we drive in the UK and the States with philosophising about what it might mean. ‘In general, says psychologist Professor Steve Stradling, “roads are one of the most democratic forums in which public life is acted out.”‘ Which made me wonder what exactly Parliament was for. Then I realised – it’s for making sure more roads are built so that we can continue our ‘democratic’ processes.

Bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle bicycle bicycle

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my bike

I want to ride my bicycle

I want to ride my…

Oh, and read this illustrated story of a 3rd year medical student doing one of her rotations in a psychiatric unit.

Another raft of studies examining the therapeutic possibilities of hallucinogens for treating cancer.

The Psychology of Magic

Very interesting article from a few years ago describing a visit by Simon Singh to The Magic Circle. Although only really revealing what we already know, that magicians use misdirection to achieve some of their effects, it contains some interesting asides. They include the fact that the Magic Circle library includes whole books devoted to one trick – such as 50 ways to make a card inserted into the pack ‘magically’ rise to the top.

Tattoos help psychologist build a rapport

A psychologist decided to have tatoos when he realised it was the only way the tatooist would confide in him.

A disgusting moral position

I’ve always found it slightly bemusing when people talk about morals because I find it difficult to put my finger on what they actually are. Occasionally they seem simply to be a method for avoiding giving a meaningful reason for a line of thinking. Here Paul Bloom outlines a psychological argument that relates morals to disgust. As the author acknowledges, this is not a precise parallel, but it does provide some useful insights.