New Web Site Address

The Classical Adlerian Psychology web site has a new, permanent address at http://www.adlerian.us/.

The Influence of Personality on Voting

In the December 21st issue of Newsweek, an article "Red Mind, Blue MInd," by author Sharon Begley, refers to a study at the university of Illinois by researcher Chris Fraley, wherein he claims that the personality traits of voters seem to be the most influential factor in their voting decisions, more so than age or gender.  It would appear that people tend to chose candidates who they perceive as being most like them.  Perhaps installing mirrors in voting booths would improve voter turnout.

Reading on the Run - Kindle and Palm Tungsten

Keeping up with many of the fascinating articles on the Internet, about two of my favorite recreational topics, The Socratric Method and Sherlock Holmes, is a challenging task.  To faciliate portable versions of these articles, I generally follow this sequence.  When I find a web page with content worth of study, I save it in Surfsaver, under an appropriate category.  Opening the article in Surfsaver, I can then  convert copies to .htm and .txt formats. 

For Kindle compatibility, I send the .htm copy to Kindle.com for conversion to .azm format, which I then transfer to my Kindle.  This permits reading, highlighting, and noting on the device.  The highlights and notes can also be transferred back to my desktop computer.

For even greater (pocket) portability with the Palm Tungsten C, on my desktop I convert the .txt file to .pdb format using a free program DropBook.  Then I transfer those files to the Pilot, reading highlighting, and noting the articles with eReader.

With added flash memory, The Kindle and Palm can hold thousands of articles and books.  The Kindle is larger and can also download books, articles, newspapers, magazines, and blogs.  The Pilot is smaller, but has a backlit screen for reading in low-light situations.   Neither has the sensuous feel of a real book, but their portability and convenience are outstanding, especially when you are traveling or have some waiting time for an appointment. 

Nearly a Century Later, Biology Catches Up With Alfred Adler

From The New York Times, November 30, 2009

We May Be Born With an Urge to Help

What is the essence of human nature? Flawed, say many theologians. Vicious and addicted to warfare, wrote Hobbes. Selfish and in need of considerable improvement, think many parents.

But biologists are beginning to form a generally sunnier view of humankind. Their conclusions are derived in part from testing very young children, and partly from comparing human children with those of chimpanzees, hoping that the differences will point to what is distinctively human.

The somewhat surprising answer at which some biologists have arrived is that babies are innately sociable and helpful to others. Of course every animal must to some extent be selfish to survive. But the biologists also see in humans a natural willingness to help

(See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01human.html?em for complete article)

.It has taken biology nearly a century to catch up with Alfted Adler!

Adlerian Humor: Old Fashioned Meds

Were jesters licensed?

Evolution: Theory, Fact, Dogma, or Fiction

Nicholas Wade's  review of "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution," by Richard Dawkins, counterpoints the opposing dogmatic views of  evolution as either fact or theory.  An interesting alternative, would be to consider evolution as a useful scientific fiction, in the spirit of Hans Vaihinger, author of "The Philosphy of "As If"".

Review of "Educating Children for Cooperation & Contribution: Volume II"

Erik Mansager and Jane Pfefferle have written a glowing review of
"Educating Children for Cooperation & Contribution: Volume II,"
highlighting the valuable insights, techniques, and graphics for
guiding children toward more positive choices. The review may be
found at http://home.att.net/~Adlerian/ecc-v2-review.htm.