First Looks category archive

Off to drink liberally.

Join us to discuss the recent developments in Congress, at the border, or at the NATO summit, or whatever else is on your mind.

When: Thursday, December 12, 6 p. m.

Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)

Read the chapter blog and sign up to have your inbox flooded with one or two emails a month here.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Michael Carson suggests that the success of science in improving our lives makes it easier for persons to deny established scientific facts. In these days of anti-vaxxers, flat earthers, and believers in the laughable curve, his piece is worth a look.

Here’s a nugget:

Science specializes in ideas, and in methods for sorting those ideas, that lead to successful action, rather than ideas that appeal to other people. One irony is that insulation from early death lowers the stakes for sifting bad ideas; very little is at stake for most people on the question of whether the earth is flat, so many people maintain that idea without facing any cost other than the reactions of other people.

Robin Hood, by J. Walker McSpadden.

Off to drink liberally.

Join us the discuss the recent state and local election or whatever else is on your mind.

When: Thursday, November 14, 6 p. m.

Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)

Read the chapter blog and sign up to have your inbox flooded with one or two emails a month here.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Christian Hart examines why this is so. Here’s a bit:

If the research suggests that people tend to behave differently when they are lying, why are the rates of accurate detection so pitiful? One possibility is that people are simply looking for the wrong cues when trying to detect liars. A number of studies have examined what behavioral features people pay attention to when they are trying to discover if someone is lying. Most of this research has found that people seem to have little insight into the actual behavioral indicators of lying, and so they tend to look for the wrong signs of deception

Via Le Show.

Off to drink liberally.

At Psychology Today Blogs, Christian Hart investigates the personality traits of those who lie. Here’s a bit:

Who are these prolific liars? Personality is one variable that accounts for who lies the most. In one study I conducted with Haylie Jones, we found that people who are high in Machiavellianism (people who are manipulative, unemotional, and indifferent to morality) tend to tell significantly more lies that a typical person. In another study, I found that the prolific liars tend to be people who have low self-esteem (Hart, Lemon, Curtis, & Griffith, in press). Additionally, they tend to be low in conscientiousness and openness to new experiences.

Follow the link for more.

Aside:

Sound like anyone you know?

(Broken link fixed.)

Join us to discuss the Carnival of Carnality that calls itself–well, I’ll just tell you what the old man used to say about my state Senator when I was little: “He calls himself a lawyer.”

When: Thursday, October 10, 6 p. m.

Where:
Croc’s 19 Street Bistro
620 19th Street (Map)

Read the chapter blog and sign up to have your inbox flooded with one or two emails a month here.