Hi There,
What We're Reading- Shocked- Why is 'Electroshock' Therapy Still a Mainstay of Psychiatry?
Science has not always been in congruence with ethics, and I have always wondered about the human rights violations caused by this form of “therapy”. A critical piece by a psychotherapist himself, this piece gave me a cohesive review of how ECT had been perceived for an entire century by medical doctors as well as society, and where we are headed with it now.
Read more here:https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-electroshock-therapy-still-a-mainstay-of-psychiatry
What We're Listening To- Making your Nervous System your Ally
David Pizzaro, one of my favourite social psychologists is a polymath from all angles. Also a beatmaker, professor and podcast host, his podcast “Very Bad Wizards” is as eclectic as he is- from ethics, pop culture, psychology, to philosophy, you'll find everything in between. This podcast starts off with some banter on deep felt and ironic reactions to political events, and moves on to a fascinating discussion on neuroscientific research surrounding how humorous ways of narration makes people remember stories better. https://www.verybadwizards.com/205
What We're Watching- Boman Irani's Inspirational Story: From Waiter To Bollywood Star | Josh Talks
A child with dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADD and a lisp, Boman Irani talks about having a difficult childhood, being a waiter in his 20s, to a successful sports photographer, and finally a Bollywood star, as we know him today. With little academic backing, but plenty of experiential wisdom and lessons on resilience, such a life journey, and career trajectory is behaviour science in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gOqkz5qqo0&ab_channel=JoshTalks
Classics from the archives
Our Brains Tell Stories So That We Can Live
Robert A. Burton
In an age of replication crisis the narratives that shape science, are important. From thus essay by Robert Burton we would like to draw your attention to this. To read the essay in full please click the title (Our Brains Tell Stories So That We Can Live)
"We should also understand that even peer-reviewed data is not always accurate. In 2011, Nature reported that published retractions had increased by a factor of 10 over the last 10 years, while the number of papers published rose only 44 percent. Also in Nature, scientists C. Glenn Begley and Lee M. Ellis wrote that their colleagues at the biotechnology firm Amgen could reproduce only six of 53 landmark hematology and oncology studies from thescientific literature. Similarly, scientists from Bayer reported in 2011 that they could not consistently reproduce about two-thirds of oncology studies relevant to their work.
When reading science reports, we should also search for information on the limits of thedata. Were assumptions made? What do the “error bars,” or graphic representations of variable data, say? We may not always understand the data limits, but we should be worried when some discussion of them is completely absent" (Burton, 2019).
How do you check your assumptions?
Robert A. Burton, M.D., a neurologist and novelist, is the author of On Being Certain: Believing That You Are Right Even When You're Not, and A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves.
