If the heart is a pump, the liver is a strainer, and the stomach is a composter, then is it fair to say that the brain is a computer? Neurobiology, wrote Jerry Coyne, a professor of biology at the University of Chicago, tells us that “our brains are simply meat computers that, like real computers, are programmed by our genes…
For thousands of years, people have had strong connections to animals and often believe they had special powers. Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats, while some Native American tribes thought eagles could deliver prayers to God. Such beliefs have been relegated to folklore, but animals have proven their talents and value to humans in many ways. Gorillas and chimpanzees can learn a…
Second Acts is a series of interviews with interesting people who discovered new pathways midway through their lives. Mirabai Starr is professor of comparative religions at the University of New Mexico, Taos. She translated Dark Night of the Soul and The Interior Castle, and then a cascade of other works based upon the teachings of spiritual mystics. Her first book in her…
When I was a child, my entire family watched Perry Mason every Saturday night. At my young age I didn’t recognize the contrivance of how each case ended: The real murderer, who was never the defendant on trial, confessed his or her guilt right in the courtroom. This, of course, rarely happens in real life. But one aspect of these plots does…
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the annual international campaign organized by major breast cancer charities to heighten awareness of the disease and raise funds for research. “I just donated $100 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help a woman without insurance coverage to get a mammogram. I hope you will consider donating, too!” For me, as for many of…
When you think of forgiveness, does it seem easy to offer? Or do you withhold forgiveness as a way of punishing someone who hurt you? It can seem like the person who benefits most from forgiveness is the person receiving it. The truth about forgiveness, however, is just the opposite: Forgiveness is for you. Dr. Margaret Nagib, a clinical psychologist…
We walk into the Latin club the way we always do, almost tripping over ourselves in anticipation, picking up the beat at the first sound of the bongo drums that reverberate from enormous speakers. After ten years of salsa dancing, John is used to the excitement of an empty dance floor and music whose every beat contains the passionate rhythm…
Findings just published in Science magazine show that reading serious fiction may improve our ability to assess body language and what people are thinking. In a study at the New School for Social Research in New York City, participants ranging in age from 18 to 75 were instructed to read 10 to 15 pages of either literary or mainstream popular fiction. Authors…
