In one of my books – not sure if it's in The Shyness Guide or my first novel, The Birdcatcher (could be both) - I said that reading and writing are older than speech. That's an idea that I have never seen anywhere else. But this week, re-reading the James Hillman/Michael Ventura book, We've Had … Continue reading Rescuing the Past and/or Anthropology and/or Psychology |How reading and writing preceded Talking
Rescuing Reality | Big Bang or Big Crunch?
While my science posts don't generate the same interest as those on shyness, autism, dreams, etc., I can't stay away from scientific disputes. To me, the question of what we know and what we don't know is important. And surely the creation of the universe is as important as our personal psychology. This morning I … Continue reading Rescuing Reality | Big Bang or Big Crunch?
Shyness vs Everything else |the problem with diagnoses
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 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
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