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2022 Spence Award Mini Episode: Human to Nonhuman Interactions with Kai Chi (Sam) Yam
Kai Chi (Sam) Yam (National University of Singapore) tells us about his research on human-nonhuman communication.
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This Is Why It’s So Hard to Find Mental Health Counseling Right Now
Angelle Haney Gullett lost her father in September and knew she would need grief counseling. She contacted 25 therapists in the Los Angeles area, where she lives, between early October and Christmas, neatly tracking her efforts on a spreadsheet. None would accept a new client. In most cases, their waiting lists were closed as well, even though Gullett was willing to pay hundreds of dollars in cash for each session. She spent February’s Super Bowl in tears, watching the Cincinnati Bengals, the team her father rooted for. “I’m in a big city. I’m in L.A. We have a lot of therapists,” she said.
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Intuition: When Is It Right to Trust Your Gut Instincts?
When asked about the source of his genius, Albert Einstein had no doubts. “I believe in intuitions and inspirations. I sometimes feel that I am right. I do not know that I am,” he told the Saturday Evening Post in 1929. It was much better to trust those instincts and test them later than to dismiss them out of hand, he said. The physicist was by no means alone in this philosophy. It was also, apparently, a big part of Coco Chanel’s strategy. “Fashion is in the air, born upon the wind. One intuits it,” she said. You may recognise the sensation yourself.
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To Fight Bias, Consider Highlighting Your Race or Gender
A friend (let’s call her Rosa) recently spent several weeks cold-e-mailing business school alumni who had built successful ventures. Rosa is a woman of color and an aspiring entrepreneur, and she planned to apply to business school herself. She hoped to build her network or at least get some useful advice. But she faced a dilemma: In her messages, should she highlight that she’s a woman and a member of a racial minority group in entrepreneurship—or let her identity fade into the background? We were also curious. After all, Rosa’s identity might help her stand out in a positive way, or it could trigger a prejudiced response. So we decided to do some research.
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Written in the Stars: How Humans Pick Out Constellations
Around the world, people have long gazed up at the stars and found meaning in them. The Renaissance polymath Nicolaus Copernicus once wrote, “Of all things visible, the highest is the heaven of the fixed stars.” Five centuries later, Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman in space, said, “When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from one particular piece of land, but from the solar system.” What we see in these connect-the-dot patterns is due largely to cultural influences, but humans are pattern-seeking creatures by nature.
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The Snuggle Is Real
Kacie Willis, a 34-year-old audio producer in Atlanta, suffers from panic attacks with no known cause. She’s tried cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), anti-anxiety medication, mindfulness meditation, and CBD oil. Although some of these have provided relief, one coping mechanism has consistently helped her manage her anxiety, particularly at night: Kasey Kangaroo, a stuffed animal she’s had since she was four years old. Willis can’t quite pinpoint why her stuffed kangaroo helps her anxiety, but it does. “Even if I’m not holding it at night when I sleep, it’s close enough for me to know it’s there.
