science and technology A World of Insults, a World of Reactions By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT You don't have to be a sports fan to know that something extraordinary happened in the World Cup soccer final last week. Ten minutes from the climactic end -- with his country's hopes, the championship and his place in the history books at stake -- French captain Zinedine Zidane violently... Full Article World A World of Insults a World of Reactions
science and technology Two Views of the Same News Find Opposite Biases By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 24 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT You could be forgiven for thinking the television images in the experiment were from 2006. They were really from 1982: Israeli forces were clashing with Arab militants in Lebanon. The world was watching, charges were flying, and the air was thick with grievance, hurt and outrage. Full Article Nation Two Views of the Same News Find Opposite Biases
science and technology How the Brain Helps Partisans Admit No Gray By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT President Bush came to Washington promising to be a uniter, but public opinion polls show that apart from a burst of camaraderie after Sept. 11, 2001, America is more bitterly divided and partisan than ever. Full Article Politics How the Brain Helps Partisans Admit No Gray
science and technology When Staying Cool Seems Better Than Being Bad By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 07 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT So the bad news is that it is hot and sticky and muggy. Your skin makes tearing sounds when you get up from a plastic chair. On the Metro, you start to tell people apart by how they smell. Full Article Nation When Staying Cool Seems Better Than Being Bad
science and technology Too Hot or Too Cold at Work? Best Bet Is to Chill Out By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT Office managers are under siege. They know that if they set the temperature to 74, they hear from the woman in human resources who says it is too cold. If they turn it up to 76, they hear from the man in marketing who wants to know why it is sweltering hot. Full Article Nation Too Hot or Too Cold at Work? Best Bet Is to Chill Out
science and technology Cheating Is an Awful Thing for Other People to Do By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT Both athletes were stars. Both faltered, then staged dramatic comebacks -- displaying the tenacity that separates heroes from also-rans. Both now face drug charges that could end their careers. Full Article Nation Cheating Is an Awful Thing for Other People to Do
science and technology What One Fewer Planet Means to Our Worldview By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 28 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT Is Pluto a planet? The world's astronomers met in Prague last week to vote on this question, and in a sort of cosmic game of "Survivor," they voted Pluto off the solar system. Full Article Nation What One Fewer Planet Means to Our Worldview
science and technology In Today's Rat Race, the Most Overworked Win By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT For years, economists have taught their students a simple maxim: As employers hunt for workers, they want to get the best talent at the lowest price. Full Article Nation In Today's Rat Race the Most Overworked Win
science and technology In Crises, People Tend to Live, or Die, Together By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT How the disaster starts does not matter: It could be a plane crashing into the World Trade Center, it could be the sea receding rapidly ahead of an advancing tsunami, it could be smoke billowing through a nightclub. Full Article Nation In Crises People Tend to Live or Die Together
science and technology In Politics, Aim for the Heart, Not the Head By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT In 1935, researchers from Columbia University fanned out around the city of Allentown, Pa., and handed out leaflets ahead of local and state elections. What residents did not know was that they were part of an experiment in political persuasion -- an experiment whose results came to mind last week... Full Article Politics In Politics Aim for the Heart Not the Head
science and technology Apologies Accepted? It Depends on the Offense By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT When freedom fighters in India inspired by Mahatma Gandhi turned violent in a clash with police in 1922, the nonviolent leader took personal responsibility, called off nationwide protests and starved himself for five days in a penitential fast. Gandhi was nearly alone in thinking an apology of such... Full Article Nation Apologies Accepted? It Depends on the Offense
science and technology Iraq War Naysayers May Have Hindsight Bias By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 02 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT Antiwar liberals last week got to savor the four most satisfying words in the English language: "I told you so." Full Article Opinions Iraq War Naysayers May Have Hindsight Bias
science and technology Wars Ultimately Measure Tolerance of Pain By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Here's a question with three different answers. The first answer is derived from arithmetic. The second comes from common sense. The third is based on psychology. Full Article Opinions Wars Ultimately Measure Tolerance of Pain
science and technology In Boardrooms and in Courtrooms, Diversity Makes a Difference By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. called on America to open the doors of opportunity to people of color, the civil rights leader was making a moral argument. Full Article Opinions In Boardrooms and in Courtrooms Diversity Makes a Difference
science and technology How Deep a Distaste for Politicians Who Waffle? By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST When George W. Bush takes the podium tomorrow night to deliver his sixth State of the Union address, what are the chances he will say this? "The war in Iraq has been one gigantic mistake. I am sorry I got us into this mess. I am going to bring the troops home right away." Full Article Opinions How Deep a Distaste for Politicians Who Waffle?
