Category Archives: Psychology

Cheerfulness

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

Hard yards at the moment. Much ado at work and plenty on at home. But the top tip of this week comes from the Royal Navy – cheerfulness counts. From the Battle of Trafalgar to the present day, Britain’s Royal … Continue reading →

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Irrelevant Complexity 1) – Odd Jobs

Posted on April 27, 2013 by

‘Relevant complexity’ is my theory of everything: satisfaction and joy arise from the pursuit of complex, worthwhile and comparatively challenging pursuits. Art history, particle physics, the raising of children, the preparation and enjoyment of good food etc etc – all … Continue reading →

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Dead Mum or Dinosaurs

Posted on February 23, 2013 by

I was debating with a friend yesterday whether he should feel any more concerned by the beliefs and values of his dead mum as the behaviours of dinosaurs. Both belong to the past; we live in the present. And soon … Continue reading →

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Brain Cocktail

Posted on February 10, 2013 by

Shaken but not stirred, I spotted this fascinating diagram yesterday. It describes moods, mental states and conditions in test tube form. So which comes first – the chemical state or the state of mind? Are we in love or just … Continue reading →

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Complex Pleasures

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

Talking last night with friends about ‘pleasure’, we recognised it’s a complex beast. One of our party admitted she was happy with her life but generally not happy as she lived it. How could this be? I listened again to … Continue reading →

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I am a Scientist

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

Like most people I guess, I get irritated by folk who are wrong. But unlike most people, I actually don’t mind so much when I am. Perhaps that’s because I believe in a ‘Bayesian brain’. Mash up all the facts, … Continue reading →

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Arts and Draughts

Posted on October 27, 2012 by

I found myself talking Art – with a nice bloke I’ve never met before – in the pub this week. It was at a leaving do for my other half. Neither of us look like gallery buffs. But a happy … Continue reading →

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Crystal Ball

Posted on October 20, 2012 by

What if the purpose of memory is not to remember things? We generally judge our memory on accuracy and completeness – and we are generally disappointed. Memory is jumbled, retouched and unreliable as a definitive record of the past. But … Continue reading →

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A Dog’s Life

Posted on October 14, 2012 by

I’ve just finished ‘In Defence of Dogs’, a fascinating book on the evolution and psychology of our four-legged friends. Packed with insights, perhaps the most important is: they’re not half as complicated as we think they are. That’s not to … Continue reading →

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What gets measured…

Posted on September 22, 2012 by

I’d consider myself to have better than average self-discipline. But I have to concede – what gets measured gets done. And it needs measuring often. I didn’t see off my half stone of blubber until I started counting exactly what … Continue reading →

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