Alan Conrad is me, though Alan Conrad is not my original name. During my last years investigating accidents and personal injury claims, when I was about to publish The Birdcatcher, a book that reveals some of the dark side of the personal injury business, I had to use a pen name to keep a lower … Continue reading Who is Alan Conrad?
Loners |The one place where society welcomes them |Anneli Rufus and her book Party of One
Loners have a hard time in the modern, day-to-day world, yet not in fiction and film. Solitary men - who I think are shy and/or autistic men - are heroes in literature and the movies – James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumpo in The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans. David Copperfield in the Dickens … Continue reading Loners |The one place where society welcomes them |Anneli Rufus and her book Party of One
Autism | Weak Central Coherence | Who can’t see the forest?
In her 2008 book, Autism – A Very Short Introduction, psychologist Uta Frith discussed the "weak central coherence" theory. This is related to the tendency of autistic people to focus on detail. Walking through a forest an autistic person will see the trees and things on the forest floor – ferns, horsetails, fungi, insects, tiny … Continue reading Autism | Weak Central Coherence | Who can’t see the forest?
The Big Five Personality Traits | Where did the introverts go? What about autism?
Recently I re-examined the 'Big Five' personality traits. This was in a 2007 online article by psychologist Nathalie Nahai (A Large-Scale Personality Research Method, also published in the 2017 anthology, Know This, edited by John Brockman, published by Harper Perennial and the Edge Foundation). They aren't new. The idea began in United States Air Force in … Continue reading The Big Five Personality Traits | Where did the introverts go? What about autism?
Loners | Introverts, or ‘auties’ on the spectrum?
Some years ago I discovered that there was no website devoted to solitary people. So I created one and called it Loner's Highway – my previous blog that concentrated on the nature and life-experience of loners. But most loners are shy, and I began to regret leaving other shy people out, so I returned to … Continue reading Loners | Introverts, or ‘auties’ on the spectrum?
Paranormal World |Reincarnation | Dolon Champa Mitra
Hoping to escape from the depressing events and ongoing outcomes of the Covid 19 corona virus pandemic, I returned this week to thinking about those remarkable children who speak of past lives. Among the cases studied by psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, there is one that stands out for me because of something unique about the memories … Continue reading Paranormal World |Reincarnation | Dolon Champa Mitra
Rescuing Reality|Covid 19|mental health and the consequences of ‘stay-at-home’
This week I learned that UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres says the stay-at-home policy invoked as a defense against Covid 19 has resulted in a “horrifying increase in domestic violence.” Was that a surprise to anyone? Well, it shouldn’t have been. After approximately 200,000 years as ‘Homo Sapiens’ (the 'wise hominid'), we ought to know ourselves … Continue reading Rescuing Reality|Covid 19|mental health and the consequences of ‘stay-at-home’
Rescuing Reality | Covid 19 |Quarantining the World
"Life is a shipwreck, but that doesn't mean we can't sing in the lifeboats," Voltaire once said. But the problem for people across the world now, because of the Covid 19 pandemic confined to their houses and apartments, sometimes in just shacks and tents - in our 'lifeboats'- is that there is not much to … Continue reading Rescuing Reality | Covid 19 |Quarantining the World
Rescuing Reality|Covid 19 |Closing playgrounds and off-leash dogparks
Yes, this week Toronto closed down our playgrounds and off-leash dog parks. Day after day our political leaders seem to be falling over each other trying to think up new restrictions. We're told that these things have to be closed down because medical experts say so. Well, show me the science that says a child … Continue reading Rescuing Reality|Covid 19 |Closing playgrounds and off-leash dogparks