science and technology Twisting Arms Isn't as Easy as Dropping Bombs By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST Whenever the United States goes to war, pro-war and antiwar advocates immediately reach for different history books. Hawks always equate the situation to a Hitler-Chamberlain standoff to show why hesitation can be fatal. Doves invariably pull the Vietnam War off the shelf to argue that plunging... Full Article Opinions Twisting Arms Isn't as Easy as Dropping Bombs
science and technology A Game of Magical Thinking Leaves Reality on the Sidelines By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST The 58 fans sitting before the big-screen television were watching the Super Bowl. Psychologist Emily Pronin was watching the fans. Full Article Opinions A Game of Magical Thinking Leaves Reality on the Sidelines
science and technology Plagued With Relationship Troubles? Blame Your Parents. By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST So, Valentine's Day is two days away, but you know he isn't going to bring you any flowers. And instead of a cuddle and a kiss, you know she is going to dig up that old canard about your mother. Full Article Opinions Plagued With Relationship Troubles? Blame Your Parents.
science and technology Almost Everyone Lies, Often Seeing It as a Kindness By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST The perjury trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby goes to the jury this week. The case speaks to several issues -- how the Bush administration deals with critics of the war in Iraq, and the games that Washington's reporters and politicians play with each other. As far as the jury is concerned, however,... Full Article Opinions Almost Everyone Lies Often Seeing It as a Kindness
science and technology Best Supporting? Maybe Not. By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST Let's say someone stuck a microphone in your face and gave you 45 seconds to say something meaningful to a billion people. Let's say, moreover, that this is the only chance you will ever have to directly address the entire world. Full Article Opinions Best Supporting? Maybe Not.
science and technology Don't Send a Lion to Catch a Mouse By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST Two centuries ago, Napoleon Bonaparte sent his armies into Spain to overthrow a monarch who had once been a French ally. Napoleon, who believed he was touched by the hand of destiny, predicted his troops would be welcomed as liberators by ordinary Spaniards. He was wrong. The resulting Peninsular War from 1808 to 1814 seriously undermined French prestige, handed Napoleon a stinging defeat and produced a raft of unanticipated consequences that included the outbreak of deadly civil wars.... Full Article Opinions Don't Send a Lion to Catch a Mouse
science and technology Disagree About Iraq? You're Not Just Wrong -- You're Evil. By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT The conviction of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby last week gave Americans a chance to pick at the scab of what has become a favored obsession -- the debate over the motives of the Bush administration in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Full Article Opinions Disagree About Iraq? You're Not Just Wrong -- You're Evil.
