In this week’s spotlight I wish to discuss white crows. William James famously stated, “If an axiom states that all crows are black, we need find only one white crow to disprove it.” The relevance of this statement could not have more meaning than in the area of human experience, particularly the realm of so-called supernatural. Scientism We live at a time when many hold science as a new sort of religion, one that has been unaffectionately referred to as scientism. According to these folks, the world of shoes and ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I would like to address the issue of complaining. If you stop for a moment and think about it, we all have complaints. Perhaps as the election approaches, your complaints are about the nature of this presidential campaign and the intolerable low among our so-called leaders that we have seen this cycle. Or perhaps you find the drivers in traffic to be numbskulls or nincompoops that are always making your daily commute a nightmare. Maybe you just experienced horrible service at a diner or retail outlet ... Read More
In this week’s spotlight I would like to draw your attention to thinking. I have often spoken about life beliefs as analogous to a spider’s web in that they are all attached in some way—even our dissonant beliefs. So, as with the spider’s web, if we vibrate one strand, the entire web is affected. It is important to consider how we think in exactly this same interrelated way, for the basic elements of thought begin with concepts. Indeed, we can think of concepts as the atoms that build the molecules ... Read More
In today’s spotlight I wish to discuss visualization. This is a tool that we all possess but few give it the rightfully due respect it deserves. Indeed, one might argue that visualizing things is but an exercise in imagination, and in some ways it can be—but does that make it less worthy of our interest? I think not. Still, we are often encouraged to give up the use of practices like daydreaming, visualizing fantasies, and the like because the emphasis is all too often today on what we think of ... Read More
Defense Mechanism In this week’s spotlight we shine a light on choices. We all make choices everyday and for the most part, we are certain of why we make the choices we do—but are we? I have discussed the fact that functional MRI scans show that our decisions are largely made in the subconscious followed then by our conscious mind actively constructing the rational basis for our choices. I have also pointed out how our various defense mechanisms develop strategies designed to protect us from everything from embarrassment to physical ... Read More
