The Clueless Competitor – an ethical dilemma

As you may or may not know, I am a documentary filmmaker working mostly within the very inbred and insular world of bodybuilding. From the local level to the pros, I have covered it all. A few weeks ago I was in New York shooting footage for a new documentary…

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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.

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World leaders shun George W. Bush

What does it mean when people all around are shaking each others' hands but not yours?  I know that this video is widely available (I saw it on Huffpo), but it is a potent non-verbal message that bears on the foreign policy damage done by President Bush. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Y_ncOVlDw&eurl=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/[/youtube]

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Turn off your TV to be happy

Sociologists at the University of Maryland have concluded that “unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing.” The study appears in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research. The study was based on 30-years worth of national…

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