BrainSnacks

Practical intelligence for all

Karl Albrecht Ph.D.

How to Fight Sexual Misconduct? Write 'em a Ticket!

To quote the actor Bill Murray, in Ghostbusters, "The usual stuff's not working." That's true with the problem of sexual misconduct. Let's try something new—and maybe better.

How Socially Intelligent Are You? Take This Quiz and See.

The Social Intelligence Quiz is an online, interactive assessment tool that highlights key toxic or nourishing behaviors that affect success in relationships, jobs, and careers.

Will Celebrity Groper Stories Lead to a Silent Backlash?

Will men in power react defensively to the media obsession with sexual misconduct by adopting the "Billy Graham rule" in dealing with the women in their environments?

Science Class Isn't Working

It appears that more Americans prefer to believe in creationism, angels, and UFOs than in climate change and evolution.

How They Crowd-Sourced the Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language was built by crowd sourcing, back in the nineteenth century. Its most prolific contributor was clinically insane.

Have You Experienced "Eureka" Moments?

The French physician and scientist Louis Pasteur advised, "Chance favors the prepared mind."

How to Develop "Zen Presence"

Zen presence enables you to interact more rationally, intelligently, and creatively.

Thank You, Mrs. Price

If you love someone; if you appreciate them; if you're grateful to them - tell them now. One day it will be too late.

The Art (and Psychology) of the Handshake

One of the many forms of amusement offered to observers of U.S. President Donald Trump is the "power handshake," also known colloquially as the "alpha" handshake.

The "Battered Voter" Syndrome

The "battered spouse" syndrome has a counterpart in a "battered voter" syndrome, if people hold a dependent attachment to an "ideological package" inimical to their own interests.

Will the Trump Family Come Unglued?

Will we see the over-stressed Trump clan come unglued? And if so, what would be the impact on the presidency?

The Paradox of the Donald Trump Presidency

The Trumpian paradox is that he will galvanize, organize, and motivate his opposition more effectively than they themselves can.

Why the Pundits Can't Figure Out Donald Trump

Those who despise Trump, and even those who worship him, can't seem to grasp the simple truth, which is: He Is Actually As Simple as He Appears. What you see is what you'll get.

Famous Bad Calls

These days, it's becoming more and more dangerous to take anything we read or hear on face value.

Fake News Isn’t New – It’s an American Tradition

Quite a few people have gone down in history for what they didn't do, rather than for what they actually did.

Minds in the White House—Update

We need to pay attention to how our political leaders think as well as what they think. The unique cognitive style of the person who occupies the White House will shape our lives.

If You Want to Become More Mindful, Check Your Watch

if the “monkey mind,” as the Eastern practitioners call it, has a mind of its own, how does one become more “mindful?” How can your mind stay focused, when it loves to wander?

How to Install Your "Emotional Reset Button"

When you press your magic reset button, you instantly distract your brain from its undesirable state of arousal, and you redirect its attention to a more positive feeling state.

You Get 10 “Do-Overs” – What Would You Do Differently?

Suppose a magic genie came to you and said, "You get ten ‘do-overs’ – ten revisions of your personal history." What ten choices would you make differently?

Five Dysfunctional Directives We Can Live Without

Letting go of any or all of the Big-Five directives requires finding, inside ourselves, a greater sense of self-love and self-confidence; the courage to embrace being human . . .

Who's Riding on Your "Me-Bus"?

Advocates of the modular mind concept see no need to assume the existence of a single "executive self"; no master module; no CEO circuit; no super-me; not even an "ego."

Are You a Noun or a Verb?

Each of us has a preferred arrangement of our inner world - well-defined, orderly, and deterministic; or ambiguous, complex, and speculative. How do they affect our thinking?

Should Funerals Be Fun?

I don't like to leave important matters to amateurs. That's why I'm going to plan my own funeral.

How I Became a Media Vegetarian

According to the sixties’ “beat” poet Allen Ginsberg: “We’re in science fiction now, man. Whoever controls the images – the media – controls the culture."

Picking Presidents: What Leadership Research Tells Us

Now I know where I stand: I’m going to vote for the candidate who looks most “presidential” – if they promise not to mess with Social Security.

The One Sentence That Changes Everything

Knowing the power and influence of the first sentence can enable you to influence others more effectively than you might ever have thought possible.

Three Simple Statements That Cure Dogmatism and Open Minds

Why do some people present themselves in conversation as rigid, inflexible, dogmatic, opinionated, overbearing, and unwilling to listen and learn? There is a cure for dogmatism.

Have Better Conversations With the "Rule of Three"

How can you attract people to yourself and your ideas, instead of alienating them? Just change the proportion of three kinds of sentences you use in your conversation.

Is Your Crap Detector Working?

Are you being hypnotized and intellectually anesthetized by the constant flood of entertainment imagery in the popular culture? As writer Ernest Hemingway advised, maybe it's time to tune up your "crap detector."

What's In A Flag? Strong Emotions, For One Thing.

Maybe the attachment that some Southern people feel toward the Confederate flag is less an expression of overt racism (which it certainly seems to be, in part), and more an expression of a lingering cultural/historical sense of loss and defeat they feel for the disastrous outcome of the Civil War. Could redesigning the flag lead to a new sense of Southern identity?

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