When I was a boy, I was intensely shy, more avoidant than anyone else I met then in any of the schools I attended. No one in the working-class neighborhood of the North-American steel town where I grew up had heard of 'autism', but my behavior fit autism pretty well. If I got myself assessed … Continue reading Shyness vs Everything else |the problem with diagnoses
Rescuing Shyness|Why being a loner may be good for your health
The above refers to a Feb 28/2018 “Best of BBC Future” post by Christine Ro. After acknowledging that there has been a lot of research into the negative psychological effects of 'social isolation' (for example, the Royal College of General Practicioners in the UK say that research has found loneliness to have a risk level … Continue reading Rescuing Shyness|Why being a loner may be good for your health
The Wildness in Shyness
The following is a slightly revised version of a discussion in my book, The Shyness Guide, of the enigmatic question - “What is Shyness”. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo, founder of the Stanford Shyness Institute in California, has devoted much of his life to shyness. In his 1978 book, Shyness - What It is, What to Do … Continue reading The Wildness in Shyness
Rescuing the Future | The Singularity is Near
Are you interested in the future? You may want to reply - "Isn't everyone?" Well, no, most people aren't. We're living in a time when, except for politics, the economy and our personal prospects, most people have their eyes very carefully averted from the future. Science fiction films may get big turnouts, but it's mostly … Continue reading Rescuing the Future | The Singularity is Near
Rescuing Reality |Selfies on the Brooklyn Bridge
One summer evening a couple of years ago, back visiting New York, I took a walk from the High St subway station out onto the Brooklyn Bridge. I wanted to see again, at sunset, the magnificent views up and down the East River. I did a post about that mildly traumatic experience then, and I … Continue reading Rescuing Reality |Selfies on the Brooklyn Bridge
Paranormal World | Children who talk of past lives |Re-reading Old Souls
This morning while I was drinking coffee in a Wendy's with traffic passing outside the window, I finished reading, for the second time, Old Souls, New York journalist Tom Shroder's book about psychiatrist Ian Stevenson and the children who speak of past lives. As I put the book down, it occurred to me that these … Continue reading Paranormal World | Children who talk of past lives |Re-reading Old Souls
Are you an introvert and an extrovert?
In my book The Shyness Guide, I've written about C.G. Jung's different conception of 'introvert/extrovert' - different, that is, from the view of most people today. In his 1921 book Psychological Types, he proposed that there are four principal functions: Two perceiving functions: Sensation and Intuition Two judging functions: Thinking and Feeling We … Continue reading Are you an introvert and an extrovert?
Homo Selfish|C. J. Meyer and A World Undone
Throughout my life I've been mildly sceptical of this almost universal belief that Homo sapiens is a true social animal. Even primitive humans are always depicted as living in tribes, not in small families or alone. But there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes where you don't expect it. For example, recently … Continue reading Homo Selfish|C. J. Meyer and A World Undone
Dreams|Are yours vague and confusing?
Some years ago when I was still working on my novel The Birdcatcher, I read chapter IV aloud in a writer's workshop. That is, the chapter where late at night Chris Stone reflects on his failing marriage and the hypocrisy of modern society, then falls asleep and has the dream of flying up the Song … Continue reading Dreams|Are yours vague and confusing?
