Reviews In Depth

Top movie and book reviews that get beneath the surface

Category: ‘Psychology’

Would You Take the Honeymoon Pill?

A few years ago a study by researchers (Acevedo, Aron, Fisher, Brown) from Stony Brook university made the claim that a small percentage of mated couples (10%) indefinitely maintain a brain state similar to that found in most couples during the early 'honeymoon' stage of their relationship. Consequently these "swan" couples displayed a passion and devotion to one another that is uncommon in long term relationships generally. So then - here's the question: what if you and your partner could take a honeymoon pill that would allow you both to maintain the swan-like brain state permanently? Would you take it?

Those New Mac Ads – Why We REALLY Hate Them

Recently Apple released a set of new ads to advertise their Mac personal computers. The response from the internet has been that of vituperative hatred. This post made it on to the front page of Hacker News and I think most accurately sums up the accepted reasons for this response.

Sexist Narratives, Moral Dumbfounding and Our Broken Narrative Faculty

Generally what I do on this blog is interpret narratives, and try to give my readers a more sophisticated understanding of the narratives they encounter during their day to day lives.  This is no academic exercise.  Being able to interpret narratives in a sophisticated manner is an important skill.  Why?  Because we all create and [...]