psychology
Long Live the Occult
Over at BigThink, Mitch Horowitz gives a whirlwind tour of American occultism, from its Renaissance origins to New Age spirituality, from Lincoln’s White House séances to quantum physics, from the Ouija board all the way to Jay-Z. Horowitz, the author of Occult America: The Secret History of How Mysticism Shaped Our Nation, strikes a fine…
NYT Buries Researcher’s Ex-gay Legacy
Twenty days after his death, and long after KtB did so, the Times finally got around to publishing a piece on autism pioneer Ivar Lovaas. The article is fairly long and covers Lovaas’ career in some detail, even gracefully qualifying Lovaas’ use of electroshock, slapping, and other harsh reinforcements. Especially given the span of the…
A Behaviorist’s Ex-gay Legacy
Since Dr. Ivar Lovaas died last week, he’s been memorialized tenderly on autism sites and elsewhere. I remember learning about Lovaas in my community college Pscyh 101 class. He’s rightfully credited with shifting the focus away from psychogenic theories of autism so that we no longer blame distant “Refrigerator Mothers” for their children’s social impairments—a…
“Gestalt Prayer” Fixes Everything
Stop searching now, Buddha-killers. I have the answer. I stumbled upon it while reading For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of Experts’ Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English. I was only looking for a few laughs and some fun anecdotes to share with my daughter, who loves hearing about the olden times.…
The Metaphysics of Anxiety
An insightful note came in today from one Michael Bush, referring to the first phrase of our Manifesto, “Killing the Buddha is a religion magazine for people made anxious by churches.” He writes: To paraphrase Mrs. Roosevelt, no one can make you anxious without your permission. You might consider changing your tag line: A religion…
The Real Truth About Alien Abductions
The over-drugged and under-loved make their own way in the world, even when the FBI tries to make them forget.
God is Electric, Jesus Electrochemical
The author goes in search of God and his birth mother. Only one gets found.