science and technology What the Bard and Lear Can Tell a Leader About Yes Men By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT In Shakespeare's "King Lear," a powerful man comes to a tragic end because he surrounds himself with flatterers and banishes the friends who will not varnish the truth to please him. Full Article Opinions What the Bard and Lear Can Tell a Leader About Yes Men
science and technology Bettors and Pundits: Never Wrong, Just Unlucky By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT The NCAA men's college basketball championship game was on the line. People in office pools around the country were holding their breath. Louisville was down by four points with a few minutes left on the clock. A UCLA player stole a pass and raced down the court where, after being bumped by a... Full Article Opinions Bettors and Pundits: Never Wrong Just Unlucky
science and technology The Decoy Effect, or How to Win an Election By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT If Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama ever took a break from fundraising to bone up on psychology, they might realize the need to talk up . . . John Edwards. Full Article Opinions The Decoy Effect or How to Win an Election
science and technology Waging War Through the Rearview Mirror By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT President Bush said last week that his thinking on the U.S. situation in Iraq was informed by an analogy: the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. The lack of a sufficient American response to that and other al-Qaeda attacks, Bush said, led to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Full Article Opinions Waging War Through the Rearview Mirror
science and technology Among Taxpayers, Inequality May Equal Cheating By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT Economists have long known there are two reasons that people cheat on their taxes. One is that they are poor and need the extra cash so badly they are willing to risk getting caught. The other is that they are rich and have lots of "non-matchable" income -- mostly investment income not directly... Full Article Opinions Among Taxpayers Inequality May Equal Cheating
science and technology A Social Theory of Violence Looks Beyond the Shooter By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT Like most people in Virginia, Donald Black was horrified by Seung Hui Cho's shooting rampage last week that left 33 people dead, including the shooter. Full Article Opinions A Social Theory of Violence Looks Beyond the Shooter
science and technology When Seeing Is Disbelieving By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT Four years ago tomorrow, President Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and dramatically strode onto the deck in a flight suit, a crash helmet tucked under one arm. Even without the giant banner that hung from the ship's tower, the president's message about the progress of the war in Iraq was u... Full Article Opinions When Seeing Is Disbelieving
science and technology Wariness, Not Hatred, Keeps Civil Wars Raging By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 07 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT Here is a measure of the state of the war in Iraq: The number of Iraqis dying each month now rivals the total number of people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Full Article Opinions Wariness Not Hatred Keeps Civil Wars Raging
science and technology A Nod to Irresponsibility By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 14 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT Accountability is in the air in Washington. At one end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Paul Wolfowitz is struggling to save his job as president of the World Bank after getting caught arranging a sweetheart deal for his, well, sweetheart. A few blocks down the road, President Bush faces endless questions... Full Article Opinions A Nod to Irresponsibility
science and technology Are We Judging Actions, Or the People Behind Them? By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 21 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT Like lunar and solar eclipses, there are some Washington phenomena that are so common they ought to have distinct names. Here is one: A public figure comes to be hated by large numbers of people. But the person cannot be prosecuted or punished, perhaps because his behavior did not involve a crime so... Full Article Opinions Are We Judging Actions Or the People Behind Them?
science and technology The Marriage Penalty By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 28 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT It's almost June, which means we should soon start to hear the peal of wedding bells. Full Article Opinions The Marriage Penalty
science and technology Out of Unenforceable Laws, Amnesties Are Born By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT The ambitious immigration overhaul package that Congress is studying has drawn criticism from conservatives who say it offers amnesty to lawbreakers, and from immigration advocates who say it will not do enough to bring millions of people out of the shadows. Full Article Opinions Out of Unenforceable Laws Amnesties Are Born
science and technology Why Torture Keeps Pace With Enlightenment By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT In the year 65, the Roman emperor Nero discovered that a group of nobles had hatched a conspiracy to kill him. The tyrant captured the suspects one by one and threatened them with torture; most confessed and implicated others. One of the conspirators, Epicharis, was publicly tortured -- her bones... Full Article Opinions Why Torture Keeps Pace With Enlightenment
science and technology Why We Don't Go for It By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT This year's National Basketball Association playoffs recently provided not one but two examples of a very interesting facet of human decision making. Even if you are not a sports fan, these moments tell you something about human nature. Full Article Opinions Why We Don't Go for It
