May
01
Would you post a letter dropped in the street, obey an order to electrocute another person, start a conversation with a familiar stranger or help a lost child?
Stanley Milgram was an American social psychologist who is most famous for his obedience experiments (see below), but he was fascinated by all aspects of social order, especially in the city.
May
01
May
01
May
01
What is the human stress response and why is it important?
When we talk about stress today, we are usually referring to the pressures we experience in daily life. These can be the pressures to earn a living, pay our bills, meet the demands of raising a family, live up to the expectations of people around us or care for aging parents. They can be daily pressures, such as a traffic jam, disrespectful co-workers or being asked to do things we’re not good at. They can come from the environment – poor lighting or noise – and from our minds.
May
01
The evidence suggests that corporations might encourage people to think and act more anti-socially. What does owning stock do to our brains?
It’s conventional wisdom in business circles today that corporate directors should “maximize shareholder value.” Corporations supposedly exist to serve shareholders’ interests, and not (or at least, not directly) those of executives, employees, customers, or the community. However, this shareholder-value dogma begs a fundamental question. What, exactly, do shareholders value?
May
01
Moral brain
Is this so? Is there really a connection between a dormant amygdala, on the one hand, and fearlessness and deficient moral development, on the other? There is a close connection, if you ask Dr. James Blair of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, one of the world’s leading brain researchers, who studies the connection between brain structure and a violent criminal personality.
