Ambigamy

Thanks for another thought-provoking, very insightful read. Your column on Psychology Today is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I'm an undergraduate student active in research at my university, and I've enjoyed the academic psychology conferences I've attended immensely. However, like you, I'm always sitting back in my chair pondering the motivations behind the seemingly objective scientists studying phenomena of the mind. What is it that drives them to study their particular topic, and how do those drives influence the results they're reporting? How much of our "discoveries" are predetermined by the assumptions we bring to our research? Is the world as we know it really a reflection of the self that is peering out into a strange universe, trying to make sense of that which cannot be conceptualized?

Hey Jeremy,
I think you're a brilliant writer. I enjoy your thinking and writing. Thanks,
tim
p.s. When will you publish a book about "we glee?" It would go well with Blink, Switch, Nudge, and Sway. I know it would be excellent.

Hi Tim,

Wow, this is nice to hear from you. I had ducked out for a while to work on my book proposal for Doubt: A User's Guide. But coming back I'm honored to get this compliment from you.

I'll take a look at your blog. I just started reading "Switch." Procrastination, your research topic is about as pressing as they come just now. I'm thinking about the climate crisis.

I once wrote a long rap poem about how we're right on schedule to deal with procrastination. It was based on speculations with a Nasa astrobiologist in which we both agreed that a symbol-using species anywhere in the universe would likely have encountered the equivalent of our climate crisis and been as sluggish to respond as we have been. We're a hair's breadth from the native wit--ever ever so close.

I'm at js@jeremysherman.com if you'd ever care for correspondence off line. And again, thank you for the complement. It means a lot coming from you.

Jeremy

Came here based on Tim's recommendation - glad I did.

I was most interested to hear more about what you thought about the interaction between experiments and novels ought to be.

For example, in the game theory literature only Steve Brahms takes any time to look at strategic interactions presented in novels through the eyes of a game theorist.

Have you written anything on this topic?