Hell's Pavement

The cruelty of good intentions.

by David Johnson, Ph.D.

Bleacher Psychologists Need to Shut Their Pie Holes

Daniel Gilbert, the Harvard psychologist and author of Stumbling on Happiness, thinks that Alex Rodriguez's recent struggle to hit his 600th home run was so unusual that it requires an explanation. Gilbert, who also happens to be a Red Sox fan, was pleased to provide it in the Op-Ed section of the New York Times. He applied a psychological theory: Read More

Why Did Johnny Turn Jihadi?

How can we best understand the phenomenon of Faisal Shahzad, Omar Hammami, and other young, male Americans taking up arms for radical Muslim terrorist organizations? Judging from media coverage, it seems many journalists believe we must delve into the details of their Muslim faith and how exactly the peculiarities of their religious practice turned into perverse extremism. Read More

Ethics Classes Won't Save Us From Ourselves

Every wave of public scandal seems to bring in its wake calls for more ethics classes at our top schools. As a former philosophy professor who has taught “Moral Philosophy 101” to undergraduates, I’m actually rather dismissive about the whole idea. I don’t mean to imply that ethics shouldn’t be a significant part of any professional curriculum (e.g. Read More

Are We Wrong to React to the Apache Helicopter Video with Disgust?

For those of us who have watched the video of an American Apache helicopter gunning down a dozen Iraqi civilians three years ago (reportedly obtained by Wikileaks from whistleblowers within the U.S. military), one of its more disturbing aspects is the cheering and taunting of our soldiers as they shoot at wounded innocents and children. Read More

Tennis and the Menendez Murders, Part II

On August 26, 2009, Dominick Dunne passed away after a long struggle with bladder cancer. His death occurred almost 20 years to the day after the Menendez brothers had shotgunned their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion. The murder case was just one of numerous glamor trials whose coverage for Vanity Fair made Dunne a celebrity.

Three years ago, I had the opportunity to chat with him about the Menendezes. I felt that the tennis angle to the crime had not been properly plumbed.

Advanced excerpts from Andre Agassi's autobiography Open offered three provocative revelations. Yet only two of them managed to garner much public attention. Read More