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More on Abnormal Normality: On Being XXTX
I have never had any interest in taking a Meyers-Briggs test. I don't like to be categorized, but more than that, in my past experience, every time I have ever taken any such personality test, I have come up in the middle. I have described this before as being "abnormally average".[1]But, this last week, I was convinced by my friend, J.M., to take ( Read more... ) -
On Educational Success and Parenting or What Poplin and (Especially) Chua Got Wrong
I am an excellent (written) test-taker. I am good at educated guessing. I am (or used to be at least) also really good at memorizing. I educated-guessed my way through the final exam of a biology course for which I had skipped almost all the classes to score a B. I could stay up the night (or two nights in a row) before an organic chemistry exam ( Read more... ) -
On Grief and What It Does Not (Necessarily) Involve
Two of the most fascinating questions yet to be answered by science, in my opinion, are how developmental biology works and how the brain works. This is because they are, relatively speaking, some of the most complicated processes known.
On the other hand, while the questions asked by psychology are some of the most fascinating to me, psychology as ( Read more... ) -
On Two Kinds of Shyness/Introversion
Most of my life, people have considered me shy or introverted ( Read more... ) -
On a Cousin of SAD?
Seasonal Affective Disorder has never been a problem of mine. The number of hours of daylight has no effect on my personality, as far as I can tell.
But regardless of the time of year, if the sun is not shining when I wake up -- whether due to clouds or waking up too early or taking a nap too late into the afternoon -- I feel physically terrible ( Read more... ) -
On Rape: What Motivates It
I know that this will be a highly sensitive and emotional issue for some. Unfortunately, I know that some of you reading this out there have been raped. It is my intent not to stir up buried feelings or spark emotional discussions, but rather to address a few things as logically as possible. I actually have 3 entries planned, which I have put off ( Read more... ) -
On Gender/Sexual Identity in Children
I don't usually talk about homosexuality or transgenderism on my blog. They are very touchy topics for most people, and it would take too much effort for what would likely be of little benefit to either my readers or myself. But recently, a certain aspect of the issue has come up on more than one occasion, and it regards sexuality and/or gender ( Read more... ) -
More on Moral Radii: The Circle Collapses
Directly continuing from Thursday's late entry, what causes the moral circle to shrink?
Social psychologists have long studied this phenomenon, and I've referred to a few of these experiments in a past entry.[1]
Bloom listed the following (with the exception of conformity, which I have added):- distance -- We are less likely to treat people ( Read more... )
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On Psychological Disorders and Gender
I just can't seem to get out of the cycle of posting straight for 2 weeks and then missing a month. Anyhow, here's what's been on my mind....A while ago, I sat through a documentary on eating disorders. It was disturbingly sad how the women with such disorders have a completely warped view of reality even when presented with the facts ( Read more... ) -
On Understanding Without Doing
An idea that I have commonly heard from teachers is, "Oh, just do it, and then you will understand." (I have written about how this rarely works with me; I tend to learn best by reading about something, not by doing it.[1]This idea is sometimes taken further -- "You can't understand what I mean, because you have not practiced such and such for ( Read more... )