Marty Nemko's Blog, page 340

The Optimist: A Short-Short Story

In an attempt to avoid the pontification and aridity of the how-to article, In some of my PsychologyToday.com articles, I've recently been embedding psychological and other how-to-do-life issues in short-short stories.

Today's offering looks at how a person faces the ultimate challenge to her preternatural optimism.

Is Psychotherapy Worth It?

It's difficult to conduct valid research on whether psychotherapy is worth the time and money. Indeed, an excellent Psychology Today article is entitled, Why Psychotherapy Efficacy Studies are Nearly Impossible. 

So it's worth taking a logical look at psychotherapy's pros and cons. To that end, in my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer a mock debate between an eclectically oriented psychotherapist and a person who doesn't believe in psychotherapy.

Letter from an Angry Reader

On PsychologyToday.com, I've been posting composite letters that embed issues my readers and listeners have queried me about. Today's is the angriest.

The Challenge of Being Honest In Looking for a Job

It is very tempting to be dishonest when looking for a job. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I've tried to be as honest as I can be in discussing the issue.

Career Without College

In an attempt to avoid the pontification and aridity of the how-to article, as my PsychologyToday.com articles, I've recently been embedding psychological and other how-to-do-life issues in  short-short stories.

Today's offering takes us into the mind of a person for whom school "just isn't my thing." It explores his efforts to find a decent career.

In Defense of Oddballs

One of today's dominant values is to celebrate diversity. But the celebration tends to stop when we see someone whose behavior is even moderately outside the norm. 

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I argue that we, especially celebrants of diversity, should at least be more tolerant if not celebrate some oddballs in our midst.

In Defense of "Nuts"

One of today's dominant values is to celebrate diversity. But the celebration tends to stop when we see someone whose behavior is even moderately outside the norm. 

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I argue that we, especially celebrants of diversity, should at least be more tolerant if not celebrate some oddballs in our midst.

Should Atheists Try to Convert Believers?

I'm an unshakeable atheist. For me, it comes down to this:

I believe that man created "God" to cope with life's challenges, that it's extraordinarily unlikely that a God rather than a yet unexplained scientific process created the world and is an entity who, per the Bible, sees all, knows all, and is loving. After all, can we really rationalize billions of painful deaths to cancer, natural disasters, etc as "mystery beyond human comprehension," 'God's punishing man for his sins," or "God gave us free will?" I can't.

When religious people tell me about their faith,  I'm faced with a decision: Do I try to disabuse them? In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I present the thought process I've gone through.

Should Tackle Football and Boxing Be Banned?

Lately, we've been hearing about the concussions and brain damage associated with tackle football and boxing. That's on top of stories of the use of performance-enhancing drugs by players as young as high-school age.

Should tackle football and boxing be banned? In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer my internal debate on that question.

"Never look back. Always take the next step forward."