Magical Thinking

Do We See People in Persistent Vegetative States As More Dead Than Dead People?

Matthew Hutson | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Brain Death, Religion, Magical Thinking, Persistent Vegetative State, Pvs, Death, Afterlife, Science News
Matthew Hutson

What do we think of people in persistent vegetative states, who can breathe but can't think? Mentally, they are dead, but since we're very aware of the body still lying there, we can't as easily imagine them as active characters in our lives.

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Are There Really No Atheists In Foxholes?

Matthew Hutson | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Magical Thinking, Atheism, God, Religion and Science, Death & Dying, Ptsd, Prayer and Meditation, Agnosticism, Religion News
Matthew Hutson

New research suggests that inducing fear of death at least makes atheists a little less entrenched in their beliefs.

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Can Emotions Haunt Houses?

Matthew Hutson | Posted 05.09.2012

Read More: Magical Thinking, Magical Contagion, Emotional Residue, Property Transmission Hypothesis, Science News
Matthew Hutson

In the 1990s Trent Reznor purchased the house where Charles Manson's "family" had murdered Sharon Tate. The house felt "sad," he's said. Last October a paper was published suggesting that we all have a tendency to believe that emotions leave a trace in the physical environment.

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Teddy Bears Make You Friendlier -- and Maybe Healthier

Matthew Hutson | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Magical Thinking, Loneliness, Teddy Bears, Anthropomorphism, National University of Singapore, Teddy Bear Study, Antisocial, Anti-Social-Behaviour, Science News
Matthew Hutson

Given that isolation increases stress and cortisol production, and that petting dogs reduces blood pressure, the researchers suggest that touching a teddy bear might make you not just happier and nicer but healthier too.

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13 Reasons Why Non-Believers Don't Exist

Matthew Hutson | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Slidepollajax, Book News, Magical Thinking, Humans Believers, Humans Spiritual, Sociology Book, Believers, Sociology, Spirtuality, Books News
Matthew Hutson

Whether you think you do or not, you believe in magic. I don't mean the magic of love or romance. I mean stuff that, as far as scientific consensus is concerned, is not possible, and is a little spooky, and would get you burned at the stake if you claimed mastery of in another era.

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The Psychology Of Donation

Art Markman, Ph.D. | Posted 12.30.2011

Read More: Magical Thinking, Donation, Year-End Giving, Giving, Charity, Ilana Ritov, Brain Science, Healthy Living News
Art Markman, Ph.D.

The choice to give money to charity becomes a personal one. We use those donations to help protect ourselves from thought that dangerous things could happen to us.

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How Our Beliefs Shape Our Actions In The world

Susan Smalley, Ph.D. | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Magical Thinking, Reason, Science, Beliefs, Belief Systems, Mythical Thinking, Tolerance, Logic, The Inner Life, Beliefs Actions, Healthy Living News
Susan Smalley, Ph.D.

It became clearer to me that how we relate to our "beliefs" may be more important than the belief or knowledge itself.

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Adoption Myth Buster: What it Takes to Wake

Jennifer Lauck | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Living News, Adoption, Nancy Verrier, Trauma, Birth Mother, Teen Pregnancy, Magical Thinking, Bonding, Primal Wound, Biological Mother, Separation, Healthy Living News
Jennifer Lauck

Every human being on the planet comes through the womb of a mother. To force a mother to choose between keeping her offspring or losing acceptance by the culture is to force her to split in half and as a result, to collapse.

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Here's a Way to Never Be Unemployed

Dave Astor | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Michael Steele, Magical Thinking, Tea Party, Census, Liberals, John Boehner, Death Panels, Bobby Jindal, Yankee Stadium, Woody Guthrie, Newt Gingrich, Democratic Party, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, This Land Is Your Land, Hockey, Afghanistan War, 99ers, Unemployment, Conservatives, Condoleezza Rice, Abraham Lincoln, Racism, Republican Party, Dinesh D'souza, Comedy News
Dave Astor

Many Americans are maxing out on their unemployment benefits amid cries from Republicans that they're lazy bums who should get a job. Sure, there's on...

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We the People

Mark Olmsted | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Social Security, Rightwing Narratives, Civic Participation, Miltary, Irs, Spending, Somalia, Burearucracy, Conservatives, Government, Magical Thinking, Deficits, Politics News
Mark Olmsted

The American paradox is that everyone wants small government and high services, low taxes, and a balanced budget. The genius of the Republicans is that they've convinced a huge swath of America that all of this is actually possible.

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What Caused the BP Oil Leak? Magical Thinking

Bob Burnett | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Magical Thinking, Financial Crisis, Deepwater Horizon, British Petroleum, Gulf Oil Spill, Politics News
Bob Burnett

Blind faith in science and belief that the market will solve all our problems derive from a core magical belief: what is good for capitalism is good for America.

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Aspirational Delusion Syndrome: What it Says About the Right

Mark Olmsted | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Magical Thinking, Party-of-No, Joe the Plumber, Liberals, Adult Behavior, Obama, Glenn Beck, George Lakoff, Conservatives, Democrats, Tea Party, Bush, Republicans, Politics News
Mark Olmsted

The vast majority of conservatives, like most Americans, are not rich. So why should they be so devoted to the interests of a class they don't belong to? "Aspirational Delusion Syndrome."

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Magical Thinking

Psychology Today | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Magical Thinking, Religion, Beliefs, Atheism, Superstitions, Emotional Wellness, Healthy Living News

You are wired to find meaning in the world, a predisposition that leaves you with less control over your beliefs than you may think. Even if you're a ...

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Between Blinders & Bible-Thumping, Fanciful Flights & Party Suicide, Where is America Heading?

Jane Devin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Fundamentalism, Religion, Magical Thinking, Radio Flyer Movie, Dogma, Conservatism, Democrats, Republicans, Politics News
Jane Devin

In the fantastical world of fundamentalist religiopolitics, it is acceptable for Glenn Beck to call Obama a racist, but not acceptable to question the racial motives behind the frighteningly ignorant attacks on Obama.

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New Year's Resolutions

One For The Table | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Losing Weight, Laraine Newman, New Year's Eve, Magical Thinking, Going Vegan, New Year's Resolution, New Year's Commentary, Healthy Living News
One For The Table

I'd really like to lose 15, but I might lose 5. Either way, I need to feel good in my own skin and accept the fact that I'm not going to get any cuter.

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Magical Thinking and Magical Speaking

Paula Gordon | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Faith and Facts, Magical Thinking, John McCain, Mcpalin, Magical Speaking, Politics News
Paula Gordon

Because The Paula Gordon Show is part of "the media" we are on the receiving end of many books and lots of email ... from the full political spectrum....

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