Disgust may not be a straightforward extension of the immune system’s aversion to harmful substances, but rather “a psychological nebula, lacking definite boundaries, discrete internal structure, or a single center of gravity,” says psychologist Nina Strohminger.Photograph by Star Stock / Flickr
Nina Strohminger, perhaps not unlike many fans of raunchy comedies and horror flicks, is drawn to disgust. The University of Pennsylvania psychologist has written extensively on the feeling of being grossed out, and where it comes from. The dominant idea, developed by Paul Rozin and April Fallon, is that disgust evolved adaptively from an oral revulsion to biologically harmful substances, like rotten food and bodily waste. The emotion subsequently crept into the social arena, they claimed, as we became revolted by abnormal and licentious behavior. Moral repugnance arose as a result, which retains little if any connection to the biological origins of disgust. It’s “like a parfait,�
April 23, 2021
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, incurable skeptics have argued that many COVID-19 measures are based not on science and reason, but on fearmongering by an increasingly autocratic ruling class imposing new norms on an increasingly intolerant and conformist population.
Those even more inclined to skepticism would argue that autocracy, conformity, and intolerance are themselves, by their nature, highly effective public health measures. They evolved in primitive human society precisely because they protect from disease. Disgust, not fear, is the emotion that drives them.
These three postulates point to rational alternatives for the pandemic’s restrictions on civil liberties, and underlie an entirely new way of understanding the history of human conflict.
How to Manage Your Goal Hierarchy (Ep. 458)
April 14, 2021 @ 11:00pm
, People I (Mostly) Admire host Steve Levitt admits to
No Stupid Questions co-host Angela Duckworth that he knows almost nothing about psychology. But once Angela gives Steve a quick tutorial on “goal conflict,” he is suddenly a fan. They also talk parenting, self-esteem, and how easy it is to learn econometrics if you feel like it.
Listen and subscribe to our podcast at
Stephen DUBNER: Hey there, it’s Stephen Dubner. If there’s one thing we’ve all learned from a year-long pandemic shutdown, it’s that no two people respond exactly the same way to a year-long pandemic shutdown. Around here, we responded by starting some new podcasts. You may already know this, if you follow us closely. The first show we called
How Do You Get an Acquired Taste? mentalfloss.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mentalfloss.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The remedy for fallacies is not enforced silence
10 Feb 2021
Cass R. Sunstein,
Tribune News Service
The US Supreme Court is strongly committed to the “marketplace of ideas.” It tends to believe, in the words of Justice Louis Brandeis, that the remedy for falsehoods and fallacies is “more speech, not enforced silence.”
If you believe that, you might also believe that if people lie about COVID-19, the 2020 presidential election, a politician, a journalist, a neighbour or you or me nothing can be done. Sure, you can answer with “counterspeech”: the truth. And that’s it.
The problem is in many cases, counterspeech is ineffective. Lies lodge in the human mind. They are like cockroaches: You can’t quite get rid of them.