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?
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
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
Autism and Theory of Mind |Do you think like a Baboon?
Sometimes psychologists try to explain autism using 'theory of mind'. Books on psychology devote whole chapters to theory of mind, but to keep a lid on it here, I'll just quote Dictionary.com: the ability to interpret one’s own and other people’s mental and emotional states, understanding that each person has unique motives, perspectives, etc. The … Continue reading Autism and Theory of Mind |Do you think like a Baboon?
Paranormal World | Reincarnation | Why was Ian Stevenson so alone?
Think about this. The Toronto library system, in 128 branches, has 495 copies of Michelle Obama's memoir, Becoming . On behalf of my wife who is too disabled to go to the library anymore, I put in a request for a copy of the book three months ago. We received it this week. Why such … Continue reading Paranormal World | Reincarnation | Why was Ian Stevenson so alone?
Paranormal World|Children who talk of past lives | Kumkum Verma
Sinduhaja 'Kumkum' Verma, was born March 14, 1955 in Bihara, a village 40 kms from the city of Dharbanga in northern India. Her father, doctor B. K. Verma, and her mother Subhadra were educated Hindus of a relatively high caste. According to psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, this case is one of the strongest he encountered. It … Continue reading Paranormal World|Children who talk of past lives | Kumkum Verma
Paranormal World|Dreams entering Reality
Few people talk about this - the strange interaction that sometimes occurs between a dream and the real world. To show you what I mean, I'll give you a simple example of my own. A few years ago I had a series of dreams, night after night for about a week, in which I dreamt … Continue reading Paranormal World|Dreams entering Reality
Shyness and your Telomeres
Recently I read Elizabeth H. Blackburn's 2017 book The Telomere Effect: a revolutionary approach to living younger, healthier, longer. Throughout it, I couldn't help thinking how relevant this is to shy people. Dr Blackburn is one of the leading researchers into the genetics of the telomere, that device at the ends of your DNA strands … Continue reading Shyness and your Telomeres
Shyness and Wolves
In my book The Shyness Guide, I discuss The Pipestone Wolves, a book by animal behaviorist Gunter Bloch about a family of wolves that lived in Canada's Banff National Park. In explaining wolves, Bloch writes about the shyness that is common in many of them. But he has a concept of shyness that is different. … Continue reading Shyness and Wolves
