Quirky Little Things

The science of the queer and the quotidian.

Jesse Bering is an experimental psychologist and Director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture at the Queen's University, Belfast. See full bio

October 2, 2008

Death is a State of Mind (Or, How to Know if You're Dead)

Here's a quick snapshot of my recent article on the psychology of afterlife beliefs in the current issue of Scientific American Mind.... Read More

September 15, 2008

The Life and Death of The Red Balloon (1956)

Many of us remember fondly the classic 1956 film The Red Balloon by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse, in which a sensitive schoolboy (in reality Lamorisse's own five-year-old son Pascal) is befriended by a good-natured, cherry-red helium balloon. Read More

July 17, 2008

When is Suicide Adaptive?

You might think that suicide flies in the face of evolutionary theory. If the goal is to spread one's seed as much as possible then why on earth would anyone "defy nature" by intentionally removing themselves from the competition? Read More

July 1, 2008

Evolutionary Thinking is Hard Work

Because evolutionary theory serves to illuminate an otherwise imperceptible complexity, many students exposed to it for the first time report an experience not unlike a religious conversion, wherein they begin to see the world in an entirely new light and find meaning and purpose in the most unlikely of places. Read More

June 22, 2008

Jesus the Lucky Goldfish

As overseas uncles often do, yesterday I had a quick catch-up phone chat with my six-year-old nephew, Gianni (who, to set the scene, is currently waiting for both of his front teeth to come in). My sister had just explained to me that Gianni was eager to share something very exciting with me. Read More

June 18, 2008

What I Wish Every Student Knew

If there's one message I try to get across to new students who come to work with me, it's this: keep your eyes open. There are research ideas everywhere. And one other thing, your heart can lead you astray over the next few years, or at least cloud your vision. Be especially wary of that. Read More

June 12, 2008

Gays Get the Gut-Level Shaft

"I have a lovely psychiatrist who works with me and who tries to help homosexuals turn away from what they are engaged in." Read More

June 5, 2008

If You Don't Believe in the Afterlife, Why Are You Afraid of Ghosts?

Last night I caught myself in a lie. But it's a very complicated lie, and I suspect there's rich ground here for some new experimental ideas. Around 2 am, I woke up only to realise that the duvet cover had slipped off my feet, leaving my toes exposed. I experienced the most peculiar sense of discomfort by virtue of this fact... Read More

June 3, 2008

That Damn Dream Again!

I've experienced the same annoying dream, or some alternative version of it, at least once a week for many years now - probably since earning my Ph.D., in fact, in 2002. A new theory about dreaming may explain why. Read More

May 25, 2008

Speech Anxiety and the Illusion of Transparency

An illusion of transparency, whereby speakers believe that their inner anxiety and nervousness is more apparent than it actually is, triggers a vicious cycle of increasing stress that eventually undermines the speaker's performance. Read More

Evolutionary Psychology Basics

Our bodies evolved over eons, slowly calibrating to the African savanna on which 98 percent of our ancestors lived and died. So, too, did our brains. Evolutionary psychology postulates that the mind is shaped by pressure to survive and reproduce. We jealously guard romantic partners and cherish our closest relatives above all others, lest we fail to pass on our genes.

Go to the Evolutionary Psychology Basics page for more on Evolutionary Psychology including:

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