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I’m sorry, I’ve changed, I promise
Many people who have never even stepped foot into a 12-step recovery room have nevertheless heard of the 9th step. That’s the part where recovering alcoholics and addicts make amends to people they have harmed over the years, and it’s the most public part of an otherwise very private process. There is even a Seinfeld episode that pokes good-hearted fun at the 9th step. This step also resonates widely because, to one degree or another, we all have to do 9th step work at some point—even if we don’t call it that. In psychological terms, the 9th step is about trust recovery—apologizing, promising change, insisting we’ve changed—really.
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Repeal health care reform? The brain says no
Republican lawmakers are understandably chagrined over this week’s historic enactment of health care reform. After all, the legislation was passed and signed over their histrionics and without any constructive input from their side of the aisle, so they’re feeling irrelevant and impotent. That explains why they’re already making blustery threats to repeal this transformative piece of social law. But it is just bluster. They won’t repeal the law—not for political reasons but for psychological reasons. Let me explain. One of the cornerstone principles of cognitive psychology—the study of how we think—is the so-called default heuristic.
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The paradox of green cred
My office shares a floor with the Sierra Club. So oftentimes the shared men’s room on the floor is dark when I enter it. The lights have been turned off, either as an act of energy conservation or as a gentle reminder to the rest of us, or both. I don’t mind this. I simply turn the lights on. And I usually remember to turn them off again as I leave. So if darkening the men’s room is meant to prime green thinking, it works. And not just green thinking—communal behavior as well. I feel better when I’m reminded to turn out the lights, like I’m doing my part. But how far does such persuasion go? After all, switching the lights off costs me nothing.
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The perils of small talk
The Greek philosopher Socrates famously claimed that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” to which the 20th-century American philosopher Daniel Dennett replied: “The overly examined life is nothing to write home about either.” Fair enough. Deep thoughts have their place, and we all like to exercise our intellectual chops time to time. But much of life is not profound, and many of our thoughts and conversations are taken up with the rather mundane business of daily life: Nice dress. What’s for dinner? Have you seen Avatar? How about them Redskins? But is there a proper and healthy balance? Are there consequences to being too serious all the time—or too shallow?
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Is lead the culprit in ADHD?
ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is among the costliest of behavioral disorders. Its combination of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity leads to accidental injuries, school failure, substance abuse, antisocial behavior and more. Yet despite nearly a century of study, the disorder’s roots remain mysterious. Much of modern ADHD research has focused on heritability of the condition, and indeed evidence suggests that genes may account for as much as 70 percent of hyperactivity and inattention in children. But that leaves 30 percent unexplained, so recently the focus has shifted to the environment.
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The future is lookin’ sweet
Many addiction recovery programs teach a principle called HALT. HALT is an acronym for Hungry-Angry-Lonely-Tired, and the idea is that any one of these conditions of mind and body can be a threat to continued sobriety. HALT is an article of faith, based on years of collective experience. It’s not considered all that important why these visceral states might be related to relapse. But scientists think it’s important. Not the HALT principle itself, but the connection between bodily states and decisions, both good and bad. And new research may indeed shed some light on at least one part of the question: the link between food, hunger, and unsound judgment.
