Philosophy

What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Reductionism in Psychiatry

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is reductionism. Reductionism is the idea that complex theories or phenomena can be reduced down to other theories or phenomena. Essentially, the whole shebang can be boiled down to one thing that explains it all. It’s a philosophical …

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Mental Health @ Home book review: Introducing Psychology: A Graphic Guide

Book Review: Introducing Psychology: A Graphic Guide

Introducing Psychology: A Graphic Guide by Nigel C. Benson takes the most interesting and relevant bits from an Intro to Psychology course and simplifies it, adding some fun graphics to boot. Explanations are bite-sized, chapters are short and sweet, and it’s a very easy read. The content is easy to follow, and it’s simplified but …

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Separating Out Sex/Gender, Biology and Social Construct

I got thinking about this after watching an interview with Steven Pinker, one of my academic crushes, and then another interview with Jordan Peterson. Both referred to biological differences between men and women, although in different ways, and I wanted to do a post exploring my own take on sex and gender differences, and the …

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… an Innate vs. Acquired Characteristic

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week, we’ll look at the difference between innate and acquired characteristics. While intuitively it would seem reasonable that there are some capacities or abilities that are innate and some that are learned, there’s fundamental disagreement within the academic community over …

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What Is... Series (Insights into Psychology)

What Is… Critical Thinking

In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is critical thinking. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says that, while there are various different definitions, the basic underlying idea is “careful thinking directed to a goal.” Wikipedia describes critical thinking as “the analysis of facts to form …

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Perceived vs. Objective Reality

Our minds play all kinds of tricks on us. We’ve got all kinds of cognitive biases that influence what we do with our thoughts, and our brains do interesting things with what they pick up through our senses. There’s a philosophical argument as to whether or not there is a truly objective reality, but for …

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