science and technology More Civil Wars, And More Players, Too By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT A few days ago, Hamas fighters stormed Fatah strongholds in Gaza that were allied with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and effectively took control of one of the two pillars of the evolving Palestinian state. Fatah groups struck back in the West Bank, the other Palestinian pillar, and... Full Article Opinions More Civil Wars And More Players Too
science and technology Bush: Naturally, Never Wrong By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT Psychologists once conducted a simple experiment with far-reaching implications: They asked people to describe an instance in their lives when they had hurt someone and another instance when they had been hurt by someone else. The incidents that people described were similar whether they saw... Full Article Opinions Bush: Naturally Never Wrong
science and technology Campaign Contributions Change Priorities, Not Beliefs By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT There are two ways to think about the staggering amounts of money given by special interest groups to politicians -- the type of contributions that were detailed for the last quarter in reports filed yesterday by presidential candidates and members of Congress. Full Article Opinions Campaign Contributions Change Priorities Not Beliefs
science and technology The Home Run King and I By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT Exhibit A: Sometime over the next few days, a San Francisco athlete will break baseball's most treasured record. Despite his achievement of hitting more home runs than anyone else in Major League Baseball, Barry Bonds will be greeted with rage, ridicule and vast amounts of spit -- because many pe... Full Article Opinions The Home Run King and I
science and technology Bush and Counterfactual Confidence By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT In the face of mounting public and political opposition to the war in Iraq, recent reports from the White House suggest that President Bush remains serenely confident. Full Article Opinions Bush and Counterfactual Confidence
science and technology Hot and Cold Emotions Make Us Poor Judges By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT Why would David Vitter, a U.S. senator with four young children, have gotten involved with a seedy escort service? Why would Michael Vick, a gifted NFL quarterback, get mixed up with the sordid world of dog fighting? Why would Bill Clinton, a Rhodes scholar, six-time governor and president of the... Full Article Opinions Hot and Cold Emotions Make Us Poor Judges
science and technology The Color of Health Care: Diagnosing Bias in Doctors By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT Long before word recently broke that white referees in the National Basketball Association were calling fouls at a higher rate on black athletes than on white athletes, and long before studies found racial disparities in how black and white applicants get called for job interviews, researchers no... Full Article Opinions The Color of Health Care: Diagnosing Bias in Doctors
science and technology Spending More for a Little Solace By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT As big Labor Day sales roll around, computer stores will tell you about laptops that now come with biometric fingerprint readers. Car companies will talk about "variable air suspension" features that allow you to change the ride of a car, depending on terrain. And video game manufacturers will ha... Full Article Opinions Spending More for a Little Solace
science and technology The Insurgency's Psychological Component By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT At the core of this fall's debate over Iraq lies one simple question: Can an increased number of U.S. troops subdue the Iraqi insurgency? Full Article Opinions The Insurgency's Psychological Component
science and technology Along With Grief, 9/11 Survivors Find Resolve By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT John Duffy lost 67 of his colleagues at the firm of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods six years ago during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Among the dead was Duffy's son Christopher. The investment banking firm, located in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, was among the companies hit hardes... Full Article Opinions Along With Grief 9/11 Survivors Find Resolve
science and technology Lessons in Forced Democracy By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 17 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT Four years ago, during a speech in Manila, President Bush drew an analogy between the history of the Philippines and the history he was rewriting in Iraq. Full Article Opinions Lessons in Forced Democracy
science and technology In Judging Risk, Our Fears Are Often Misplaced By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT Shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, psychologist Jennifer Lerner conducted a national field experiment: She asked a random sampling of Americans how likely it was that they would be the victim of a terrorist attack in the next 12 months. Full Article Opinions In Judging Risk Our Fears Are Often Misplaced
science and technology Confessions Not Always Clad in Iron By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT In the courts and in Congress, Sen. Larry Craig is fighting to withdraw his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge that may suggest he tried to solicit sex from a man in June at a Minneapolis airport bathroom. Rather than resign yesterday, as the senator had promised and Republicans had hoped, Craig... Full Article Opinions Confessions Not Always Clad in Iron
science and technology The Inconsistent Waffle Factor By www.washingtonpost.com Published On :: Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT If you were Barack Obama, you would be scratching your head, too. Full Article Opinions The Inconsistent Waffle Factor