Jonathan Haidt urges that we escape moral righteousness

In this lecture on TED, Jonathan Haidt discusses his approach, which involves "five foundations of morality." Haidt also explains that, in our attempts to better understand morality, too many of us are trapped in a non-ending cycle in which "everybody thinks they are right." We are in need of humility, and the best way to get moral humility is to escape moral righteousness by striving to step out of the struggle. We need to see that liberals and conservatives both have something to offer to the conversation of change versus stability. I've written repeatedly and glowingly about Haidt's approach to morality. You can find earlier DI posts regarding Haidt's approach to morality here and here.

Continue ReadingJonathan Haidt urges that we escape moral righteousness

Pascal Boyer continues his search for natural sources of religious belief

I have previously posted on the work of psychologist and anthropologist Pascal Boyer. Throughout his writings, Boyer has repeatedly warned us that we shouldn't settle for simplistic explanations for religious belief. We shouldn't be looking, for sample, for a "gene for religious thinking." In the October 23, 2008 addition of…

Continue ReadingPascal Boyer continues his search for natural sources of religious belief

Broken window theory of criminality has been demonstrated

The "Broken Window" theory of criminality is that when people observe disorder, they are more likely to engage in anti-social acts.  Translated into an experiment, the principle was tested by George Kelling and his associates.  They asked whether people would litter more where there is illegal graffiti and where others…

Continue ReadingBroken window theory of criminality has been demonstrated

Astrophysicist George Smoot explores how the universe congealed into structures.

In this TED video, astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize winner George Smoot studies the cosmic microwave background radiation -- the afterglow of the Big Bang.  Smoot presents his lecture with the help of dramatic images created through the crunching of massive amounts of real-life data. The bottom line is that…

Continue ReadingAstrophysicist George Smoot explores how the universe congealed into structures.