Are narcissists born or made? Colloquially, narcissism often refers to the pursuit of personal gratification through the admiration of others, often for pretty superficial or vain reasons. Narcissism becomes a pathology when it disrupts relationships, work, financial affairs, or other parts of your life. Narcissistic Personality Disorder, then, is defined as “mental condition in whichContinue reading “How Does Someone Become a Narcissist?”
Category Archives: Science
Are Some Animals ‘More Conscious’ than Others?
In recent years, debates about animal consciousness have moved on from the question of whether any non- human animals are conscious to the questions of which animals are conscious and what form their conscious experiences take. How can we make sense of variation in consciousness across the animal kingdom? Animal consciousness research rests on theContinue reading “Are Some Animals ‘More Conscious’ than Others?”
Will Trump’s COVID Diagnosis Change the Outcome of the Election?
In case you somehow haven’t heard, on Friday morning, President Trump tweeted that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID. Like everything else at this point, Trump’s COVID diagnosis has been politicized, leaving one big question on everyone’s mind: how might this impact the election? Here are all the angles: Campaigning and Fundraising:Continue reading “Will Trump’s COVID Diagnosis Change the Outcome of the Election?”
Why Do Humans Experience Time Elastically?
Why does time fly when we’re having fun? Our sense of time may be the most basic foundation for all of our experience, but it’s an unsteady and subjective one, expanding and contracting, speeding up and slowing down. Emotions, music, everything in our surroundings, and shifts in our attention, all have the power to changeContinue reading “Why Do Humans Experience Time Elastically?”
How Congress Lobotomized Itself: 25 Years After the Death of OTA
On September 28, 1995, Amo Houghton stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and delivered what is probably the most heartbreakingly beautiful eulogy ever written about a technical government agency. Amo Houghton was a Republic Representative from New York, a former marine who served in World War II, and a devout Christian. HeContinue reading “How Congress Lobotomized Itself: 25 Years After the Death of OTA”
COVID “Super-Spreader” Events are Ridiculously Expensive
How the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally generated over $12 billion in public health costs: “There are some really good estimates out there that suggest that between 10% and 20% of cases are responsible for about 80% of transmission events,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead for the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, at a press conference.Continue reading “COVID “Super-Spreader” Events are Ridiculously Expensive”
Is a Spider’s Web Part of its Brain?
With the help of their webs, spiders are capable of planning, learning, and other complex cognitive tasks, challenging our ideas of intelligence. Earlier this year, biologist David Robson published an essay explaining a new extraordinary king of consciousness. A consciousness found in spiders that allows their minds to extend beyond their bodies. Spiders are basicallyContinue reading “Is a Spider’s Web Part of its Brain?”
The Brain’s On and Off Switch for Good Parenting
From an evolutionary perspective, the goal of any organism is to pass genetic material into future generations. We’re “wired” for procreation, but until now, what that exactly that wiring looks like has been opaque. Last week, Harvard biologist Catherine Dulac won the Breakthrough Prize for discovering the neural circuits that drive parenting behavior. For theContinue reading “The Brain’s On and Off Switch for Good Parenting”
Climate Change and Analogs of the Unprecedented
How do we think about combatting climate change? For years, politicians have argued World War II mobilization “provides lessons about how the economy could be transformed,” and “provides a basis for optimism that environmental changes challenges can be met.”[1] 350.org co-founded Bill McKibben similarly argues, “we’re under attack from climate change – and your only hopeContinue reading “Climate Change and Analogs of the Unprecedented”
How I learn patterns may predict if I believe in God?
In a paper that came out a few days ago, Georgetown neuroscientists examine correlations between pattern-learning neural pathways and belief in God. They had subjects from the United States and Afghanistan do some pattern-learning tasks that involved blocks on screens and tapping keys and then administered surveys about their religious and existential beliefs. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18362-3 TheContinue reading “How I learn patterns may predict if I believe in God?”
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