This is the provocative suggestion from a couple of studies cited by Jonah Lehrer, author of Proust was a Neuroscientist, and a man who has written at least one good article in praise of daydreaming. On The Frontal Cortex, he writes: …in the latest edition of Mind Matters, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli and John Gabrieli of MITContinue reading “Does daydreaming make you smarter?”
Category Archives: thinking out loud
Positive Thinking and Calvinism: American Twins
"If one of the best things you can say about positive thinking is that it articulated an alternative to Calvinism, one of the worst is that it ended up preserving some of Calvinism's more toxic features — a harsh judgementalism, echoing the old religions's condemnation of sin, and an insistence on the constant interior laborContinue reading “Positive Thinking and Calvinism: American Twins”
Why Resistance to the Idea of Global Warming Is Rising: The “More So Syndrome”
This morning Richard Harris of NPR's Morning Edition filed a typically excellent report on why, according to polls, substantially fewer Americans believe in global warming than believed just two years ago. According to the (unaffiliated) Harris Poll, now only 51% of Americans believe that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will cause the earth's temperatureContinue reading “Why Resistance to the Idea of Global Warming Is Rising: The “More So Syndrome””
For Those Who Hate Daylight Savings Time
That's from PostSecret. For thoughtful sorts who like a little reasoning to go with their instinctive hatreds, here's Ryan Sager from True/Slant, making a shocking amount of sense. I'll just mention his first of ten reasons to dump daylight savings time: Daylight Saving Time (DST) was sold as an energy-saving measure. But it doesn’t saveContinue reading “For Those Who Hate Daylight Savings Time”
Why I Moved Out of L.A.
From Indexed. Was a good move then, and feels necessary now, for mental health.
The Rendering of the Dogs vs. Raising Cattle Well
In a bold Swiftian essay from a non-fiction book soon to be published called Eating Animals, New York novelist Jonathan Safer Foer brings up an unpleasant fact: Rendering—the conversion of animal protein unfit for human consumption into food for livestock and pets—allows processing plants to transform useless dead dogs into productive members of the foodContinue reading “The Rendering of the Dogs vs. Raising Cattle Well”
Gifts of Uncertainty: Joanna Macy Sees Our Present Moment
The Ojai Foundation, a beautiful place for spiritual seekers, this week inaugurated a "great teacher series" by bringing deep ecologist and Buddhist Joanna Macy in to lead a workshop and give a talk. A truly inspiring talk it was, and I don't write such words often, being a bit of a skeptic about gurus andContinue reading “Gifts of Uncertainty: Joanna Macy Sees Our Present Moment”
How the Little Ice Age Reveals Our Climate Control
This month Harper's magazine turns its lead essay over to Stephen Stoll, a historian, who in "The Cold We Caused," delves into the history of climate to show how "nearly incoherent" are the arguments of the likes of climate change denier James Inhofe, Senator from Oklahoma, who continues to insist against the facts that weContinue reading “How the Little Ice Age Reveals Our Climate Control”
End of the Road for Zombie Arguments on Global Warming?
Readers may already have encountered the kerfuffle over a new book by the best-selling Freakonomics team, Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt, who in a single chapter manage to stand up and push forward most of the brain-dead –aka zombie — arguments on the subject of climate change. It's sad to see such smart guys makeContinue reading “End of the Road for Zombie Arguments on Global Warming?”
We Did Not Come Here to Fear the Future
The conclusion of a great speech last night by some guy named Barack: I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road — to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term. But that is not what the moment calls for. That'sContinue reading “We Did Not Come Here to Fear the Future”
Kit Stolz 