The Denial File
What We Can't Think About—and Why
Product of the Ukraine (Strawberries from Chernobyl)
Henry Richards | April 28, 2011
Today is the 25 year anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In my last post, I coined the term Irrational Radiation Stigma (IRS) to describe …
The Consolation of “The Sandman”
Bill Bornschein | April 26, 2011
A hazard of working with Ernest Becker’s ideas is that they can increase the anxiety of being trapped in the human condition. Without the comfort …
Anyone Can Whistle!
Daniel Liechty | April 21, 2011
One of the most startling ideas of the existential psychoanalytic tradition confronts us with is that “normal mental health” is itself a form of pathology. …
Thinking Through Violence
Kirby Farrell | April 18, 2011
In a recent post I called attention to the way media and public thinking often *use* violence as shorthand to mark a disruption in everyday …
The Long Arm of the IRS (Irrational Radiation Stigma) all the way from Japan
Henry Richards | April 14, 2011
This April 15, consider a different IRS, one Made in Japan. Will an additional burden be imposed on Japan in the form of irrational fears …
Depositing Religion On The Doorstep of Psychology
Bill Bornschein | April 11, 2011
The title of this blog is a reversal of Ernest Becker’s famous statement that psychology deposits us on the doorstep of religion. He was speaking …
Frostbite: The New Jane Eyre
Kirby Farrell | April 7, 2011
Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre haunts the corridors of American education. The plucky orphan Jane survives abuse, rejection, betrayal, and …
A Randy Generation
Daniel Liechty | April 4, 2011
I am continually amazed that thinking adults are attracted to the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and I shudder to think how influential this philosophy …