Why We Do What We Do

Most people know that the right brain left brain personality attribution is a silly myth. But do you know where it comes from? Largely started out of research on corpus callosotomies for patients with seizure disorders, one or two die-hard researchers have created their own tests to find support for hemispheric dominance. Plenty to learn about this urban myth. You can reach us directly at 775.525....

Why do some accomplished people feel insecure about themselves? Turns out the vast majority of people who have achieved fame, success, responsibility, or other recognition feel unworthy of their accomplishments. This can be combatted by allowing yourself to acknowledge your actual failings and celebrating your achievements. The real frauds know who they are. But most people who think of themselves...

Popular neuropsychology has identified that there is increased activity in a particular network of the brain when we are "at rest." The question we ask is "what is at rest?" We express some skepticism toward this popular idea because there seem to be some foundational assumptions with which we are uncomfortable. You can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwdpodcast.com , through the com...

Turns out we are absolutely abysmal at determining if someone is trying to flirt with us. To begin with, it is important to note that flirting is about the most appropriate way to try and begin a consensual relationship in a non-aggressive and non-coercive way. In short, if someone is trying to increase their presence in your life or your presence in theirs, then they might be trying to flirt. Not...

Do intentions matter to determine if an action is altruistic? Depends on who you ask. Actually, historical writers on altruism are fraught with subjective interpretations of what it is or could be. Some promote it, some dismiss it. Some even call anything but altruism immoral. Technically, doing something with intent to harm that accidentally benefits someone else could be considered altruistic. B...

Yet another generation of fussy adults are concerned about how kids are so distracted these days that they have atomically-sized attention spans, rivaling that of the goldfish. This is false, also, goldfish are a poor comparison because they have pretty decent memories. Also, "attention-span" doesn't mean anything and has no definition or anchor to measurable behavior. Join us in taking down anoth...

Likey to ruffle some feathers, this episode is a discussion about the science of the sensory integration therapy approach. This is NOT an indictment of occupational therapists, but a review of the philosophy and evidence around sensory integration therapy. We specifically take on sensory oral feeding and other SIT strategies and history. There are some interesting nuggets and a legitimate hypothes...

Berserkers may or may not have been real people. There is evidence to suggest they did exist. But they were elite warriors who belonged to a tribal lifestyle and were often recruited for war. In battle, they would lead the charge with little or no armor or protection. Their blind rage resulted in something like psychological warfare by frightening their opponents with their extremeness. How did th...

This continues and concludes our discussion on why people do the "stupid" things that they do. Again, mostly they don't. This was particularly challenging because we challenged ourselves to confront things that we (Shane and Abraham) think of as stupid. We also recommend a book and a TV series because... why not? You can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwdpodcast.com , through the co...

Happy New Year! To keep this a fun and easy episode, we simply enumerated some things that people do that appear to be "stupid." In an exercise in perspective-taking, and informed by behavior science, we speculate about the motivations and rationale for why people do "stupid" things. You can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwdpodcast.com , through the comments below OR on social via...

Happy Holidays! We didn't mention the holidays when we recorded because I wasn't sure what the publishing schedule was going to be at the time that we recorded this. Anyway, we finish up our discussion about how psychedelics might be used in clinical settings and end on a note of optimism for where applications for this might go... if they are done correctly! You can reach us directly at 775.525.0...

We follow our conversation from the previous episode with a discussion more about how psychedelics work on our psychology through our language. This is where we will likely find utility for therapy. However, there are early warning signs that we are heading down a dangerous path... You can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwdpodcast.com , through the comments below OR on social via @w...

Psychedelics have an interesting history in medicinal uses. They have been used for good and for ill. This discussion is both optimistic and cautionary. If we rush into this without being careful, then we will only stoke the flames of fear and hatred from those who are adamantly opposed to drugs of any kind. There are likely some therapeutic benefits in psychedelics for mental health, so if we are...

Prions are misfolded proteins that mostly occur in the brain. Prions can cause other proteins to misfold, which rots the brain away and results in death. Sometimes prion diseases are genetic, but sometimes we get them from consuming foods that have prions in them. They are incurable but can take many years to show symptoms. Join us in our discussion about the biology, process, and outcomes of prio...

When a limb is lost or removed, most people report feeling a sensation of pain in the area where that body part used to be... even though it's gone! Long understood to be a part of the experience in humans, we now know much more about this strange phenomenon. For one thing, did you know that babies born without a limb might experience phantom limb pain in that missing limb? That and so many other...

Lead has been used as cosmetics, sweetener, a contraceptive, and a host of other things. We even discovered it was detrimental to our health, but ramped up consumption of this dangerous metal anyway. Lead was used in paint because it made it better, and tasted sweet, so kids licked it. It was also used in gasoline because it prevented engines from knocking... and then was expelled into the air whe...

Special guest, Stu Law, has studied humor and comedy as a hobby and somewhat more directly in his career. He has evaluated what makes us laugh and come to the conclusion that... well, you can find out by listening! But in short, comedy is evolving, contextual, and cultural. We become funny by watching and practicing. Stu will recap some of his favorite moments in comedy and some of his favorite jo...

Serious psychologists have recommended using tapping meridian points as legitimate psychological therapy. So we decided to explore the history and science of meridian points. There is not scientific or epistemological rationale that makes any sense for meridian points. Instead, we have motivated reasoning and a placebo effect. Remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at info@wwdwwd...

Our final Halloween themed episode dives into real-life zombies. Besides being horrifyingly disturbing, these brainless parasites pose an interesting conundrum to understanding how a reanimated corpse can seemingly move with purpose. How does it know how to coordinate the legs? How does it know to position itself to re-infect another host? What is it like for the bug? Surprisingly, the fungus does...

The penultimate installment of our creepy psychology themed month of October is a breakdown of sleep paralysis. The experience we have when we begin to drift in or out of sleep and find ourselves immobilized, confused, and maybe even moderately hallucinating. But why do our brains conjure this nightmarish scenario? Find out more by listening in! Remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525.0...

Our third installment of our creepy psychology themed month of October discusses what superstitions are and where they come from. Furthermore, even people who don't think they are superstitious often have some superstitions that they don't notice. Shane and Abraham explain how these superstitions come to be and reveal some of their own embarrassing behaviors. Remember that you can reach us directl...

People watch scary movies around Halloween and other times of the year. Many horror films are produced every year. What is this strange fascination that people have with the macabre and feeling fear? There is an important element of social structures and possibly some gender expectations as well. There are many other hypotheses, but many of them suck. Find out why! Remember that you can reach us d...

Clinical Lycanthropy is the mental health condition in which people believe that they turn into an animal of some kind, commonly werewolves. The evidence and history of this as a diagnosis and possible treatments is very scarce and there are only a handful of cases throughout history. For the most part, this is likely a symptom of an overarching mental health condition that includes delusion. Neve...

Our brains are a complex network of neurons that connect all of the parts of our body together. So if the electrochemical signals fire sporadically then there could be a wide range of various symptoms including convulsions, memory loss, and confusion. Listen in to learn more about what seizures do in the brain and what to do about them. Remember that you can reach us directly at 775.525.0908, at i...

Many people make exaggerated claims about the neurological benefits of specific foods and then charge you for their consultation expertise, their dietary supplements, their recipes, or their other woo products. Some of their recommendations are perfectly legit, but their proposed outcomes are generally completely unsupported. Plus, we discuss antioxidants, supplements, and the real brain foods. Re...