Q&A: Chris Mooney – The Republican Brain

Written on October 22nd, 2014

 

 

Aired 05/16/12

Crazy though it may be, I assume many have accepted the fact that the Republican party has a problem with science and ultimately with evidence facts — reality. It is now a matter of politics for them to deny science. Among their presidential primary candidates, only Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney accept that warming is happening and humans are a contributing factor.

CHRIS MOONEY has been on this trail for years. In 2005, he wrote the best-selling
THE REPUBLICAN WAR ON SCIENCE. By the time their anti-science, anti-reality bias was established, MOONEY was asking a deeper question. Did science have anything to teach us about why? And it turns out, recently, science does. That brings us to Chris’s new book, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science and Reality.

According to Mooney, from climate change to evolution, the rejection of mainstream science among Republicans is growing. Not only that, so is denial of expert consensus on the economy, American history, foreign policy, and much more. Why won’t Republicans accept things that most experts agree on? Why do they fight facts? He writes that the political parties reflect personality traits and psychological needs -Republicans wedded to certainty, Democrats to novelty – and this is the root of our divide over reality.

Hopefully, understanding how or why Republicans deny science and facts should suggest ways to interact and work with that “reality” differently in order to be more effective moving forward.

http://scienceprogressaction.org

republicanbrain.com

Q&A w/ CHRISTOPHER RYAN, author (co-author, Cacilda Jethá) – SEX AT DAWN: How We Mate, Why We Stray, and What It Means for Modern Relationships

Written on June 4th, 2014
Sex-Cr-CJ.1  

 Aired: 04/28/13

In the best-selling book, SEX AT DAWN, CHRISTOPHER RYAN and co-author Cacilda Jethá aim to answer the question, “What is the essence of human sexuality and how did it get to be that way?” They contend that, “Cultural shifts that began about ten thousand years ago rendered the true story of human sexuality so subversive and threatening that for centuries it has been silenced by religious authorities, pathologized by physicians, studiously ignored by scientists, and covered up by moralizing therapists.”

What is that true story? According to Ryan and Jetha, first, “We didn’t descend from apes. We are apes.” They liken us most to bonobos. Further, “human beings evolved in intimate groups where almost everything was shared – food, shelter, protection, child care, even sexual pleasure.”

Needless to say, their attempt to overturn the accepted narrative on such a hot topic as sex has led to controversy. RYAN joins me this week to explore these questions.

www.chrisryanphd.com

www.sexatdawn.com

Chris Ryan Podcast Link:

http://bit.ly/ZZqtKy

 

Q&A: Bruce H. Lipton, PhD and Steve Bhaerman

Written on October 1st, 2009

 

Aired 10/01/09

Spontaneous Evolution introduces the notion that a miraculous healing awaits this planet once we accept our new responsibility to collectively tend the Garden rather than fight over the turf. When a critical mass of people truly own this belief in their hearts and minds and actually begin living from this truth, our world will emerge from the darkness in what will amount to a spontaneous evolution.î

In Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future (And A Way To Get There From Here), pioneering biologist Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. and political philosopher Steve Bhaerman team up to offer an insightful, playful, and hopeful look at the unfolding destiny of our speciesóand how you can play an active role in birthing the evolution of civilization.

http://wakeuplaughing.com/

http://www.brucelipton.com/