Some Interesting Stories #1
Every now and then ‘the news’ produces an interesting story that flies dangerously close to the ground. It therefore fails to register on our radars, which are primed to catch those important-sounding-but-personally-irrelevant ones instead. I thought it might prove useful if I gathered some of these together at semi-random intervals for your perusal. Their general theme is...
Read MoreAmerican Pessimism and the Recession
The relationship between optimism, pessimism and the economic downturn is a fascinating one. I’ve blogged before about how some American thinkers have tried to blame the recession on a surplus of optimism, untempered by the sense of realism that pessimism brings. But it now seems that too much pessimism is bad for you too. In fact, increasingly, the US is positively – or should...
Read MorePessimism, Realism and the Recession
An Australian psychologist has claimed that feeling grumpy ‘is good for you’. At least that’s the spin the popular media put on the findings of Professor Joe Forgas of the University of South Wales. What the guy actually says is a little more nuanced. His claim is that there are some advantages to negative moods, just as there are to positive moods. For instance, negative...
Read MoreOne is Not Born, But Rather Becomes, Gifted!
The whole ‘nature versus nurture’ debate is increasingly fought out in the field of education. In an interesting article called Nature, nurture and exam results, Mike Baker looks at the current state of play. Which is, that a child’s family background largely dictates their potential for academic success. According to Professor Chris Woodhead – former controversial...
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