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developed by JhackAbout Skeptikai
Skeptikai defends science and exposes pseudoscience. Living in Japan also allows for an interesting opportunity to discuss fascinating stories that go unnoticed elsewhere. Psychological phenomena and intriguing cases from around the globe are also regularly highlighted.
Should You Let Your Kid Date in Middle/High School? Science Gives a Surprising AnswerYoung love can show you things about yourself you've never known. It can bring you to…
In Japan, Strangers are More Likely than Family to Give CPR for Cardiac ArrestWhen it comes to Japanese people giving CPR to someone suffering a cardiac arrest, it…
Power and Rape – Part 2: How to Create a Breeding Ground for Sex OffendersAs I mentioned in Part 1, rape is tolerated in the military because the acknowledgment of…
Power and Rape – Part 1: Rape in the Military is a Career Killer… for the VictimIf you ever wanted to know just how bad "blaming the victim" can get, look no further than the…
Does Chewing Gum Help You Concentrate?If you want to be a rocket scientist, you might want to start chewing that stick of gum.…
Possessed by Demons, Animals, and Nonsense"Japan doesn't have that stuff. That's more of a Western thing." Just like I constantly…
SATIRAN – Part 3: “Judicial Theatre,” or Judgment for the 2010 IsraeliIn May 2010, the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" was sent to give humanitarian aid and…
Study: Close Relationships Aren’t Necessarily BetterIt makes sense, doesn't it? The closer you are to someone, the better your relationship…
Are Religious People More Charitable, Generous, and Altruistic than Atheists?According to a Canadian study from 2008, religious people are "more helpful, honest and…
Gender, Age, Socioeconomic, and Cultural Differences in Social Networking Site UsageOnline social networks has become an interesting platform for research, and hundreds if…
Category Archives: Psychology
The Psychological Science of Storytelling
It hit me about two years ago, sometime after I started this blog. Somewhere between the comedy shows and alarming amount of documentaries I began watching, and the seemingly endless number of people I have met in the last few years, I realized that the social world spins on the axis of stories. It’s hard to believe this fact unless you’re actually in a position where you exploit it. For me, it has become a hard fact of life – if you’re a good storyteller, good things come to you, and people want to be around you. It seems like the most popular people are often the best storytellers, and if you’re a good storyteller, you’re probably good at other things too. But just how do stories have such amazing effects on our lives?
Posted in Culture, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science, Social Psych, TED
Tagged brain, comedy, intelligence, linguistics
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Inattentional Blindness and the Invisible Violinist
If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound? It would be hard to prove if you weren’t there to notice it. But what if you were there… and you still didn’t notice it? This is something we experience every day. Even cavemen couldn’t possibly focus on all the stimuli around them at once – from the rustles in the bushes, to the winds blowing by, to the tribesmen hunting for food – so what chance do we have, in our world of constant advertisements vying for our attention? Our most natural coping mechanism is to (justifiably) unconsciously tune out most of the stimuli around us; but the case of the Invisible Violinist begs the question: What are we missing?
Posted in Biographical, Culture, Psychology, Science
Tagged inattentional blindness, music, perception
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Are Vocal Homophobes Really Just Homosexuals in the Closet?
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. -Dr. Seuss
What is it about homophobes that make them so gay? If this questions sounds controversial to you, then you may need to hear the science behind the answer. New research is showing that there actually is a link between homophobic rhetoric and homosexual tendencies. This article is about the notion that if you’re homophobic, you might just be compensating.
Posted in Culture, Legal Issues, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality, Social Psych
Tagged America, discrimination, homosexuality, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, prostitution
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Should You Let Your Kid Date in Middle/High School? Science Gives a Surprising Answer
Young love can show you things about yourself you’ve never known. It can bring you to happiness and leave you in despair. It can take away the trust you thought you had with others, and make you want to give up on the world. It can teach you what it means to be human, and make you feel more real than ever before. Young love can be all of these things and more, but we never see it coming. The only thing we can really expect is that it will probably change us, for better or worse. Luckily, new research has just looked into some of the effects of dating on academic performance, drug usage, and school drop-out rates, so we know now more than ever before. The results of the research are stunning.
