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Updated 07/10/2020 Flat-earthers. Obama ‘Birthers’. Anti-Vaxers and homeopaths. If confronted with one, do you think your unique, implacable calm and logic would convince them? Have you ever had an unsuccessful argument with somebody and left feeling that if you could have been more coherent and logical they would have been swayed? Let me reassure you:…

Updated 30/09/2020 In 2005 a website called ‘Ship of Fools’ held a competition for the best religious joke ever. The winner was this effort from Emo Philips: “Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you…

Updated 23/09/2020 “When I was 5 years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy.” They told me I didn’t understand the assignment and I told them they didn’t…

Updated 16/09/2020 Drake is a celebrity. Drake likes to celebrate success: not only his own but any other sports star/team that he can hitch his applecart to. When a team or athlete does particularly well Drake is there to cheer, backslap and hoover up any reflected glory. Like any good brand he wants to align…

Updated 09/09/2020 Have you ever bought a piece of furniture from IKEA (and subsequently valued it very highly) and decided you could build it without reading the instructions? How did that turn out? If you answered in the affirmative you may be suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect. Aside from everybody’s favourite president, sufferers demonstrate specific…

Updated 02/09/2020 I am a caffeine addict. Yes the multiple health benefits (protection against Parkinson’s, and heart disease etc.) are nice, but I would probably drink it even if it gave me a lobotomy. The neurochemical action of caffeine is fascinating: it blocks a receptor in your brain for adenosine, a molecule that carries phosphate…

Updated 26/08/2020 I have previously discussed the effect of Edward Bernays on public relations and corporate advertising. He famously ushered in the acceptance of taboo products by engaging with the public on an emotional level, appealing to their irrational impulses rather than their critical sensibilities. One such taboo product was instant cake mix; so ignored…

Updated 19/08/2020 There are various forms of this kind of criticism levelled at novices in a particular field. Whether it’s music, photography, tech or sport there are particular participants who feel the need to spend big and conspicuously demonstrate their supposed expertise. Who are we talking about? In music it would be the beginner guitarist…

Updated 12/08/2020 As a teenager you are confronted by a number of archetypes, whether sporty/geeky/outsider in flavour they are usually based on some fictional aspirational quality: superhuman football dribbling, mathematical prowess or an impossibly handsome, brooding style. Part of teenage development is to decide which archetype you want to align with, then create the narrative…