Morality

Altruistic behavior is one of the great unsolved problems of social science research. What I find particularly fascinating is the huge effect that very subtle cues can exhibit on people's giving behavior...or not so subtle cues, like when you're made to feel that God might be watching you... Read More

I'm currently teaching a course on medical ethics and telling my students about the movement toward evidence-based medicine. The students are surprised to learn that many medical treatments and practices are based more on tradition than on good evidence of effectiveness. Read More

UBC psychologist Mark Schaller’s research demonstrates big differences between prejudice based on fear and prejudice based on disgust. Schaller notes that movies exploit both kinds of prejudices – sometimes depicting big bad burly guys with guns, other times depicting oozing, slimy, disease-ridden aliens.  District 9 manages to turn the volume up on both fear and disgust at the same time, while depicting a nearly hopeless and degenerate world full of prejudice.  How does it do all these nasty things in a way that is psychologically appealing enough to merit a nomination for Best Picture? (Coauthored by Douglas T. Kenrick) Read More

Show me a child who hasn't fantasized about it, a sibling who has not considered it, and a kindergartener who hasn't felt it. We go to bed as cute, innocent, thumb-sucking little kids and drift off to fairy tales full of revenge. Read More

I came here to exercise but it's definitely not working. The gym's owner keeps coming over to talk to me about God. He's born again. He asked me what I'm listening to and like a fool I told him it's a book about Darwin.

"Let me ask you this," he say. "If we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" Read More

The Apple iPad: It's slim, comfortable, and you can take it anywhere.  And no, it's not a feminine hygiene product. Read More

A common contrast to altruistic acts are acts of psychopathy.  Psychopaths are people who have little or not remorse for their actions. They are thought to not feel empathy for others.  Thus, they act in very selfish ways to promote their own welfare.  Thus, it would seem that people who we would consider to be prototypes of altruism (e.g., Mother Teresa or Gandhi) would be considered as complete opposites to psychopaths.  

Do extreme altruists share traits with psychopaths? Read More

One idea I had for an altruistic act is talking with people and showing genuine caring for them. Read More

My main act of compassion so far has been feeding people who are homeless. It has been my mainstay act of altruism. There are relatively many people who are homeless near me and I can do this pretty anonymously. That is, I can 'sneak up' on them and give them a bag of food pretty quickly without getting praise or really even being identified (I often find people who are sleeping).

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