One of the things that defines humans most is our ability to read others’ minds – that is, to make inferences about what others are thinking. To build or maintain relationships, we offer gifts and services – not arbitrarily, but with the recipient’s desires in mind. When we communicate, we do our best to take
READ MOREI have a bit of a confession to make. I have never played chess, nor have I really ever had the desire to do so. (Sorry, chess fans.) However, I may be changing my mind on this issue, particularly after reading a piece by Benjamin Franklin entitled, “The Morals of Chess.” Franklin begins by saying,
READ MOREIn 1834, a 30-year-old seminary student named Theodore Dwight Weld led what is arguably the most successful student rebellion in U.S. history. It took place near Cincinnati at Lane Theological Seminary, where Weld had enrolled the previous year after dedicating his life to a single cause: the abolition of slavery. “Abolition immediate universal is my desire
READ MOREOver the past several decades, the environmental movement has promoted a view of American Indians as the “original conservationists.” References to this image abound: “The Indians were, in truth, the pioneer ecologists of this country,” former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall once said. “For many thousands of years, most of the indigenous nations on
READ MOREWhen it comes to finances, Americans are quite adept at spending. But when it comes to other aspects of finances – such as the all-important one of saving – Americans have a bit of trouble. As USA Today recently reported, roughly seven in 10 Americans have a savings of less than $1,000. That savings track
READ MOREI have a problem. I don’t know whom to vote for this year. In fact, it’s such a troubling problem that I ignored my own advice to be rational and gave way to an emotional display of tears over this fact the other day. And then I found Noah Webster’s advice to a young man
READ MOREVia the Washington Post: A college professor found himself in hot water after likening the Black Lives Matter movement to the racism of the Klu Klux Klan. Douglas Muir, an adjunct professor for the University of Virginia, wrote in a Facebook comment that Black Lives Matter is the “biggest” racist organization since the KKK. The
READ MOREIt is no surprise that a child prefers its mother’s voice to those of strangers. Beginning in the womb, a foetus’s developing auditory pathways sense the sounds and vibrations of its mother. Soon after birth, a child can identify its mother’s voice and will work to hear her voice better over unfamiliar female voices. A
READ MOREIt’s been reported by many smaller publications, but finally the big news sources are onto it: the pill increases your chance of developing depression. This time, the statistics are coming from an article in a leading journal, JAMA Psychiatry. The research was done in Denmark and the study is huge – it involved over a
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