Let's look at the enigmatic “Big Five Personality Traits" again. They aren't new. The idea began in United States Air Force in the 1950s, then psychologist J.M. Digman proposed the "five factor model" of personality in 1990. Human resource departments in large corporations have been using it for a long time to assess potential employees. … Continue reading Rescuing psychology | The Big Five Personality Traits | Shouldn’t it be the Big Ten?
Rescuing shyness, autism and introverts | How being alone is good for your health
Because it seems to be a given in this society that social isolation is bad for your health, here is an opposite view.
Rescuing psychology | Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘I am a Rock’ | Incels and detachment
In The Shyness Guide, I make the case that detachment is a tool one can use to enter and explore the social world.
Autism |Toronto’s van rampage 4 | Alek Minassian convicted – what now?
For some reason the fate of Alek Minassian continues to haunt me. How is it, I ask myself, that someone who killed 10 people and injured 16 more, some permanently, running them down in his rented van here in Toronto 15 minutes walk from my home, now convicted and awaiting sentencing, continues to elicit sympathy … Continue reading Autism |Toronto’s van rampage 4 | Alek Minassian convicted – what now?
Rescuing Shyness | Resist the hostility of the social world
Nothing about shyness bothers non-shy people more than the reluctance of shy people to talk. "What's the matter with you? Speak up! Be assertive! Stop hiding from us!" - that's their common refrain in workplaces, at school, etc. Why are social people like that? I think it starts with their instinctual need for communication. Never … Continue reading Rescuing Shyness | Resist the hostility of the social world
Rescuing Psychology |the Introvert/Extrovert misunderstanding
Let's look at this again. The way introvert/extrovert is understood today is very different from what psychologist C.G.Jung intended when he introduced those terms into psychology a century ago. He saw introversion and extroversion as just two possible aspects of everyone's character. In his book Psychological Types, he wrote this: There is a further fact … Continue reading Rescuing Psychology |the Introvert/Extrovert misunderstanding
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?
Alternative World |New perspectives on autism, shyness, literature and history, psychology and science, life, the universe and everything
Yes, this is the new title of this site. Though I'm still fond of 'Shy Highway', the title I've used since 2007, my interests obviously are too far-ranging. Since I was a boy entering school, my view of the world around me has been different from that of anyone I've met. That wasn't always positive. … Continue reading Alternative World |New perspectives on autism, shyness, literature and history, psychology and science, life, the universe and everything
Alan Conrad 