We know from our studies of human beings that behaviour is fashioned by the consequences that follow from the behaviour. If the consequences are negative we are less likely to repeat the behaviour but if the consequences are positive the behaviour is reinforced and more likely to be repeated. In their great little book Declare Yourself: […]

Understanding the nature of our humanity is a useful step in securing our sense of well-being. As we have seen on many occasions before, the defining characteristic of our humanity is our consciousness. Our consciousness not only makes us aware but aware of our awareness. It creates for us a “theatre of mind” which gives […]

Evolutionary processes have always created a tension between the welfare of the individual and the welfare of the tribe. To be a dominant individual in the tribe is to advance your welfare and that of your progeny and is no doubt a great advantage. But if your tribe is of little significance even being a […]

What a messy business history seems to have become. History is such a subjective study that it is amenable to the self-serving interpretation of many stakeholders. We have had recent news reports of some disgruntled people wanting to defile the statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park in Sydney who claim Cook is a symbolic […]

Sometimes the world seems a cruel and irrational place. You have probably read of the incident where a TV advertisement run for Father’s Day by fathers’ advocacy group Dads 4 Kids was pulled for being “too political” in the context of the same sex marriage debate. Our society has suffered immeasurable damage from the breakdown […]

“The happiness that we seek depends on our ability to balance the ego’s needs to do with our inherent capacity to be.”   Dr Mark Epstein, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart.     “Because of our obsession with how leaders behave and with the interactions of leaders and followers, we forget that in its […]

The good Dr Phil told us that because we were conscious (that is aware of our thoughts) it naturally implied we were compelled to live in two worlds. The first is the material world that we observe with our physical senses. This is the world “out there”. It is an important world because it has […]

Our sense of self is largely a story we have constructed about ourselves which we imagine might help us cope better in the world. Oftimes such a story can prove to be not only unhelpful, but actually inimical to our well-being. When our imagined self is too out of kilter with reality we become dysfunctional, […]

The emergence of the West as a political, economic and philosophical force is principally a story of the history of Western Europe. With the decline of the Roman Empire, these peoples reverted to a subsistence economy which in turn imposed strict limits on the organisation and the extent of power. Authority among the barbarian peoples […]

I have always believed that it is beyond the capacity of Mankind to fully understand the universe. Yet our continuing efforts to do so are some of our noblest undertakings. There is no doubt that we will always be able to learn more about this cosmological wonderland that we inhabit, and we can benefit immensely […]