By:
On:
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 →

By:
On:
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 →

By:
On:
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 →

By:
On:
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 →