The Denial File

What We Can't Think About—and Why

Denying Denial
August 2012 Kenneth Vail August 2012 Kenneth Vail

Denying Denial

Kirby Farrell | August 24, 2012

Dumb jokes about the longest river in Egypt assume that denial is as familiar to everyone as the Nile is. But explorers were still searching …

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Humility
August 2012 Kenneth Vail August 2012 Kenneth Vail

Humility

Phil Hansten | August 17, 2012

What we can’t think about: genuine humility is not just a becoming human trait… it is necessary for rational thought. Composer and comedian Oscar Levant …

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Habit
August 2012 Kenneth Vail August 2012 Kenneth Vail

Habit

Bruce Floyd | August 14, 2012

This morning I ran across something Walker Percy had to say about how, as a price of adapting to the world, we must accept the …

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Bedtime for Bongo
August 2012 Kenneth Vail August 2012 Kenneth Vail

Bedtime for Bongo

Kirby Farrell | August 3, 2012

What we can’t think about: when the forces that control us are invisible, we feel helpless. Anxiety, says the doc, is fear whose cause can’t …

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