Posted in Culture, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality, Social Psych
Tagged dating, drugs, education, happiness, love, teenagers
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Power and Rape – Part 2: How to Create a Breeding Ground for Sex Offenders
As I mentioned in Part 1, rape is tolerated in the military because the acknowledgment of rape in a unit will make that unit look bad, not to mention the military as a whole. Therefore, officials try to sweep such information under the rug. In fact, reporting rape is seen as far worse than actually committing it. Now, let’s focus more on the military culture. Not only is it a culture of rape, but also one of partying – a drinking culture. In fact, no matter where the U.S. servicemen go in the world, it seems like they bring their trouble along with them.
Posted in Japan, Legal Issues, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality
Tagged America, Canada, crime, discrimination, military, rape, sex, sexual harassment
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Power and Rape – Part 1: Rape in the Military is a Career Killer… for the Victim
If you ever wanted to know just how bad “blaming the victim” can get, look no further than the U.S. military. It’s clear that blaming and shaming has gone far beyond just making someone have to live with a stigma that they completely don’t deserve – which is bad enough. Rather, the problem is a systematic denial of justice, a protection of the perpetrator, and an outright pursuit of punishing the victim. If this type of discrimination happened in the public sphere, people would be completely outraged; but what is it about this military culture that allows such behavior to go unpunished?
Posted in Culture, Legal Issues, Medicine & Health, Psychology, Science, Sex and Sexuality
Tagged America, crime, discrimination, homosexuality, military, rape, sex, sexual harassment, stigma
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Does Chewing Gum Help You Concentrate?
If you want to be a rocket scientist, you might want to start chewing that stick of gum. At least, that’s the hypothesis of a growing body of research that suggests chewing bubble gum is correlated to the ability to concentrate on various mental tasks. And as every student knows (or at least should know) it’s not the amount of time you spend studying that matters – it’s the the amount of time you are actually learning. In short, the more you concentrate, the more you learn, the more you know. But what does the actual science say about this.
Possessed by Demons, Animals, and Nonsense
“Japan doesn’t have that stuff. That’s more of a Western thing.” Just like I constantly have to remind Westerners how they’re horribly wrong about the bizarre and ridiculous stereotypes of Japan, I had to show my Japanese friend that she was totally wrong in her idea about “us” and “them.” The notion that only Westerners believe in exorcisms and demonic possessions is simply wrong. In addition to the many stories I mentioned in an earlier post about exorcisms in Japan, yet another case occurred recently in Japan where the belief in possessions reared its ugly head.
Posted in Abnormal & Clinical Psych, Culture, Japan, Psychology, Science, Skepticism
Tagged America, animals, brain, brainscan, China, crime, exorcisms, spirit possession
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Study: Close Relationships Aren’t Necessarily Better
It makes sense, doesn’t it? The closer you are to someone, the better your relationship is. Intuitively, this makes perfect sense. But new research out of Columbia University suggests that this is not necessarily the case.
Posted in Psychology, Science, Social Psych
Tagged America, Canada, dating, love, marriage
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Are Religious People More Charitable, Generous, and Altruistic than Atheists?
According to a Canadian study from 2008, religious people are “more helpful, honest and generous;” an American study from last year found that “religious states give more to charity than non-religious states.” As I explained in a previous article, the stereotype that religious people are more likely to be Good Samaritans than nonreligious people is highly suspect. In fact, a new study has thrown the idea of religious people being more charitable into question too. This might just be the nail in the coffin for stereotypes about religiosity and altruism.
Posted in Culture, Psychology, Science, Social Psych
Tagged altruism, America, Canada, money, religion
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