Psychology: May 2008 Archive Page

Great series from The Globe and Mail. I seem to recall that articles from this paper disappear behind a pay-per-view firewall after a few weeks, so print these out now if you think you'll ever get old.

Part one

Fast times at Senior High

The cliques, the gossip, the hot guy with a car: A retirement home is Grade 10 all over again, but here the new kids are pushing 90. 26/05/08 12:00 AM

 

Part two

Mean Girls, but with walkers

Being the newbie is never easy, even when the cool kids snubbing you are in their 80s. Your clothes, your finances, your romances - they're all grist for the gossip mill 27/05/08 12:00 AM

 

Part three

Looking for love, or ...

The equipment may be rusty, but you can still get lusty. And the desire for companionship never fades. 28/05/08 12:00 AM

 

Part four

The fuss over food

Keeping control over body and mind is tough when you live in a retirement home, right down to having to eat whatever's put in front of you 29/05/08 12:00 AM

 

Part Five

Amid loss, striving for life

Only survivors make it this far, and they are determined to keep going. They share their strength and hope with reporter Rebecca Dube and photographer Kevin Van Paassen 30/05/08 12:00 AM

A good overview of the context and significance of the Sokal Hoax (New York Sun). (Thanks for the link, Robert.)

Most of us, most of the time, arrive at our beliefs for a host of psychological and social reasons that have little or nothing to do with logic, reason, empiricism, or data. Most of our beliefs are shaped by our parents, our siblings, our peer groups, our teachers, our mentors, our professional colleagues, and by the culture at large. We form and hold those beliefs because they provide emotional comfort, because they fit well with our lifestyles or career choices, or because they work within the larger context of our family dynamics or social network. Then we build back into those beliefs reasons for why we hold them.