Monthly Archives: February 2009
Lessons in the Art of the Gesture
When a college freshman, I had never taken a course in public speaking or debate. I decided it was time to correct that missing element of my education. So I enrolled in Speech 101 (or whatever it was called). I don’t know exactly what I expected, but whatever it was,…
Antioxidants: Myth or Malignance
In my post here, “The Parallax View of Thrill Seekers,” I cast light on the prejudice of scientists to intepret experimental and observational data to infer causal relationships where none are indicated. Today I read one of the few highly-visible examples of both that propensity, and its polar opposite. In…
The Parallax View of Thrill Seekers
In an article in New Scientist magazine, neurobiologist David McCobb, of Cornell University, says he has found evidence linking a preference for extreme sports to a pair of proteins in the adrenal gland. Adrenaline is secreted by the adrenal gland through tiny channels made up of two types of protein…
Rules Of Engagement
Full and effective communication is the most important single factor in any human interaction. This is especially true in a loving relationship. It is easy to overlook the fact that the information that is being communicated, even non-verbally, does not tell the whole story. Nor is it necessarily the most…