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The Modern Mind

The impact of culture on human experience

Smoking
Would You Like to Live Forever?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 18, 2013

Is a longer life necessarily a better life? Would we want to live eternally?

Is a longer life necessarily a better life? Would we want to live eternally?

Philosophy
What Can Darwin’s Great Theory Teach Us About Culture?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 16, 2013

It is Darwin’s theory of evolution which allows us to recognize culture as an autonomous empirical reality that can be scientifically studied.

It is Darwin’s theory of evolution which allows us to recognize culture as an autonomous empirical reality that can be scientifically studied.

Environment
Learning, Memory, Imagination

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 13, 2013

The native intelligence, learning ability, and creative imaginative capacity of some animals well may be as well or better developed than those of humans, but these innate capacities do not create culture.

The native intelligence, learning ability, and creative imaginative capacity of some animals well may be as well or better developed than those of humans, but these innate capacities do not create culture.

Environment
A New Perspective on Human Nature

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 10, 2013

What distinguishes us from animals? Certainly not our superior brain power or emotional sophistication. What then?

What distinguishes us from animals? Certainly not our superior brain power or emotional sophistication. What then?

Neuroscience
Are Souls Real?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 7, 2013

Few of us would say the soul is a scientific subject in the sense that it can be studied and understood by science. Many neuroscientists, in fact, don’t even believe that the soul exists. In this post, I would like you, my readers, to participate in proving such neuroscientists wrong.

Few of us would say the soul is a scientific subject in the sense that it can be studied and understood by science. Many neuroscientists, in fact, don’t even believe that the soul exists. In this post, I would like you, my readers, to participate in proving such neuroscientists wrong.

Gender
Gender and Neuroscience

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on June 4, 2013

How would you justify your belief in gender equality?

How would you justify your belief in gender equality?

Depression
Is Depression A Real Disease?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 25, 2013

Depression is a culture-bound syndrome. It is also a terrible real disease. It can be cured. But we must at last open our eyes to its cultural causation.

Depression is a culture-bound syndrome. It is also a terrible real disease. It can be cured. But we must at last open our eyes to its cultural causation.

Health
The Real Trouble With DSM-5

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 21, 2013

DSM is an expression of the confusion in the mental health community in regard to the nature of the human mental processes—or the mind. Before this confusion is cleared, none of the problems with the DSM and the resulting mental health practice can be resolved. And the criticism of the DSM should apply also to its critics and judges, such as the NIMH.

DSM is an expression of the confusion in the mental health community in regard to the nature of the human mental processes—or the mind. Before this confusion is cleared, none of the problems with the DSM and the resulting mental health practice can be resolved. And the criticism of the DSM should apply also to its critics and judges, such as the NIMH.

Identity
The Modern Mental Disease

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 18, 2013

People living in societies such as ours, democratic, prosperous, relatively secure, and offering its members numerous life-choices, are different from people who lived or live in other types of societies. We experience life differently and suffer from a uniquely modern mental illness.

People living in societies such as ours, democratic, prosperous, relatively secure, and offering its members numerous life-choices, are different from people who lived or live in other types of societies. We experience life differently and suffer from a uniquely modern mental illness.

Relationships
Love, Ambition, Happiness, Pets and Nationalism

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 15, 2013

What do love, ambition, happiness, and pets have to do with the defining political reality of our times?

What do love, ambition, happiness, and pets have to do with the defining political reality of our times?

Relationships
Can Sexless Love Be Fulfilling?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 12, 2013

It is only since the 16th century that love in the sense of identity-affirming emotional bond, filling one’s life with meaning, could be found--and sought--in the relationships of parents and children. Our concept of pets and the idea of dog as a man’s best friend also derive directly from the search for self-definition.

It is only since the 16th century that love in the sense of identity-affirming emotional bond, filling one’s life with meaning, could be found--and sought--in the relationships of parents and children. Our concept of pets and the idea of dog as a man’s best friend also derive directly from the search for self-definition.

Relationships
Modern Emotions and Perennial Drives: Love and Sex

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 8, 2013

Love is not dependent on sex and can well thrive without it. Love is a marriage of minds and the bodily element in it is at most secondary.

Love is not dependent on sex and can well thrive without it. Love is a marriage of minds and the bodily element in it is at most secondary.

Relationships
Modern Emotions: Love

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 5, 2013

Love makes it possible for every one of us to find our proper place in the world and to define our true identity.

Love makes it possible for every one of us to find our proper place in the world and to define our true identity.

Happiness
Modern Emotions: Happiness

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on May 2, 2013

The surprising newness of one of our most craved emotional conditions

The surprising newness of one of our most craved emotional conditions

Motivation
Modern Emotions: Aspiration and Ambition

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on April 28, 2013

Ambition, happiness, and love, which form the very core and define the emotional experience of so many of us, are not universal, but specifically modern. Pre-modern societies were unfamiliar with them. The sources of these three emotions are to be sought not in human nature, but in modern culture.

Ambition, happiness, and love, which form the very core and define the emotional experience of so many of us, are not universal, but specifically modern. Pre-modern societies were unfamiliar with them. The sources of these three emotions are to be sought not in human nature, but in modern culture.

Spirituality
Are Human Emotions Universal?

Liah Greenfeld Ph.D. on April 23, 2013

It is widely believed that human emotions are hardwired into our brain and that they are universal. This belief is wrong. What moves human beings and makes them suffer in one culture or society may be dramatically different from the emotions shaping the living experiences in another one.

It is widely believed that human emotions are hardwired into our brain and that they are universal. This belief is wrong. What moves human beings and makes them suffer in one culture or society may be dramatically different from the emotions shaping the living experiences in another one.