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In: Human Nature, Stories, Writing

Imagine laying beside a pool in Maui, enduring a conversation between an aggressively lazy boyfriend telling his partner that if he had booked their holiday, there would have been no confusion over their zip-line adventure tickets. “There would be one point of contact, if I’d organised it,” he says, stretched out on his pool chair, while his girlfriend’s phone trills and she attempts to explain the mix up again to perhaps her tenth point of contact. “You’ve got a big ass,” he decides, when she sits down again.  At this point my partner goes to the bar for a drink because I don’t think he can bearRead More →

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In: Happiness, Human Nature, Science

So desired and yet so illusive. Look it in the eye, demand a piece of it and more than likely it will disappear and we are left wondering if it was there at all. It’s like catching glimpses of  beauty across a crowded room, being caught out and feeling like a stalker.   Our desire for happiness becomes our downfall. I blame Aristotle and his down-to-earth practicalities.  He was one of the first to dangle it out there. In following a line of enquiry, this philosopher asked “Why?” again and again in response to reasons for many human endeavours, until to ask, “Why?” one more time became ridiculous.Read More →

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In: Human Nature, Reading, Science, Stories, Writing

It’s a tough question and if you are not feeling on top of your game, its a hand grenade.  Still, its the beginning of the year and in the spirit of continuing on with some kind of rationale, I have been attempting to answer this question for myself, but the more I have tried to answer it the more I found reasons not to do it. Reasons Not to Let’s face it!  It’s not an essential industry – well not like brain or heart surgery – not really. It’s not like farming.  Those indefatigable people who toil day in and day out to bring food to the table.Read More →

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In: Human Nature, Love, Science

We say,  “It hurts.”  “Our hearts are broken.”   “It was like being punched in the gut.”  This is the language we use when we attempt to describe how it feels to lose connection with people we love.  Whether it be a romantic break-up, a loss of a friendship or the death of loved one, we talk of the experience in terms of physical pain.  What if the way we describe rejection and loss is not just a metaphor? Neuroscientist, Matthew Lieberman, and social psychologist, Naomi Eisenberger, set out to explore this question using an fMRI machine and a virtual ball tossing game.  To simulate social rejection and what is termed ‘socialRead More →

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In: Human Nature, Science, Stories

We all tell stories.  We can’t seem to help it.  We are known in some circles as the ‘storytelling animal’.  We tell them around water coolers, over dinner tables, in coffee shops and we read stories in newspapers, magazines and in books.  I wonder if its curiosity which makes us do this or is it a way for us to get our big brains around what our senses are telling us? In our minds, our own lives are stories. Narrative therapy would have it that our identities are shaped by the stories we tell of our own lives.   Neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio, talks of story as integral toRead More →

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In: Freedom, Human Nature

My daughter is studying sociology and once in a while she sends me something she thinks I might be interested in.   The design of the Panopticon was one of  her recent offerings and I find the concept so diabolical I cannot help but share it with you. At times a popular concept in prison architecture, the panopticon allows for a central tower with 360 degree visual access to all inmates.  The presence of a powerful light (but reflective or tinted glass would also do the trick) emanates from the watchtower.   Blinded by this light, it would be impossible for the inmates to tell whether there was someone watching them.Read More →

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In: Human Nature

I ask this without judgement, each action having its purpose.  I’ve heard it said horses are flighters, always at the ready with their nervous systems exposed.  I’ve seen this.  We used to own horses and when one was spooked all of them fled.  This can be true of human herds too. Homo sapiens can and do harbour tendencies toward both fight and flight, but could choose one over the other more readily.  Those with a fear of confrontation or a strong desire for a peaceful existence may flee more often than they fight.  Others like nothing more than a good verbal or even physical stoush.  They playRead More →