Temperamental journey

 

   Way back in the 1940s Jerome Kagan performed a classic study on personality in which he formed a core concept that rooted at least part of the mind in biology.  This was an incredible breakthrough in understanding that certain perceptions and reactions can be rooted in inherited traits.  What Dr. Kagan did was observe a bunch of children as eight month old infants.

Denial in an unjust world

   The blogosphere is one place where you will never find any shortage of opinions and punditry.  The recent election has been rife with partisan bickering and and all or nothing thinking.  The healthcare debate online suffers from much of the same problem.  It is fascinating to me how perceptions can vary from one person to another regarding the same reality.  

     Through it all, I cling to the idea that the vast majority of people are basically good.  At the same time, a look at history or the news makes quite clear that even good people are capable of doing some pretty horrible things.  Jonah Lehrer at Frontal Cortex recently shared a personal experience with one way that people with good intentions can make the world worse, the Just World Phenomenon.

Points of Interest, #34

Welcome again to my roundup of those things that stood out as educational, uplifting, inspiring, and downright funny in my journeying through the ethernet.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, or you’ll simply move on unimpressed.  Take your pick.

    This week I share the curse of a child’s imagination, the psychology of our politics, sacrifice, sorrow, and other such spiritual gifts, two medical specialties that are all in your head, alien hands, killer pandas and Raven-puffs, to name just some of the bounteous fruits I have gathered tirelessly and selflessly especially for you, the reader. 

So without further adieu, I present the absolute best I could find-