Review by Andrew O'Hehir
of the Insider
in Salon
"There has not been enough time for human genes to adapt to the changes in the environment in the last few thousand years. In fact, most humans lived in tribes or small villages until relatively recent generations. I suspect that a substantial fraction of human problems in the world today ... result from the mismatch between the current -- highly artificial -- environment and the environment in which we evolved."
"Orphan psychology and its appeal to the masses is not limited to popular literature and music, though; it also features significantly in motion pictures. It strikes me as no coincidence that many of the most popular feature films to date feature orphan protagonists. ... The Star Wars saga was also framed around an orphan boy (at least he was raised as an orphan) .... E.T. is the quest of an alien, whose "mother ship" has left him behind, to return home. Superman is an orphan. Batman is an orphan. Tarzan is an orphan. The list goes on."Frodo. Mowgli. Inigo Montoya. Kim O'Hara.
Stephen A asks a silly question; Thomas G gives an intelligent answer:Q: "Superman & Batman are two heroes, which is have a great power and great ambition, helping people, but there is only one big difference between them, could you tell me?"A: "Batman is an orphan who when his parents were killed never again found love or protection. Superman is an orphan who when his parents were killed found love and protection in the Kents.
Batman is driven my loss and Superman by salvation."
I am only a very casual follower of super-hero comics myself, but I saw an interesting article many years ago where a fan was introducing her young son or nephew to the Batman mythos, specifically to one of the spin-off characters (Nightwing? Azrael? Nite-Wing?):
"Batman catches the bad guys, but he never, ever kills them.
Nightwing also catches the bad guys.
And sometimes he kills them."
And, while we're on the topic, interesting to see how many mythological heroes are abandoned/foundlings: Romulus and Remus, Moses,
- The Fatal Grandeur of the Golden Gate Bridge
" (Dr. Jerome) Motto had a patient who committed suicide from the Golden Gate ... written a note and left it on his bureau. It said, 'I’m going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump'. "
- The numbing of the American mind: culture as anesthetic.
by Thomas de Zengotita
Harper's Magazine, APR 2002
"Some people refuse to believe that reality has become indistinguishable from fabrication. But beliefs are crude reflections of the psychological processes that actually determine how we function. Fat people believe they are on the stocky side. Abject drunks believe they are poetical free spirits. Malicious prudes believe they are selfless do-gooders. And a lot of people still believe that, with some obvious exceptions involving hoaxes and errors, we know what's real and what's not."-- If you don't know Thomas de Zengotita but you know William Gibson you will want to read this.
- Conservatives Target (Men)
by Thom Hartmann
Published on Saturday, December 20, 2003 by CommonDreams.org
"...men who work for a living are a troubled bunch. Jobs are moving overseas in record numbers, conservatives have declared war on organized labor (sic), and insecurity in the workplace is at peak not seen since the Great Depression. Add to this the simple fact that most men feel their masculinity is defined in part by their ability to be successful breadwinners, and you have a potent formula for psychological manipulation. ...-- Links are mine -- ed.
The result is becoming conspicuous: working men are getting angry or falling into despair.
The despair is reflected in suicide statistics. As the BBC reported on 29 July 2003, 'Suicide is the single biggest cause of accidental or violent death among men in England and Wales', even exceeding deaths in car accidents, traditionally the largest killer of men. ... It's a particular problem, another BBC report noted, for men in areas of high unemployment, such as Britain's suicide capitol, Manchester. In that community, the suicide rate among working-age men has doubled over what it was 20 years ago when jobs were more secure and pay relatively higher. ...
The majority of unemployed or under-employed men don't kill themselves, however. Instead, they get angry, and look for the sources of their anger. And this is where the conservatives are working hard to perform an elegant smoke-and-mirrors switch of attention."
- Tacoma Ranks as Most Stressful U.S. City
Reuters, 09 JAN 2004"Move over New York, take a hike Miami, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Dallas and Detroit. You may have stress but none of you have that rare combination of suicide, unemployment, theft and gloomy weather that Tacoma, Washington, has. ...
Tacoma ranked at the top of 100 large metro areas surveyed by the BestPlaces ranking researcher, which also took into account other factors such as commute times, alcohol consumption and self-reported mental health.
'America leads the world in stressful living', said Bert Sperling, who runs Portland, Oregon, based BestPlaces, 'The average vacation time in Europe is five weeks a year but our attitude is almost '"Thank God it's Monday"' ...
High violent crime put Miami second on the list of most stressful cities, in addition to high property crime, long commutes, high unemployment and a high divorce rate.
The third most stressful U.S. city was New Orleans, despite being known as the "Big Easy," followed by Las Vegas, which had the highest suicide and divorce rates in the study, and New York, which boasted the longest commute times.
The sixth most stressful city was Portland, followed by Mobile, Alabama, Stockton-Lodi in California, Detroit and Dallas."
- Researchers Develop Means To Help Stress Sufferers
- Cognitive Therapy Found To Be an Effective Antidepressant
Sci-Tech Today, 05 APR 2005
"A University of Pennsylvania study found cognitive therapy was as effective as antidepressants in the initial treatment of moderate to severe depression. ...
'It appears that cognitive therapy can be as effective as medications, even among more severely depressed outpatients, at least when provided by experienced cognitive therapists', they added.
- Depression - A Buddhist View
"This page deals mainly with aspects of the 'lighter' forms of depression, the techniques described here should not be considered in any way to replace professional treatment for a serious psychological condition."