Situations Matters: Understanding How Context Transforms Your Worldis a book by Tufts University Professor of Psychology Sam Sommers. I had the pleasure of conducting a interview with Sommers to celebrate and promote the recently released paperback edition. Below is the transcript. I recommend checking out his book. It is an excellent read.
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Posts Tagged: Psychology
Why God Does Not Have a Monopoly on Morality
Just how voraciously do Americans despise atheists? A study conducted last November found that subjects rated atheists as less trustworthy than rapists. In 2006, Americans said that of all the groups they would most disapprove of their children marrying, atheists were the first. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, Americans are more willing to vote… read more »
Between Haidt and Harris: Belief, Religion and Morality
What motivates a suicide bomber? That question divides Sam Harris and Jonathan Haidt, two scholars who study religion from the psychological perspective. For Harris the answer is religion. “Subtract the Muslim belief in martyrdom and jihad, and the actions of suicide bombers become completely unintelligible,” he says in The End of Faith. Haidt takes a… read more »
A Nauseating Corner of Psychology: Disgust
Like many features of the human condition, the first psychological account of disgust comes from Charles Darwin, who in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals defined it this way: “Something revolting, primarily in relation to the sense of taste, as actually perceived or vividly imagined; and secondarily to anything which causes a… read more »
Framing the Election
Numbers easily fool the brain, especially when they are presented as a loss or as a gain. We buy 90 percent lean meat but walk past the section labeled 10 percent fat. Surgeries with a 15 percent death rate are scarier than ones with an 85 percent success rate. The Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman… read more »