Current Events
Morals are Relative, Even at PopTech!
Oct/20/2011 18:10
The rain has finally relented here in Camden, ME, and PopTech is as insightful an experience as ever. In fact, the participants in Dave's seminar on the Science of Character gained some new insight into their own minds -- namely how relative their morals can be. Data after the jump. Read More...
Beware the Neuromarketers (and the NYT Op-Eds)
Oct/02/2011 07:46
Martin Lindstrom's Op-Ed in the Saturday New York Times on how brain science confirms that people love their iPhones is causing quite a stir in the scientific community for two reasons. First, his analysis makes no sense based on any understanding of how the brain works. Second, and probably more troubling, is that the NYT was willing to print an op-ed that references data from experiments that haven't been peer-reviewed and are not publicly verifiable. Read More...
Morality and the London Riots
Aug/12/2011 12:43
We have a piece in the The Times' Eureka Daily Science Blog today on why Prime Minster Cameron's assertions that the rioting reflects "criminality, pure and simple" stemming from "poor parenting" might just be a bit too simplistic. Unfortunately, we can't post it here, as it's behind the Times' pay wall. But for those of you who have access, check it out here. It makes a nice companion piece to the Times' lead story today on Natasha Reid -- a student who inexplicably, even to herself, joined the looting only to regret it later and turn herself in. Read More...
Myth of the Good Man
Jun/19/2011 16:52
Maureen Callahan covers politicians and the new science of character with an eye toward OOC in the NY Post Opinion pages. You can find the article here.
Palin and the Politics of Pride
Jun/14/2011 21:46
Love her or hate her – and those appear to be the only two options – there are few politicians who seem to evoke the same intensity of emotion as Sarah Palin. The question, though, is why? Read More...
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Jun/06/2011 22:41
Days of protestations and puns aside, it seems it was Mr. Weiner all along. What was he thinking? It's anybody's guess. But why he fell prey to twittering his anatomy is a classic example of the short- vs. long-term tradeoffs that occupy our minds. Read More...
Power Goggles
May/19/2011 08:43
As Maureen Dowd cleverly notes in her NYT column, power can seem to distort the view of men when it comes to sex. So, while it seems that Messrs. Schwarzenegger and Strauss-Kahn appear to have a history of misbehavior with women, the question that arises, of course, is why? Read More...
Newt Gingrich and the Vicissitudes of Character
May/16/2011 21:03
In laying the groundwork for an expected run for the presidency, Newt Gingrich is seeking to reinvent himself, or at least part of himself. Not his mind, as almost everyone agrees that he is one of the biggest thinkers in the crowded republican field. Not his drive and managerial ability, as he is well remembered as a shrewd tactician. Not even his conservative bona fides, as his association with the 1994 Contract With America is difficult to forget. It’s that other quality that is often touted as principal factor in deciding whom to elect: character. Read More...
Our Debut in The Atlantic
May/11/2011 13:26
Maria Popova has a great article about OOC and our work in The Atlantic today (and some video clips of a talk by Dave, too). Tomorrow is the national radio tour, and then back to blogging on the science. Read More...
Putting Character Under the Microscope
May/10/2011 10:51
Gareth Cook has an article on OOC today in Scientific American's Mind Matters. It's a Q&A that explores the central issues head on. Check it out here.
Ideas @ Boston Globe
May/07/2011 17:44
It's been a busy week. We'll be back to blogging next week, but in the meantime, you can check out our interview with Carolyn Johnson in Sunday's Ideas section of the Boston Globe. Read More...
Radio Boston
May/05/2011 12:30
We're on Radio Boston (Boston's NPR: WBUR 90.9) @ 3 today. Listen in to find out about, as they put it, "The Liar, Cheat, and Sinner in All of Us." Click here to catch the podcast. Read More...
The Psychology of Authenticity
May/01/2011 18:08
Do you believe in Antarctica? Probably. But what kind of a stupid question is that? Antarctica isn’t a matter of belief. Its existence is fact. You might even be willing to wager large sums of money that this massive piece of land isn’t merely a figment of collective imagination. But unless you are an intrepid explorer, chances are you’ve never laid eyes upon the thing. How are you so sure it’s real? Photographs, videos, and middle school geography teachers played a role most likely, but what are the means of verifying their legitimacy? Where does your confidence come from? Read More...
Barry Bonds and the Slippery Slope
Apr/14/2011 11:32
For all his great accomplishments, Barry Bonds is likely to be remembered most for being convicted of obstructing justice. It appears that Bonds, like many baseball heros, succumbed to the use of steroids to enhance performance. But unlike many, Bonds worked really hard to try to convince people he didn't. The question that interests us isn't only how did it come to this, but what does it mean going forward for aspiring athletes? Read More...
YouTube as Emotional Conduit
Apr/07/2011 16:20
"We are left isolated" Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of the Japanese city of Minamisoma, said with face drawn and voice strained, as he recorded a video pleading for assistance. His city, like many in Northern Japan, was devastated by the earthquake, leaving citizens with little food and medicine and, due to radiation warnings, little option but to remain indoors. It was a dire situation with little hope for the arrival of aid anytime soon. With nothing to loose, the mayor's plea was posted on YouTube, and has since become one of the fastest spreading and viewed clips (see NYT coverage here). People from all over suddenly began sending aid and Minamisoma, though still reeling from multiple tragedies, suddenly became the beneficiary of kindness. What happened? Read More...
Hypocrisy Isn't Just for Politicians
Mar/29/2011 23:52
Joe Scarborough had an interesting piece in Politico yesterday where he suggested that many on the left were engaging in moral hypocrisy by supporting President Obama’s actions in Libya while they condemned President Bush’s in Iraq. Simply put, Scarborough asks, “ How can the left call for the ouster of Muammar Qadhafi for the sin of killing hundreds of Libyans when it opposed the war waged against Saddam Hussein? During Saddam’s two decades in Iraq, he killed more Muslims than anyone in history and used chemical weapons against his own people and neighboring states.” He’s got a point. Although people can attempt to argue nuances, it’s hard to escape the label of hypocrisy when a person condemns others for actions or beliefs she herself embraces in similar situations. Read More...
The Intuitive Calculus of Policy Decisions
Mar/14/2011 22:28
Indecisiveness. Fickleness. Flip-flopping. Whatever you choose to call it, the notion that one’s beliefs and opinions can change quickly, seemingly with the wind, is usually not seen as a mark of good character. Rational analysis. Reliability. These are the markers of what we should look for and admire. These are the traits that make someone a good leader. At least that’s how the story goes. We just think that the story may not be right. Sometimes, changing views have little consequence. Calling the waiter back to switch an order may only serve to annoy your dinner companions. Sometimes, though, changing views can have large consequences. For example, in the past few days following the tragedies in Japan, attitudes toward nuclear power have shifted dramatically. Read More...
The Nature of the Social Mind
Mar/08/2011 22:12
David Brooks has a great article (The New Humanism) on the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times today where he argues that many of the policy failings of the past decades have stemmed from “a single failure: reliance on an overly simplistic view of human nature.” Picking up on themes that have flowed from the fields of psychology and behavioral economics, he points out a common error – separating rationality from intuition (or, as it’s often noted, conscious reasoning from nonconscious or intuitive mechanisms). Read More...
