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The Behavioral Immune System
Scientific American: We are prejudiced against all kinds of other people, based on superficial physical features: We react negatively to facial disfigurement; we avoid sitting next to people who are obese, or old, or in
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Torture – Too Severe for Empathy
An interrogation practice is classified as torture when it inflicts severe physical or mental pain. But the people who determine what defines severity aren’t experiencing that pain so they underestimate it. A study in an
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Crossing the Line: What Constitutes Torture?
Torture. The United Nations defines it as the “infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” But how severe is severe? That judgment determines whether or not the law classifies an interrogation practice as
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Roots of Self-Sabotage: Seduced By the ‘Devil We Know’
The human mind is irrational, and this irrationality can be quirky and entertaining. But all too often our quirkiness crosses the line into perversion. We make self-destructive decisions when we should know better, and choose
