High Population Density Just Might Be Good for You
For people, unlike rats, the human 'behavioral sink' seems to be greater creativity, not pathological collapse.
Psychology/Psychiatry
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Minnesota's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders
The program purports to treat people with statutorily defined mental illnesses but has not cured any.
Pittsburgh Bans Conversion Therapy for Minors. Is It Professional Regulation or Censorship? (Or Both!)
There are consequences for telling professionals what they're legally permitted to talk about.
FDA Approves Final Stage of MDMA Drug Trials
Banned in 1985, the "empathogen" could be legally available as a psychotherapeutic catalyst as soon as 2021.
Smarter People Are Happier People
New study contradicts earlier findings of no correlation between intelligence and happiness
Surgeon General's Report Mistakenly Treats All Drug Use As a Problem
Vivek Murthy does not acknowledge the possibility that nonmedical consumption of psychoactive substances could be beneficial.
The Punk Show at the Mental Hospital
Friday A/V Club: One of the most sublime rock documentaries ever made
Optimism or Pessimism? Let's Try Realism
The point isn't to see the world though rose-colored glasses or through a dirty windshield, but to see the world as it actually is.
Violent Video Games Don't Cause Gamers to Stick More Pins in Voodoo Dolls
Another study finds that playing violent video games does not increase aggression
Humans Are Naturally Murderous, Says New Study
However, the rise of modern social institutions has greatly reduced violence in contemporary societies.
Why Is Socialism So Damned Attractive? New at Reason
It's allure is a primitive evolutionary hold over.
Pamela Anderson Warns That 'The Crack Babies of Porn' Are Nigh
In the Wall Street Journal, the ex-Playboy model blames online-porn for Anthony Weiner's texting troubles & kids propelled "warp-speed into the dark side."
Beyond Gay and Straight: New Paper Says Sexual Orientation Is Much More Complicated
All of us have "multiple sexual orientations ... across a variety of different dimensions."
Stop Calling Trump 'Crazy,' Pleads Mental Health Advocate
The Narcissist and Megalomaniac communities, however, warmly embrace the Republican presidential candidate.*
Smart People Tend to Be Lazier, Says New Study
New study confirms my views about IQ and the propensity to exercise
My 'Warrior Gene' and My Propensity for Criminality
It's way too early to start putting people like me in jail based on our genomes
It's A Moral Issue! So Just Shut Up!
Merely labeling an attitude as moral increases its strength, reports new study
Conservatives More Susceptible to Bullshit Than Liberals
Supporters of Trump, Cruz, and Rubio more likely to see profoundness in bullshit than supporters of Clinton, Sanders, and O'Malley
Transgender Vets Want Their Surgeries Covered
If we're going to publicly fund medical treatments, why should there be an exception here?
Tenn.'s Discriminatory Counseling Law Protects LGBT Folks from Getting Bad Advice
As a bonus, it also avoids the thorny issue of compelled speech.
Victimhood Culture: How Abuse, Bullying, Trauma, Mental Disorders, Addiction, and Prejudice Became Pervasive
Psychological "concept creep" pathologizes everyday experience and encourages a sense of impotent victimhood.
Science Is a Good Substitute for God
Believers in sci-tech progress tend to be happier than the religiously faithful, says new study
Confirmation Bias and the Science of Psychology
Psychology and the rest of science would benefit from some focused research on the problem of confirmation bias
Their Science Is Not Broken, Assert Psychologists
Contradicts claims that only 40 percent of studies could be replicated.
Activists Attempt to Shut Down Gay Conversion Therapy with FTC Complaint
Is it censorship or a fight against false advertising?
Happy Darwin Day: Belief in Vengeful God Makes You Nicer
"Moralistic gods, supernatural punishment and the expansion of human sociality" in Nature
Another Fatal Shooting Highlights Poor Police Handling of Mental Health Crises
Viral video star shot to death in Arizona when police respond to suicide attempt.
Conversion Therapy Is Bad, but Banning It Is a Form of Unacceptable Censorship
We don't need lawmakers deciding what therapies should be supported or legal.
Rejecting Gun Control, Jeb Bush Calls for Gun Control
Like Obama and Clinton, the former Florida governor wants to "take rights away from law-abiding citizens."
Obama Wants to 'Remove the Stigma' of Mental Illness While Expanding the List of Former Patients Barred From Owning Guns
The president seeks to encourage psychiatric treatment while increasing the likelihood that it will result in the loss of Second Amendment rights.
Conservative Deviance Detection, CRISPR Cures Muscular Dystrophy, and Virtual Reality Ethics
A scitech research and policy roundup
Why Authorities Are Still Careful About the Motives for the San Bernardino Shootings (UPDATED: With Latest Info)
Farook may be Muslim, but he doesn't seem to match the ISIS profile.
Stop Using the Mentally Ill to Advance Your Ideology
Fear of a small group of unpredictable people is used to attack political opponents.
Drunken Recklessness May Be Genetic
A "relatively common" genetic mutation may trigger poor impulse control, especially when drinking.
Friday A/V Club: You Are Watching LSD-TV
There was a time when psychedelics could get friendly coverage on a commercial TV news show.
Pot Pleasure, Pot Problems
As prohibition collapses, marijuana users are less likely to abuse the drug.
As Prohibition Crumbles, Cannabis Consumers Are Less Apt to Abuse It
Legalization may improve marijuana's benefit-to-cost ratio.
The New York Times Explains Why Neither Psychiatry Nor Background Checks Can Stop Mass Shooters
Their profile is shared by many people who never kill anyone.
Judge Blocks Kentucky's Absurd Attempt to Censor 'Unlicensed' Advice Columnist
No, you don't have to have the state's approval to tell families how to solve problems.
Bernie Sanders Responds to Oregon Shooting: More Gun Control, More Mental Health, Less Violence in Media
Wants less shouting, more good policy.
Are Violent Video Games Digital Poison?
The American Psychological Association thinks so.
Victimhood Culture in America: Beyond Honor and Dignity
Americans increasingly want and expect adult supervision
The Roanoke Shooting and Forcible Psychiatric Treatment
A psychiatrist argues that "a vast majority of these tragedies" could be prevented by more aggressive mental health interventions.
Study Finds: Studies Are Wrong
A major project to reproduce study results from psychology journals found that more than half could not be replicated.
Policy Responses to the Roanoke Shooting: 1) Mass Disarmament or 2) Mass Disarmament
"Stronger mental health screenings for prospective gun owners" would strip many harmless people of their Second Amendment rights.
